Congressman Jeb Hensarling says U.S. is on 'road to national bankruptcy.' Featured Video

Jeb Hensarling is one of the most economically conservative members of Texas’ Congressional delegation, according to the National Journal.

So, it’s not surprising that when he sat down recently for an extended interview with Tyler’s KLTV-Channel 7, the Dallas Republican had a lot to say about his concerns about the national debt.

“At some point, you gotta quit spending money that you don’t have,” he said. He went on to say that the country is on the “road to national bankruptcy … (The) debt crisis is harming our jobs, threatening our sovereignty and certainly threatening our children’s future.” 

The first part of the KLTV interview is today’s featured video on the Texas Watchdog home page. There’s also a part 2 that you can see at this link. Together, they’re an 18-plus-minute video interview.

While he admits that President Obama “is not fond of seeking (Hensarling’s) advice,” the Congressman was critical of the chief executive. 

“I know he knows the severity of this debt,” Hensarling said. “In fairness to him, he didn’t necessarily put us on the road to national bankruptcy, but he sure is pressing on the accelerator and not showing any sign of turning back. And that’s disappointing.” 

Some of his comments on topics other than the national debt:

• Hensarling said he’s “happy about” the influence of the Tea Party movement;
• Suggested he was unlikely to make a play for Kay Bailey Hutchison’s U.S. Senate seat: I just was elected to the job of House Republican Conference chairman. I’m not anxious to leave it … All in all, I’m very happy where I am”;
• And when asked about super-rich-dude Donald Trump’s potential bid for the Republican presidential nomination, he responded: “Generally speaking, it must be a slow news cycle.”

Speaking of The Donald — if you haven’t seen Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live‘s recent speech to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, take a look at it on YouTube and tune into the part at about the 12-minute mark where Meyers starts an extended riff on Trump, who was in the audience and who sat there with a scowl on his face.  

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Seen a good video? Shoot a note to jennifer@texaswatchdog.org.

Photograph of the national debt clock in New York City by flickr user Kevin Krejci, used under a Creative Commons license. Note that the photo was taken in 2008; the current U.S. national debt is more like $14 trillion as of this writing. 

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