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This Congressman gets "it"
http://www.mlive.com/politics/index....en_clarke.html
http://www.mlive.com/politics/index....en_clarke.html
Clarke delivered an impassioned speech on the House floor Tuesday, calling for Congress to help individuals get out of debt while urging those same individuals to curb reckless spending.
The Detroit Democrat acknowledged the importance of the ongoing debate over the federal debt ceiling, but he argued that personal debt is a larger threat to the national economy.
"If we want to create jobs, jobs that will truly be sustainable and help provdie families with real financial security, this congress must realize that when the American people are in debt so is this country," he said.
Clarke, a freshman represenatative whose district is home to one of the nation's highest unemployment rates, is working on a resolution that will ask Congress to cap mortgages at home values and forgive student loans "because the most powerful way we can restore our economic strength and create jobs that are sustainable is to help Americans get out of debt."
Congress has an obligation to address personal debt, Clarke said, because it allowed the crisis to unfold and "changed the rules over the last decade or so." He did not specify which rules, and we put a call into his office seeking clarification.
Acknowledging that Congressional action on personal debt is unlikely, Clarke cut up a series of credit cards and urged the public to "free yourselves" by following suit.
"You want this government to get out of debt? Then you get out of debt personally," Clarke said. "Stop the spending. Stop the borrowing. Stop over-consumption -- buying things that you don't need with money you don't have. That's robbing you and your family of a future. It's robbing this country out of a future. It's robbing this country out of jobs."
Don't worry about Clarke's financial situation; the plastic wasn't actually his. A spokeswoman told the Huffington Post he stopped using credit cards when he defeated incumbent Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick in the August primary last year.
The Detroit Democrat acknowledged the importance of the ongoing debate over the federal debt ceiling, but he argued that personal debt is a larger threat to the national economy.
"If we want to create jobs, jobs that will truly be sustainable and help provdie families with real financial security, this congress must realize that when the American people are in debt so is this country," he said.
Clarke, a freshman represenatative whose district is home to one of the nation's highest unemployment rates, is working on a resolution that will ask Congress to cap mortgages at home values and forgive student loans "because the most powerful way we can restore our economic strength and create jobs that are sustainable is to help Americans get out of debt."
Congress has an obligation to address personal debt, Clarke said, because it allowed the crisis to unfold and "changed the rules over the last decade or so." He did not specify which rules, and we put a call into his office seeking clarification.
Acknowledging that Congressional action on personal debt is unlikely, Clarke cut up a series of credit cards and urged the public to "free yourselves" by following suit.
"You want this government to get out of debt? Then you get out of debt personally," Clarke said. "Stop the spending. Stop the borrowing. Stop over-consumption -- buying things that you don't need with money you don't have. That's robbing you and your family of a future. It's robbing this country out of a future. It's robbing this country out of jobs."
Don't worry about Clarke's financial situation; the plastic wasn't actually his. A spokeswoman told the Huffington Post he stopped using credit cards when he defeated incumbent Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick in the August primary last year.
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