U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is responding to an attack by state Democratic Party Chair Dan Logsdon, who chastised freshman congressman for voting against federal relief for victims of Superstorm Sandy.Logsdon told WFPL that Massie and fellow Republican Congressman Andy Barr embarrassed Kentucky and that votes for aid shouldn't be politicized. However, in statement Massie echoes Barr's comments and says that Congress should find a way to pay for disaster relief without adding to the country's debt.From Massie's office: "With $16 trillion dollars of debt, and in the absence of a budget to guide spending, I believe that unscheduled spending should be offset by equal cuts elsewhere. This bill recklessly increases the national debt because it contains no spending offsets. The intention of H.R. 41 was to temporarily bail out a government insurance program that has been financially insolvent for several years. Rather than simply patch the problem with an open checkbook, the bill should have included reforms to make the program solvent... either by raising premiums or, preferably, by transitioning this insurance program to the private sector."Last week, 67 lawmakers voted against the $9.7 billion funding package.
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