Cramer Votes Again to Keep Government Closed, Now Demanding Medicare and Social Security Cuts

Cramer demands Medicare and Social Security cuts while still collecting his own government paycheck during the shutdown

Congressman Kevin Cramer voted again to keep his reckless Republican government shutdown going into the weekend, as this crisis that he and House Republicans manufactured goes into its third week of hurting middle class families.

Since the shutdown started, House Democrats have provided Congressman Cramer 14 opportunities to work across party lines and vote to reopen the government at Republicans’ spending levels, but Congressman Cramer has refused and stood with hisRepublican Leadership in their irresponsible insistence on giving insurance companies free rein over health care and keeping the government closed instead.

The latest news is that Congressman Cramer’s Republican leadership has a new Tea Party demand to reopen the government: slashing Medicare and Social Security. House Republicans’ Budget Chairman Paul Ryan outlined the strategy in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal demanding that President Obama dismantle Medicare in exchange for House Republicans agreeing not to crash our economy and reopen the government.

“Congressman Cramer remains shockingly out of touch with the reality in North Dakota—while families are hurting back home, he is voting to keep his irresponsible shutdown going into the weekend,” said Emily Bittner of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “We are nearly into the third week of Congressman Cramer and House Republicans’ reckless shutdown, but Republicans like Congressman Cramer now want to take our seniors hostage in the latest Tea Party demand to reopen the government. Enough is enough.”

House Republicans approved Rep. Paul Ryan’s draconian budget earlier this year, even though the AARP said the budget “shifts costs onto seniors and future retirees” and removes “the Medicare guarantee of affordable health coverage seniors have contributed to through a lifetime of hard work.”

BACKGROUND:

Congressman Cramer Just Voted Against the 14^th Attempt to Re-Open the Government. House Republicans have voted 14 times against efforts to vote on a clean government funding resolution by allowing consideration of the Senate-passed continuing resolution. [H Res 370, Vote #509, 10/02/13; HJ Res 70, Vote #512, 10/02/13; HR 3230, Vote #515, 10/03/13; HJ Res 72, Vote #517, 10/03/13; H Res 371, Vote #519, 10/04/13; HJ Res 85, Vote #521, 10/04/13; HJ Res 75, Vote #523, 10/04/13; H J Res 77, Vote #527, 10/7/13; HJ Res 84, Vote #529, 10/08/13; H Res 373, Vote #531, 10/08/13; HR 3273, Vote #533, 10/08/13; HJ Res 90,Vote #536, 10/09/13; HJ Res 79, Vote #539, 10/10/13; HJ Res 76, Vote #541, 10/11/13]