IFN STAFF
Rep. Pat Harrigan expects members of Congress to address what he called a “constitutional crisis” when they return to Washington, D.C., this week.
A Republican who is nearly 18 months into his first term in the U.S. House, Harrigan met with local business leaders over lunch last week at the Sonesta Select Hotel in Statesville. He answered questions on a variety of topics, including the war in Iran, the economy and growing national debt, the affordable housing crisis and health care reform.
The lunch was organized by the Greater Statesville Chamber of Commerce’s Business Advocacy Council and moderated by former Mayor Pro Tem William Morgan. Event sponsors include Capital Management Group of the Carolinas, DENSO and Piedmont HealthCare.
The War in Iran
When speaking about the ongoing war in Iran, Harrigan, a former Green Beret, said he was concerned about the situation in the Middle East. The U.S. has struggled to convert “battlefield success” into a strategic victory, he said.
“I’m disappointed with where it’s gone honestly,” Harrigan said.
When Congress went on recess earlier this month without authorizing the war, it created “a constitutional crisis that no one is talking about,” he said. “It’s a tough spot, but we’re going to have to deal with it when we get back next week.”
The Economy & National Debt
The spike in oil prices caused by the war in Iran is causing significant inflationary pressure, Harrigan said, and threatening to sink the economy. As a result, Harrigan said, Americans have been forced to put the “greatest tax refund in history” into their gas tanks since the war began.
One possible solution, he offered, is reducing American dependence on fossil fuels by investing in more nuclear power plants. Foreign investors are eager to help fund new reactors, Harrigan said, pointing to comments made recently by the president of South Korea.
“Nuclear is the answer to all of our problems,” Harrigan said. “It always has been and always will be.”
Meanwhile, if the current economic conditions continue, the congressman said the Federal Reserve will have to consider raising interest rates.
And the mounting debt, Harrigan said, is unsustainable and will eventually cause a financial crisis.
President Trump did not campaign on solving the debt problem and neither party is interested in taking steps to pay down the debt “because it is politically unpopular to do so,” Harrigan said.
Affordable Housing
In order to address rising housing costs, Harrigan has authored legislation that would at least slow the trend of institutional ownership of rental housing.
His proposal would require government agencies to attempt to sell foreclosed properties in the government portfolio to individuals before offering them to institutional investors, who currently own up to 20 percent of the rental property in the Charlotte market, Harrigan said.
“There’s no silver bullet with any of this,” he added.
Health Care
Explaining that repealing Obama Care is not politically popular, Harrigan did not offer much hope that meaningful reform is on the horizon. Instead of a massive overhaul, Congress has been content to offer “patchwork solutions” that don’t make the system more efficient or cost-effective for consumers, he said.
“We sort of point at the problem and don’t really do anything about it,” Harrigan explained.