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Blum “recession” comment comes under fire
The Courier
WATERLOO — U.S. Rep. Rod Blum, R-1st District, has been a longtime critic of how Washington, D.C., works, but a recent comment calling for a “recession” in the nation’s capital led to criticism for the congressman back home.
Labor leaders and politicians in Iowa and in Washington, D.C., criticized a Monday tweet Blum posted with a picture of cranes including the comment, “DC needs a recession.”
The Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Building Trades Council, which is supporting 1st District Democratic candidate Monica Vernon, demanded an apology from Blum.
“We better hear an apology for this outrageous statement, and it better come fast,” Rich Good, vice president of the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Building Trades Council, said in a statement.
Good added Blum’s statements ignore the effect a recession would have on families.
“I have seen a lot of out-of-touch statements from Rod Blum throughout his short career in Washington, but I honestly never thought I would see him — or any reasonable human for that matter — actually call for a recession,” Patrick Loffler, president of the building trades council, said in the statement.
Blum dismissed the criticism as “fake outrage from D.C. Democrats” and part of what’s wrong with politics. He noted D.C.’s metro area has six of the 10 richest counties in the country.
“Our huge and ever-growing federal government that’s taking in a record amount of tax revenue from Americans is out of control and needs to be reined in. I want those jobs and tower cranes in eastern Iowa instead of Washington, D.C.,” Blum said in a statement.
He added, “Of course I’m not popular with the entrenched ruling class in Washington, D.C.,” pointing to his efforts to reform Congress.
Blum posted a similar tweet in October saying, “EIGHT tower cranes in 6 block radius. We need to cause a recession … in Washington DC.”
His message Monday read, “Washington DC is booming. Tower cranes everywhere. Being built on the backs of US taxpayers. DC needs a recession.”
U.S. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-Washington, D.C., was asked about Blum’s recent comment on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.”
“It has nothing to do with the federal taxpayers. It’s our own taxpayers. It’s because we pay taxes and don’t have representation in the House and Senate that we are treated as second-class citizens,” Norton said.
She appeared surprised the comment was made by a member of Congress.
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And there was all of this…
Local Unions Respond to Blum Tweet Calling for “Recession” in Washington, D.C.
KCRG
DC delegate slams GOP lawmaker calling for Washington recession
The Hill
Congressman: ‘DC needs a recession’
The Hill
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/273991-congressman-dc-needs-a-recession
Blum Gets an Earful After Calling for D.C. Recession
Roll Call
http://www.rollcall.com/backlash-rep-blum-calling-recession-d-c/
Rod Blum, Elected Official, Sees Cranes, Decides D.C. Needs a Recession
Washington City Paper
Why Is a Freshman Congressman Calling for a Recession in a Major American City?
Slate
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/03/23/rep_rod_blum_wants_dc_s_economy_to_collapse.html
This Iowa Congressman Really Hates the Wharf in Southwest DC
Washingtonian
http://www.washingtonian.com/2016/03/23/iowa-congressman-rod-blum-wants-dc-recession-the-wharf/
Iowa congressman says D.C. needs a recession because it has ‘cranes everywhere’
Washington Post
Rod Blum Wishes A Recession On A Major American City
Iowa Starting Line
http://iowastartingline.com/2016/03/23/rod-blum-wishes-a-recession-on-a-major-american-city/
Iowa congressman really doesn’t like The Wharf
Washington Business Journal
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