Rep. Jim McDermott to vote against debt deal in protest

Rep. Jim McDermott (D – WA) says he plans to vote against the compromise proposal to raise the nation’s debt limit and cut spending.

McDermott told 97.3 KIRO FM’s Dori Monson Showon Monday his vote is somewhat of a protest against what he believes is bad public policy in the bill.

“There’s no question we have to raise the debt limit. The question is, what do we do as a part of that process? They’ve added stuff in this language that goes with lifting the debt limit that I think in the long run puts us into a serious problem,” McDermott said. “You cannot reduce the deficit in this country without looking at additional revenue.”

He said he would vote for the measure if it looks like it was going to fail because he believes it is critical for the nation to raise the debt limit.

McDermott believes the bill is heavy on Republican anti-government ideology. He thinks the measure should have included some level of tax revenue increase.

“We came out of the tank in 1941 during the second World War with massive spending by the federal government. That’s where we are today and I think it’s too bad that the ideology of the Republicans is such that they want to put us back in the tank,” McDermott said.

He’s the first member of the state’s delegation to publicly oppose the bill.

“This mess is all about the next election. That’s all it’s about,” said McDermott.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.