Emerson: Bickering over debt crisis 'made me sick'

As those on Capitol Hill fought and bickered this summer, Jo Ann Emerson said she was filled with "great antipathy and frustration" as her colleagues attempted to ease the government's debt crisis.

"It has made me sick, and it's been so blatantly political and unproductive," Emerson said Thursday night.

Emerson spoke at the monthly meeting of the Cape Girardeau Kiwanis Club, addressing the nation's debt crisis and fiscal condition in front of a small crowd.

She was among the 174 House Republicans who voted for the bill raising the debt ceiling.

The Cape Girardeau Republican called these challenging times for working families and offered her solutions, including her support for a balanced-budget amendment that could be phased in over five or 10 years.

She noted that unemployment rates in Cape Girardeau and Perry counties are high, but not as high as state and national averages. Still, she groused that it's been difficult to get policies in place to encourage business growth and job creation.

Uncertainty remains about the Affordable Health Care Act, which some deride as "ObamaCare." Some believe the Supreme Court will overturn the health care reform, but the fear that it won't be is impeding investment, she said. Such worries have "taken a bite" out of the GDP, which led to the reduction of the country's credit rating.

Government regulations are also too stringent, she said, citing an Environmental Protection Agency proposal that intends to keep dust off farms.

"Tell me, how do you regulate dust on our farms?" she asked. "We're not God. We don't control the weather."

Emerson said she hopes the 12-person Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction may be able to help alleviate the debt crisis. The committee was created by the Budget Control Act, the deal to increase the debt ceiling recently signed into law.

She said seasoned veterans on the committee are trying to produce a bipartisan deal to reduce the government's debt crisis and possibly rewrite the tax code.

The committee is working reduce federal budget deficits by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years.

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