Congressman Jim McDermott held a public coffee talk at C&P Coffee on California Ave. this morning. He distanced himself from President Obama on tax reform and on some of his key appointees, and blamed the Republicans, particularly the Tea Party movement, for attempting to sabotage progress on issues that could bring us back to 1959, as he put it.
Congressman Jim McDermott this morning held a coffee for the the public at C&P Coffee, 5612 California Ave, the first in a series of such talks he will give around Seattle. About 60 people attended. He spoke, then did some Q&A about health care reform, veteran's health issues, the economy, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He criticized President Obama's handling of the economy, particularly taxation, and the current war situation, and attacked the Tea Party for lacking a clear agenda, as he sees it.
Some of Congressman McDermott's Comments:
"I've been to congress 23 years," McDermott said. "This session is populated by a large mass of people elected last year with no philosophy except to go and dismantle the government. So what you're seeing is a determined effort to undo everything that is what we think of as government- environment, education, labor.
"The next three weeks they say they are going to take out Obama Care, National Public Radio, Family Planning, the EPA and everything else (...) to agree to extend the continuing resolution and deal with the debt limit.
"Frankly, it hasn't made a whole lot of difference having President Obama as far as taxes, his willingness to fold in terms of standing up to the tax business is in my view not productive for the country, and has sunk us deeper in the hole. If you say you have no money but say you wont take it from people making over $250,000 you are talking out of both sides of your mouth.
"We're crushing the middle class. For the president to pick that guy (who was part of the problem) and say 'this is my number one tax guy' says something very powerful I dont like to see."
He was referring to Timothy Geithner, the U.S. Treasury Secretary.
"The Tea Party is a group of people responding to anger, range, uncertainty, anxiety, they dont know where they are going. They have no coherent plan.
"Whether its the progressive party or, I dont know, but there is going to be a third party come where people are going to have to organize at the grassroots level (...) People are going to say, 'I aint gunna' take this anymore'. Now the Tea party is saying it, but they don't know where they are going."
McDermott expressed concerned about the home mortgage crisis, pointing out that many bought homes in 2007 when the economy looked strong, with 3 year adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs.) After three years, in 2010, their mortgage rates leaped and home values went down. He said that many others in 2007 got 5-year ARMs and they will get hit next year.
He said, "We're going to see this movie all over again in 2012."
