Walden votes no, tired of ‘kicking can down the road’

The House voted 285-144 Wednesday night to end the government shutdown and avoid a debt default — for a few months — but Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., voted no, saying it’s time to stop kicking the can down the road.

“This temporary plan does nothing to address the epic problem: spending borrowed money we don’t have and cannot sustain,” Walden said in a statement after the vote that sent the legislation to President Obama for his signature.

The Second District Republican said the legislation simply “kicks the can down the road yet again for only three months, and we’ll be right back where we ended up this week.”

“Enough is enough,” Walden said. “Every day, families throughout Oregon and the country sit down around their kitchen tables to balance their budgets and discuss crises and practical ways to resolve them. It’s longoverdue that Washington, D.C. do the same.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., took a similar tone in a pair of tweets earlier in they, saying: “Although deal is good thing for economy, Congress fulfilling most basic duties not cause for celebration.”

Merkley said lawmakers “need to stop careening from crisis to crisis and focus on what really matters: good jobs, affordable college, secure retirement.”

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., issued a statement Thursday on the deal that ends the shutdown.

“With this disruptive and counterproductive government shutdown finally over and the threat of default delayed, it’s time for people to work together, regardless of party, on the issues most important to Oregonians and our nation — tax reform, job creation and improving affordable health care,” he said.

Wyden added, “I will continue to seek consensus on Oregon priorities including the future of our eastside forests, the Klamath Basin, and bringing some common sense to the management of our O&C lands. Hopefully, this marks an end to legislating from crisis to crisis.”