Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) told Breitbart News Saturday that Democrats, whom she said are moving toward socialism, are attempting to jam through radical agenda items designed to make people “comfortable” living in poverty instead of lifting them up, and she blasted the failure of what she dubbed “Bidenomics” as Democrats seek to solve the issues, such as inflation, by raising taxes and spending even more.
Speaking to Breitbart News Saturday, Ernst dismissed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) latest maneuver, scheduling a vote on an infrastructure plan despite lawmakers not having even seen the text of a bill.
“We have not seen a bill. I have not seen the text of a bill, and yet Chuck Schumer says we’re going to vote on it next week. I don’t know how we do that when we don’t know what’s in the package,” she said, expressing hope that the bipartisan group of lawmakers will tell Schumer to slow down and get text out to members so they can review it.
Americans, she said, want infrastructure, but they do not want the “extraneous” things Democrats are attempting to shove through, such as Green New Deal agenda items, in a second bill via the reconciliation process.
“This is extremely disturbing. What they are planning to do, even if the bipartisan infrastructure bill gets done, what they are planning to do is what they are now calling human infrastructure. Really what that means? A bunch of socialized programs that will expand … [what they call] the war on poverty, basically,” Ernst said, noting the “billions and billions” that have been spent on the war on poverty through the years.
“But simply making people comfortable in poverty doesn’t defeat poverty, but that’s what they’re planning to do — is continue to expand these existing social welfare programs, get people comfortable living with less, reliant upon government, and then, it’s really hard to undo those social welfare programs,” she explained, adding the public would be outraged over spending as much as $3.5 trillion years ago.
And the spending goes beyond social welfare programs, too, she continued.
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“This is an expansion of not only those social welfare programs, but also, as you pointed out, things like the Green New Deal, entirely focusing on electric vehicles rather than continuing to work with the vehicles we have now, expanding that infrastructure, paying for, you know, the grid and updating so we can support those electric vehicles,” she said, adding that such is not realistic for the Hawkeye State.
It is an “interesting dynamic,” given that Democrats are going to attempt to “jam through” the massive spending bill through reconciliation “with absolutely no Republicans supporting it,” she observed.
“And it’s not to save the taxpayers dollars. It’s to force them to pay more,” she added, also blasting Democrats for attempting to jam amnesty through in the reconciliation bill, even though it has nothing to do with the budget.
She said Americans can expect to see Democrats engaging in what she described as a “bunch of policy gymnastics” to get their radical agenda items through.
“They can’t do this. Now, reconciliation is a process that is focused on the budget. So what you will see coming from the left is they will do a bunch of policy gymnastics to try and get it fit in a reconciliation package. No. It should not. These are policy issues that we need to have debates on, we need to have discussions on. It needs to be done in open and transparent manners,” Ernst continued. “They can’t just flip it into a bill, ram it through reconciliation when it is policy.”
Biden, the Iowa Republican added, created a humanitarian crisis on the southern border as the United States sees “thousands and thousands” crossing the border.
“And yet, in contrast, we have interpreters in Afghanistan that have assisted our troops for the past two decades, that the Biden administration cannot seem to get its State Department in order to get those interpreters and their families out. You know, if anyone is deserving of an opportunity here in the United States, it’s those that have assisted us through wartime. And yet, Joe Biden can’t see the irony in the situation,” she added.
As for her state, Ernst said people are fed up with the Biden administration’s policies, and she expressed hope for 2022, agreeing that the road to the GOP taking back the House and Senate goes through Iowa.
“We are seeing it in every corner of our state and everywhere in between and no wonder — because we look at this administration and what the Democrats are doing, and since Joe Biden has been in office, he’s created this huge humanitarian and national security crisis at the southern border,” she said, also mentioning inflation and spikes in crime.
Instead of addressing inflation, the Democrats are “trying to outbid one another over a massive government spending program which we truly believe is a step toward socialism,” she stated.
“Iowans are fed up,” she said, adding that Democrats simply want to continue to raise taxes and “literally put the government in charge of everything.”
“We can’t afford to continue down this path,” according to Ernst, later noting the “phenomenal” level of excitement in the state for the GOP. She noted that Republicans have a “prime opportunity” to seize the seat in the state’s 3rd District, currently held by Rep. Cindy Axne (D-IA).
Iowa, Ernst added, “continues to trend red as the Democrats continue to move toward socialism.”