Bruce Braley in 2014 Iowa Senate Debates
On Health Care:
Repealing ObamaCare would deprive millions of insurance
The final debate between Iowa's two Senate combatants was shot through with never-ending claims and counterclaims: "You stated just a few years back that you would not change a thing about ObamaCare, and yet today you're saying, 'Oops, yeah, we do need
to make some changes to the bill,' " Republican Joni Ernst scolded Democrat Bruce Braley. "You said you read every page of this bill. You tabbed it, you highlighted it. So either you didn't understand what was in the bill or you were misleading Iowans,
and I don't know which one is worse."Braley shot back: "The reality is that when you pass a huge change in how health is delivered to millions of Americans, there are bound to be some things you have to deal with along the way. That's what we've done.
Repealing the entire bill, and taking health care away from millions of Americans, and adding costs--premiums will go up 225 percent in Iowa if you eliminate what's in place right now."
Source: Des Moines Register on 2014 Iowa Senate debate
Oct 17, 2014
On Social Security:
Privatizing Social Security turns it over to Wall Street
At a senior center, Braley escorted around his mother, Marcia Braley, showing off the peach pie that she made and noting proudly that she is still working as a substitute teacher.During brief remarks,
Braley again referred to his mother as he took a subtle swipe at his opponent: "When it comes to protecting Social Security and Medicare, the most important person I have to worry about is sitting right there at that table.
That's why, as your next senator, I will never vote to privatize Social Security and turn your hard-earned money over to Wall Street investment bankers."
In a statement, an Ernst spokeswoman said that "Joni will protect
Social Security for seniors like her parents, and save it for her kids' generation by finding a bipartisan solution that won't raise the retirement age."
Source: Washington Post AdWatch on 2014 Iowa Senate race
Oct 2, 2014
On Energy & Oil:
Supported Keystone Pipeline initially, then rejected it
Braley, a congressman since 2006, defended flip-flopping on the Keystone Pipeline. Republican ads have suggested he opposes the pipeline because of the support he's getting from [Super-PAC billionaire Tom]
Steyer. "When the pipeline was first brought before Congress, there were a lot of promises made. That's why I voted for it in committee," Braley said. "But then when it came for a vote on the floor,
United States, and there was no guarantee it was going to create a significant number of jobs that were going to benefit Iowa."
Source: Politico.com e-zine on 2014 Iowa Senate debate
Sep 28, 2014
On Health Care:
Vehemently opposes tort reform: don't take away right to sue
Braley, a former trial lawyer, defended his vehement opposition to tort reform. "When people are making radical proposals to take away your rights," he said, "you need to think about, 'What's that going to mean when something happens to me?'"
The moderator asked if he doesn't think defensive medicine accounts for higher health care costs because doctors are trying to avoid lawsuits. Braley said "a host of different factors" contribute to rising costs.
Source: Politico.com e-zine on 2014 Iowa Senate debate
Sep 28, 2014
On Health Care:
ObamaCare should be fixed and improved, not repealed
Ernst came prepared to talk about many of the major criticisms she and her allies have leveled at Braley, including his support of ObamaCare, which Ernst said is costly and harmful. "Every Iowan deserves access to affordable healthcare. But ObamaCare is
not the answer in this case," Ernst said at the Sunday debate. "We are seeing it cost jobs," she said, pointing to recent layoffs of insurance workers and physicians. "It's also an increased tax on Iowans and Americans, $1.2 trillion."
Braley admitted that ObamaCare, formally the Affordable Care Act, was not perfect as passed. But he used the topic as an opportunity to show that he can work on solutions in a bipartisan way. "I think that the
Affordable Care Act needs to be fixed and improved," he said. "Sen. Ernst would repeal it and continue to obstruct efforts to try to improve it."
Source: The Hill e-zine on 2014 Iowa Senate debate
Sep 28, 2014
On Homeland Security:
Yes, missed 75% of Veterans' hearings; but made 97% of votes
Braley, a member of the Veterans Affairs' Committee, found himself defending his dedication to veterans. Enrst charged that Braley missed 75% of the hearings with the panel."I've been there for veterans,"
he said. "I've made 97% of the votes at the VA hearing to stand up for veterans and I fight for them every day."
He also mentioned work he did to help specific groups of veterans get access to certain benefits.
Source: The Hill e-zine on 2014 Iowa Senate debate
Sep 28, 2014
On Immigration:
Supports comprehensive reform but not amnesty
Braley denied that the Senate immigration bill he supports includes amnesty. The Democrat blamed the border crisis in part on the House's failure to take up the bill that passed the Senate. He noted that Arizona Sen. John McCain and Florida Sen.
Marco Rubio supported the measure because it forces people in the country illegally to admit wrongdoing, pay a fine and go to the back of the line. "Amnesty is when you break the law and there are no consequences," said Braley.
