Georgia Republican Rep. Tom Graves told The Daily Caller that he thinks President Barack Obama “duped” the American people with the recent rule about contraception that has sparked controversy between the Catholic Church and the administration.
“This is a great example of where the American people were duped by the Obama administration and the health care law,” Graves said in an interview with TheDC at the 2012 Conservative Political Action Conference. “They made all these promises of what was going to be covered and who was going to be forced to do what, but the American people knew then just as they are finding out today that there was more and more embedded in that legislation.” (RELATED: More interviews from CPAC)
Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King said several members of Congress warned about the Obama administration’s empty health care promises filled with rhetoric.
“I’m steamed,” King told TheDC of the controversy. “We saw it coming. A number of us in Congress warned of it. The Catholic Church, as I recall, set aside their principle of subsidiarity and set a higher priority on the principle of social justice. They wanted to get health insurance in to people who needed reassurance on their health care. I think that, because of that, they bought into the Stupak Amendment and the argument that there wouldn’t be abortion funded or required in Obamacare. I knew better. I saw that.”
In reaction to a different Obama administration scandal, King and Graves both signed onto the House resolution expressing “no confidence” in Attorney General Eric Holder over the deadly Operation Fast and Furious.
Graves told TheDC “it’s really clear” why he signed the measure pushing for Holder to go. “Just look at his history,” Graves told TheDC. “What he’s been doing and what he says he doesn’t know is going on right underneath him. I represent the 9th Congressional District of Georgia. I’m their voice. We heard over and over and over again from our constituents that he needs to go and I imagine if you open this resolution up and allowed the American people to sign it they would be signing this all across the nation because of a lack of confidence that’s really required in that position.”
Graves added that he envisions two major fights heading into this year: the budget, and stopping Washington’s out-of-control spending.
“There’s going to be a couple of battles coming up, clearly [one is] the budget,” Graves said. “The Senate hasn’t passed a budget in over 1,000 days. Harry Reid is saying they’re not going to pass a budget or vote on a budget.”
“Otherwise, we know we have to get this spending under control,” he added.
Videography by Sarah Muro