Departing Rep. Latham still holds out hope for ‘grand bargain’

JOHNSTON - Retiring U.S. Rep. Tom Latham remains hopeful for a so-called grand bargain between the Obama administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.

Although President Barack Obama walked away from striking a deal with Republican House Speaker John Boehner, Latham repeatedly spoke of the possibility and need for a grand bargain Friday during taping of Iowa Public Television's Iowa Press. The public affairs program can be seen at 7:30 tonight and at noon Sunday on IPTV, at 8:30 a.m. Saturday on IPTV World and online at www.IPTV.org beginning Friday evening.

'We've got to address our long term debt,” said Latham, who is retiring after 20 years in the House. A member of the House Appropriations Committee, Latham said one part of that is to look at entitlements.

'They're not sustainable as they are and so I'm hopeful that there will be some serious legislation,” he said. 'We have a great opportunity but also great hazards, too, if in fact we're not successful.”

So Latham, a Boehner confidante, is encouraging his friend to 'think big … to seize the moment” to address the long-term solvency of Social Security and Medicare as well as address the $18 trillion national debt and more than $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities.

'That is probably my biggest regret,” he said about the failure to address those issues. However, he expressed optimism that Obama and Boehner have an opportunity to strike a grand bargain.

Their time is limited, Latham said. Obama, of course, has two years left in his presidency and Boehner - and incoming Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have to act before the 2016 presidential contest limits their ability to strike a compromise, Latham said.

'One big problem is you're starting into a presidential election cycle right now'” he said. 'You're going to have people on both sides of the aisle that will use it as a political weapon if in fact you try to have a grand bargain, a big deal that would give us solvency in the long-term.”

Unfortunately, Latham added, the president 'has always been very hesitant” in leading that conversation. Obama 'walked away” from a deal a couple of years ago. 'We were right there and it didn't happen.”

Latham, 66, who announced his retirement a year ago, called serving in the House the 'honor of my life.”

'The honor is to go to Washington to represent your constituents,” he explained. 'The House of Representatives is a unique body, it's a wonderful place, it's a cross-section of America. You are able to do a lot of things.”

It's unfortunate when people only see the 'dysfunction of the budget process, the arguing from both ends of the spectrum,” Latham said.

'If people actually saw the day-to-day operations of most of the members of Congress and the kind of work that they do, I think there would be a lot more respect,” he said. 'But what gets the attention are the noisemakers.”