Source: Politico.com e-zine on 2014 Iowa Senate debate
Sep 28, 2014
On Government Reform:
AdWatch: Opponent never made a peep about wasteful spending
A word for the wise: If you're a male candidate running against a woman hoping to make history as the first female federal officeholder in her state, you might want to refrain from comparing her to a baby chick in your campaign advertisements.Bruce
Braley (D-IA), who's battling Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst for Iowa's open Senate seat, criticized his opponent's record in a new ad, showing a baby chick onscreen as the narrator says Ernst never made a "peep" about wasteful spending as a state
lawmaker. "When Joni Ernst had the chance to do something in Iowa, we didn't hear a peep," the narrator explains as the chick onscreen chirps. "In the state Senate, Ernst never sponsored a bill to cut pork, never wrote one measure to slash spending."
While the ad never labels Ernst a "chick," or even mentions the word, Republicans were quick to pounce on what they saw as the spot's sexist undertones. Ernst's spokeswoman said the ad "degrades & insults Iowa women by comparing Joni Ernst to a 'chick.'"
Source: CBS News AdWatch on 2014 Iowa Senate race
Jun 7, 2014
On Principles & Values:
Apologizes for denigrating Senator as farmer & not lawyer
Last week, video was published in which Iowa Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley denigrated Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley as "a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school." Braley suggested that made Grassley unqualified to be chairman of the Senate Judiciary
Committee, a position he is in line for if Republicans regain control of the Senate in November.The speech was made to a group of lawyers; Braley himself is a trial lawyer. But the backlash was severe, and Braley apologized.
In an opinion piece published in The Iowa Republican, Senator Ted Cruz (R,TX), a lawyer himself, touted Grassley and his accomplishments in the Senate. "Washington would be a lot better off if we had more farmers in
Congress and a lot fewer trial lawyers," Cruz writes. "I served on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and in my opinion Chuck Grassley--that Iowa farmer whom Braley was denigrating--would make an outstanding chairman of that committee," he went on.
Source: The Daily Caller on 2014 Iowa Senate race
Apr 3, 2014
On Health Care:
AdWatch: Targeted by RNC robocalls for support of ObamaCare
Rep. Bruce Braley is among 11 Democrats targeted by the Republican National Committee for their support of ObamaCare. The RNC is using robocalls and posting on Facebook to urge people to call their representatives and ask "why they supported
President Obama's lie that people could keep their healthcare plans under ObamaCare."The targets besides Braley are Rep. Gary Peters (MI), Sens. Mark Warner (VA), Mark Begich (AK), Dick Durbin (IL), Kay Hagan (NC), Mary Landrieu (LA), Jeff
Merkley (OR), Mark Pryor (AR), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and Mark Udall (CO). The robocall script reads:
"President Obama and the Democrats said you could keep your healthcare plan under ObamaCare. Now we know [SENATOR] actually VOTED to make it more
difficult. Call [SENATOR] at (XXX)-XXX-XXX & ask why [he/she] lied."
The robocalls are a response to Democrats launching the "GOP Shutdown Watch" campaign, highlighting Republican senate candidates who supported the partial federal government shutdown.
Source: MI Daily Tribune AdWatch: 2014 Iowa Senate debate
Nov 5, 2013
On Gun Control:
Allow lawsuits against gun manufacturers for gun violence
Rep. Bruce Braley revealed last week that he would vote to the left of every US Senator on gun regulations. Braley told The Huffington Post that he would have opposed a key plank of the Senate's failed gun control bill--the background checks amendment.
But Braley wouldn't have opposed the bill because of Second Amendment concerns; he blasted the measure from the left for maintaining a law barring lawsuits against firearms manufacturers for gun violence (and expanding the protection to private sellers
who use background checks)."The background check amendment as it currently exists, I probably would have opposed--not for the reason most people think, but because it immunizes gun manufacturers, who get the economic benefit of that
protection and use it to fund all of the legislative assaults on rational measures to reduce gun violence. And I told that to the Newtown families," he told The Huffington Post at the annual Netroots Nation conference.
Source: The Iowa Republican on 2014 Iowa Senate race
Jun 13, 2013
On Gun Control:
Ban sale of high-capacity magazines & recall existing ones
Braley, who has an F rating from the NRA, recently floated a recall program for high-capacity magazines. "It's always very difficult to eliminate a product that has been lawfully sold once it's in the marketplace, so one of the things that should be
happening is a wide-scale conversation about the impact of all of the factors that influence violence in our society," he said. "One of them is the availability of high-capacity magazines."Braley suggested a federal recall program similar to the
umbrella program used by six federal agencies to alert the American people to hazardous products. "The challenge is whether realistically you can get dangerous products off the marketplace," Braley said. "We have recall programs right now
for products that have been identified as creating a risk to consumers. So, one of the things that you can do is look at ways of trying to get those back in through a program that would give incentives for doing that."
Source: The Iowa Republican on 2014 Iowa Senate race
Jun 13, 2013
Page last updated: Dec 06, 2018