Thread: Grassley hears concerns about debt, immigration in Akron meeting

Grassley hears concerns about debt, immigration in Akron meeting



BRET HAYWORTH
bhayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
9 hours ago



AKRON, Iowa | Plymouth County residents told U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, on Monday they don't like the federal policies pursued under President Barack Obama.

"We have a lot of concern on the direction our country is headed," said Chad Ericson, a member of the Akron City Council told the senator during a town hall meeting at the Akron Fire Station.

Ericson cited $15 trillion in federal debt and said if the Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid entitlement programs don't undergo major changes, the country faces substantial spending cuts or tax increases.

"When my kids were born, they came with a bill in their diaper," he said, meaning they will be saddled with public debt.

Grassley said Ericson's comments were apt and that he attempts to pare federal spending when possible.

Fifty people turned out for meeting with Grassley, one of five he held in Northwest Iowa on Monday. Some wanted clarification of statements gleaned from emails and Internet websites.

Mary Mesche, of Merrill, Iowa, asked Grassley if it was true that in the near future some college student loans would not have to be repaid. Congress on Friday took action to avert a doubling of interest rates on new student loans for one year, but Grassley said he hadn't heard anything about the federal government possibly forgiving the loans.

"I've had kids tell me, flippantly, that 'I am going to vote for Obama so I can get my college loans forgiven,'" Mesche said.

The meeting participants also discussed the merits of various aspects of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which survived a groundbreaking U.S. Supreme Court ruling mostly intact Thursday. Some encouraged Grassley to take a hard-line approach on any immigration policy changes, and John Lucken, of Akron, said there are instances in which illegal immigrants already living in the U.S. deserve a path to citizenship.

In attempting to address issues surrounding an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants, Grassley said he is adamantly opposed to anything like the 1986 federal compromise that gave legal status to the nation's then-3 million illegal immigrants.

"You encourage more illegal immigration" by granting any type of amnesty, he said.

Arden Gale, of Akron, told Grassley to try to stop any federal funding for Planned Parenthood, an agency that provides family planning, contraception and, in some locations, abortion services.

"This abortion thing is just getting so much momentum," Gale said. "Euthanasia is just down the road."

Grassley hears concerns about debt, immigration in Akron meeting

"John Lucken, of Akron, said there are instances in which illegal immigrants already living in the U.S. deserve a path to citizenship."

There are no instances in which any illegal 'deserve' a path to citizenship!!!! Who would want someone who blatanly breaks the laws as a neighbor? When people disregard our laws they shouldn't be rewarded for it, that is unacceptable!