Sens. Mark Udall, Michael Bennet Disappointed With Bill To Avoid Default

Sens. Mark Udall (D-CO) and Michael Bennet (D-CO) voted for the bill to prevent a government default and lift the debt ceiling, but both are voicing criticism of the bill and the process that lead to the compromise.

Udall, although critical, does think that this bill was crucial and an important first step towards balancing the budget, according to a press release. Udall said:

I'm not going to say this bill is what I had hoped for. Among other things, it does nothing to ensure that the wealthiest among us will help shoulder the burden of balancing our books. It doesn't end the wasteful tax breaks for multi-billion dollar corporations that ship our jobs overseas. It also fails to reduce the debt by the $4 trillion economists and market experts have said is essential to provide the shot in the arm of certainty that businesses need to expand and start hiring again. But it will protect our economy from crisis and make a down payment on our debt, two critical first steps.

Bennet voiced criticism in a press statement, but also agreed with Udall that this bill was a necessary step to avoid “self-inflicted” default, saying:

Why Washington took so long to resolve a crisis that was entirely of its own making is puzzling to me and to the people of Colorado. No mayor in Colorado would be willing to risk the credit rating of his or her municipality to make an ideological point, and Washington shouldn’t be any different. The agreement reached today isn’t perfect; this is not a bill that I or any one Coloradan would have written. But it was a necessary step to avoid a self-inflicted default that would crater our economy, hurt working families and blow an even bigger hole in our deficit. And while I wish it would have gone further, this bill makes a significant down payment on deficit reduction and creates a bipartisan path forward to get our fiscal house in order.

Bennet had strong words for Fox31 when talking about the legislative process that took place to reach this bill, however flawed:

I think it was a pretty horrible process, and I wouldn't say that it worked. I've said several times on the floor of the Senate that there's a reason why the poll numbers for this institution are in the basement. And we need to do better.

Bennet will be holding a meeting to discuss the debt crisis issue Wednesday at the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria campus in Denver at 11 a.m., according to CBSDenver.

The emergency legislative compromise reached will raise the debt ceiling in exchange for more than $2 trillion in long-term spending cuts, according to The Huffington Post.

Comments

[pa30]

09:45 AM on 08/04/2011

This seems backwards. We are supposed to voice our complaints to them,and they are supposed to try to fix the problem,not the otherway around.Did they just sit on their hands and dream of home the whole time Congress was in session?

[nothingchanges]

03:56 PM on 08/03/2011

I have an $8,000 limit on my credit card.

Doesn't mean that I borrow $8,000, just means that I have that capacity if I should need it.

Limiting governments ability to borrow, does NOT balance the budget. It just limits the governments ability to function during hard economic times...... like what we're seeing today.

The time to have had the "balanced budget debate" was when the economy was good.

When George W. Bush was inaugurated, Alan Greenspan predicted the US Government would have an 800 Billion dollar surplus by 2011.

Look what we have now. A 14 Trillion dollar debt. The majority of it due to Republican policies, (Ronald Reagan PROVED that Deficits Don't Matter) not Democrats.

Democrats are hardly blameless, Bush's tax cuts could not have passed without Democratic help.

The old saying goes, "Make hay, while the Sun Shines" because it doesn't do a whole lot of good to try and make hay......... in a downpour.

The most important problem facing America today, is long term unemployment.

Instead of arguing over the debt........ after the fact, what we should be asking is

Where are the Jobs?

[BeautifulOnDaOutside]

02:38 PM on 08/03/2011

I love how politicians try to have it both ways. "I voted for it, but I really didn't want to."

[shineonbluemoonk]

01:52 PM on 08/03/2011

Udall and Bennett and all US & State Congresspeople:

I wrote emails to each of you (U&B) yesterday. I told you that if I die within the next 2 1/2 years,
MY D.EA.TH WILL BE ON YOUR HANDS.
That is b/c I'm 62 1/2, unemployed for almost 2 years, COBRA ran out last spring ($732/mo), extended unemployment benefits were cut off last month,
and yet I'm a lot better off than the ever-increasing homeless I see milling the streets and alleys.
Do you even have a clue,
you who take our tax dollars and then pony up to the next donor you see;
re-election campaign starts on inauguration day!

