KRMG In-Depth: Brecheen explains his ‘no’ vote on the debt ceiling

TULSA — The U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to pass a debt ceiling package Wednesday, despite concerns that fringe factions, both left and right, might raise enough opposition to stall, or even kill it.

In the end, it passed with “ayes” of more than 72%, including a more than two-to-one yes vote from Republicans.

[Hear our KRMG In-Depth report with Rep. Josh Brecheen HERE]

That doesn’t mean it’s a win for the GOP, however, according to Oklahoma Congressman Josh Brecheen, nor a win for the country.

“I’m not convinced it was a great deal for the American people,” he told KRMG Thursday.

“My question to the American people - and to Oklahomans - is: When are we going to start really doing the sizeable solutions, given the sizeable problem? Five years from now, our interest payments on our national debt will match what we spend on defense of our entire nation.”

While some have applauded an apparent display of bipartisanship regarding the passage of the bill, Brecheen doesn’t, because he sees any centrist approach as essentially a win for the left.

“Every time we come up with the debt ceiling, the moderate ideology is winning out. And the left is winning in terms of yards, and hundreds of yards of gain at a time. They’re constantly advancing their agenda,” he said.

Brecheen will be in Claremore for an in-person town hall on Friday, June 2 at 4:30 p.m.

The venue will be the Harvest Baptist Church near Verdigris, at 24733 S. Oklahoma Highway 66.

He will also host a telephone town hall on Tuesday, June 6.

Participants can dial in by telephone at 888-480-3675.

They can also RSVP and access the live stream at this link.