Amongst House republicans leading the demands that no CR bill be passed unless it damages the Affordable Care Act is Georgia Rep. Tom Graves.
It was Graves who earlier this month demanded that the defunding of Obamacare be a requirement for keeping open the government, and it is Graves who rejected Speaker John Boehner’s attempt on Friday to keep the government running and delay the Obamacare fight until the debt ceiling showdown next month.
“I’d like to see us keep that focus there,” said Graves. “We’ve got a responsibility to finish this up and let it play out.”
So far, so predictable. Graves has made a lot of noise about 'fiscal prudence' and 'responsibility' and about 'living within our means'. But, surpise, surpise: Graves is just another Tea Bagger hypocrite. His failiure to repay a $2.2 million loan was one of the contributing factors that led to the collapse of a small Georgia Bank.
More beneath the Boehner Orange Squiggle.
According to Associated Press:
The former chairman of a north Georgia bank who signed off on a $2.2 million loan to two prominent Republican lawmakers said he believes the eventual default on the loan was partly to blame for the bank's financial collapse. Morgan Akin told The Associated Press in a recent interview that Bartow County Bank took an $875,000 hit on the loan when U.S. Rep. Tom Graves and state Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers defaulted. The bank went under in April."Was it the only loan we had default? No," Akin said. "But it was one of the larger loans, and it contributed significantly (to the bank's failure)."
Graves and Rogers recently settled a lawsuit filed against them by the bank, but both sides have signed a confidentiality agreement and declined to provide specifics of the settlement. Neither Graves nor Rogers would respond directly to Akin's claims. "As the congressman said, all parties involved have reached a positive agreement and have moved on," Graves spokesman John Donnelly said…
Akin said that while the arrangement may be fair and equitable for Graves and Rogers, it hasn't been good for Bartow shareholders who saw the nearly 40-year-old community bank sink. Nor has it been fair, he said, to the FDIC, which says the bank's failure is expected to cost $69.5 million. The FDIC is funded by insurance fees from banks. Akin said he was speaking up because he felt only one side of the story had been represented. He said he was disappointed with Graves and Rogers, who cast themselves as champions of fiscal responsibility.
"They talk up the tea party stuff, but when it comes to their own finances they're irresponsible and leave the bank on the hook," he said.
Another Tea Party deadbeat who says 'do as I say, not as I do.' What a shock.