Grandmothers in Congress are ‘trying to bring common sense’ to an ‘uncommon’

Rep. Michelle Steel, R-Calif., and Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., who are both grandmothers, weighed in on a new Fox News poll that revealed that the vast majority of Americans believe life in the United States will be worse for the next generation. 

“We need more grandmas to stand up and say, ‘We’re taking our country back’ and so that’s why I did what I did,” Harshbarger told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday, explaining what prompted her to run for Congress to begin with. 

Against the backdrop of mass shootings, foreign policy showdowns, inflation woes and a pandemic, the latest Fox News survey finds a record-high number of registered voters think life for the next generation of Americans will be worse than it is today.

A majority, 70%, says life will be worse for the next generation than it is today — up 29 percentage points from July 2020. The last time voters were close to being this negative about the future was in September 2014, when 61% said it would be worse.

FOX NEWS POLL: RECORD 70% SAY LIFE WILL BE WORSE FOR NEXT GENERATION 

All of this comes as voters continue to offer pessimistic views of both the national economy and their personal finances. Eight in 10 rate national economic conditions as only fair or poor, while about six in 10 rate their personal finances negatively. On top of this, three-quarters are dissatisfied with the direction of the country — the highest negative rating in a decade.

Harshbarger said she doesn’t doubt the results of the poll, noting “that is why I raised my hand and said, ‘Pick me in 2020.’” 

She explained that the “greatest privilege of my life is being a wife, a mother and a grandmother,” especially because, as she noted, it has taught her patience and priority.

“I’ve been a pharmacist for 36 years and a business owner, and I’ve taken care of people at a local level, and I’ve seen what overregulation of the government can do to small businesses and just American families,” Harshbarger went on to note. 

Rep. Steel, an immigrant, also weighed in, noting that she came to the U.S. when she was 19 and was able to achieve the American dream. She told ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ she run for public office, in part, so that her children and grandchildren could achieve the American dream as well.

Steel slammed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, a negotiated version of the Build Back Better Act, which was passed by the House of Representatives Friday.

“We really have to stop raising taxes, doing the inflation. This is not really [the] time and this is not really good,” Steel said. 

The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) recently reported that middle-class earners would see an increase in their taxes as a result of the bill. Reporting from the committee revealed that Americans making less than $200,000 per year would have…