Ernst: A Whole ‘Generation’ Relies On Gov’t For ‘Absolutely Everything’

Republican senatorial candidate State Sen. Joni Ernst, speaks during the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition fall fundraiser on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2014, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Justin Hayworth)
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Iowa state Sen. Joni Ernst, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in her state, argued a whole generation of people relies on government for “absolutely everything” and added that it would take “a lot of education” to cut people off of that dependency.

Those comments, made by Ernst in 2013 the Des Moines Conservative Breakfast Club, were highlighted by Democrats on Thursday.

In the audio Ernst said a “generation of people” has been created that relies “on the government to provide absolutely everything for them.” Ernst added that “it’s going to take a lot of education to get people out of that. It’s going to be very painful and we know that.”

She pointed out that the Affordable Care Act would exacerbate this problem. “We’re looking at Obamacare right now. Once we start with those benefits in January, how are we going to get people off of those?” she said. “It’s exponentially harder to remove people once they’ve already been on those programs.”

The audio was published by Radio Iowa.

Ernst is running against Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA) in the race for U.S. Senate. The TPM Polltracker average gives Ernst a 3.5 point lead over Braley.

(H/t: Greg Sargent)

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