Former Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) and fearless critic of corporate influence in Washington, said Monday he plans on running for the U.S. Congress again.
Declaring his candidacy on Ed Shultz’s Show on MSNBC, Grayson simply said, “I’m in,” when asked about his political future. Earlier, Grayson sent out an e-mail stating, he promised a dying veteran who contracted hepatitis many years ago and who could not get insurance coverage, that he would run again.
“A dying man wants me to run for Congress. What exactly could I say?” Grayson stated in his email. “I promised that I would run.”
Grayson said, Rick the veteran, died on June 30, 2011 at 5.55 p.m. and I am keeping my promise.
“For the four million people in Florida who can’t see a doctor when they are sick, and the fifty million nationwide, I’m in,” Grayson said. “For the 70% of all homeowners in Orlando who owe more than they own on their home, and the 25% nationwide who are “underwater,” and feel like they are drowning, I’m in.”
Commenting on the debt ceiling and debt reduction negotiations currently ongoing between Republican and Democratic leaders and with no obvious resolution in sight, Grayson said that if he were in Congress he would not vote for cuts in Medicare or Social Security. President Barack Obama has put on the table as part of the negotiations with Republicans, the “strengthening of Social Security,” translated by many to mean cuts in entitlement programs.
Grayson, who has long been an outspoken critic of the wars in which the U.S. is engaged, said that one way to bring down the debt and deficit would be to end the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
“How about peace–give that a try.” Grayson said.
Grayson added that Democrats should not compromise in their negotiations to reach a deal on increasing the debt ceiling. Pointing out that Social Security was not the source of the deficit problems, he suggested instead, Medicare should cover other areas like dental services and hearing aids, rather than being scaled back.
Grayson, who served two years in Congress as a freshman Democrat and represented Florida’s 8th District, was defeated by Republican Daniel Webster in the November 2010 election. He made national news when during a House debate on the Affordable Health Care for America Act in 2009, Grayson summed up the “Republican health care plan as “Don’t get sick, and if you do get sick, die quickly.”
It is not yet clear which Congressional seat Grayon will be contesting, as Florida is slated to get a new congressional district .
