U.S. Senator, Chuck Grassley, was in Denison Wednesday on his 99-county tour with well over 100 constituents in attendance for the town hall meeting. According to Grassley, the concerns he hears most from Iowans during his visits are continued inflation and government debt. One constituent suggested both parties are to blame for the nation’s deficit spending over the last two years. Grassley partially agreed, noting the actions taken early in the pandemic were largely bipartisan.
He adds Iowa was somewhat of an island during the early stages of the pandemic as most businesses were not forced to close their doors to customers. Grassley says additional spending in the new Congress has largely lacked broad Republican support. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor show the consumer price index has topped five percent since May 2021 with the most recent numbers from March 2022 at 8.5 percent. Grassley says additional spending will only make inflation worse.
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the last time the federal government experienced a surplus was more than two decades ago. Grassley says the practice of deficit spending is unsustainable, and that is why he has supported efforts on more than one occasion to require a balanced budget. That would require a constitutional amendment, and he is not confident that will ever happen.
Full audio from Wednesday’s town hall can be found included below.
Grassley Crawford County Town Hall: April 20, 2022