Do you know how much it costs to rent an apartment/own a home, pay for heat/AC (which is now necessary), property taxes, water, gas/oil/electric, phone(s), internet, cable !!! Plus fees that have been added since you deficit hawks fleeced the middle and lower classes --- such as garbage collection, snow removal, and now! --- FIRE PROTECTION!!!

For jeebus' sake, you goons in Congress, Wake the F@ck Up!!! Are you really OK with the poor section of your town burning down? Can you look your fellow citizens in the eye and tell them to suck it up??? Well...nevermind.

When I do leave my body and die, there is a bridge that I have built for others to continue on. BUT CONGRESS - MY DEATH WILL BE ON YOUR HANDS

Viva l"evolution!

[Deefor Arrow]

01:43 PM on 08/03/2011

Does Bennet-- or anyone-- actually believe it was the Democrats holding the debt ceiling bill hostage? This has always been a clean bill before the T party Republicans decided to use it as blackmail to destroy the economy for their corporate backers. In fact they all voted 19 times for a clean raise for Bush, who took a surplus and ran up a $9.85 trillion dollar deficit. Some examples:

June 2002: [Republican-controlled] Congress approves a $450 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $6.4 trillion. McConnell, Boehner, and Cantor vote “yea”, Kyl votes “nay.”

May 2003: [Republican-controlled] Congress approves a $900 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $7.384 trillion. All four approve.

November 2004: [Republican-controlled] Congress approves an $800 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $8.1 trillion. All four approve.

March 2006: [Republican-controlled] Congress approves a $781 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $8.965 trillion. All four approve.

September 2007: [Democratic-controlled] Congress approves an $850 billion increase, raising the debt limit to $9.815 trillion. All four approve.

from Thinkprogress.org

[shineonbluemoonk]

02:04 PM on 08/03/2011

Liebrmann & the Blue Dogs supposedly manuvered the situation _ I can't verify that though, b/c I haven't read the source docs - just the rumors...

[toolman19]

01:28 PM on 08/03/2011

I live in Colorado and sadly so do these two dumbos. Wish we could redo the election of 2010 and at least get Bennet to the sideline where he belongs. Udall consistantly takes credit for stuff he never did or does but is never called on it. These are two very sad reps to say the least.

[joekel]

01:39 PM on 08/03/2011

That is your very ignorant opinion and by the way they are Senators not congressmen - fool

[toolman19]

01:40 PM on 08/03/2011

Who are you calling ignorant you bozo...........and I don't see anything in my post about them being congressman you clown....get real or get out.

[juanvelasquez]

01:08 PM on 08/03/2011

You both voted for it. You both own it.

[watchingduck]

12:41 PM on 08/03/2011

Udall and Bennett are both Obama clones. Notice how they always refer to washington or congress being a problem? They refuse to state the obvious. The republicans have pretty much declared war on the middle class and are willing to dismantle and destroy the government of the U.S. in order to accomplish their goals. They are wishy-washy, weak-kneed politicians who refuse to hold those who are stabbing us in the back responsible.

[R A Bows]

12:03 PM on 08/03/2011

Let's face it, the Democrats and the Republicans are just the left and right wing of the same party, Usury, a front for the international money cartel (financiers) that controls the sovereign currency and credit of most of the world. Udall and Bennet are just a pair of water boys. It's all a show. The results of the "debt crisis" charade were planned long ago: shifting the money from social programs to the banksters and their subsidiary corporations, including the war profiteers. All these folks should be in Leavenworth for treason.

[Bega]

11:47 AM on 08/03/2011

They also vehemently argued against the deal before it was voted on. Am I correct?

[joekel]

12:59 PM on 08/03/2011

Actually they did - your point being?

[bluevistas]

11:43 AM on 08/03/2011

Udall, what a acrock! If you didn't like the bill, then why the heck did you vote "yes"??!??

Oh, are you up for re-election soon? CYA? All these so-called "Dems" who vote to undermine our safety nets! I will work to vote them all out!

[pa30]

12:35 PM on 08/03/2011

same for Bennet, Complain about it but do nothing. He said the same about the health care bill: he wouldn't have voted for it if he would have known what was in it.

[joekel]

12:58 PM on 08/03/2011

That is a lie

[toolman19]

01:30 PM on 08/03/2011

Bennett is the sorriest excuse for a rep Col has ever had and that is saying something.