Rep. Goodlatte talks to constituents at Staunton restaurant
STAUNTON — Sixth District Rep. Bob Goodlatte has crusaded for more frugal federal spending for years, but on Monday the Valley congressman’s concern took on added urgency.
Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, adamantly opposes both the cap-and-trade legislation that would seek to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the current proposals for federal health care reform.
Speaking to a community meeting at Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant, the congressman said some form of health care reform is needed, but not the proposals currently before committees in both houses of Congress.
Citing a study in Fortune Magazine, Goodlatte said as the health care reform plan is currently framed, it would cost individuals the freedom to choose their own primary care physicians, and would take away the opportunity to be rewarded for positive health choices such as giving up smoking and exercising more.
To help fund the plan, there would be a tax on wealthier Americans.
Already, Goodlatte said, health care is too expensive and the plan would add to the costs.
“We spend more per capita than anyone in the world,” he said. “Why are we increasing the cost?”
The congressman said of the estimated 47 million uninsured Americans, 10 million or fewer are those truly unable to afford insurance.
The other uninsured include people between jobs, people eligible for Medicaid and other federal programs, illegal aliens and those who have the resources to afford a plan but are not investing in one.
The health care proposal, Goodlatte said, “will affect everyone’s insurance and we will do it for 3 percent of the population.”
The congressman said there are better ways to reform health care, including tort and medical liability reform, which could lead to less needless medical testing.
Goodlatte said there could also be association health plans that allow groups to band together in numbers of 50,000 to 100,000.
Such groups would lead to larger pools and lower rates, he said.
On cap-and-trade, Goodlatte said there are more prudent ways to deal with greenhouse gas emissions than an energy tax for higher greenhouse gas emissions.
If the legislation passes the Senate, Goodlatte said the United States will lose jobs to foreign competitors.
The consumer will also be impacted, he said.
“The Heritage Foundation has said electric rates will increase 94 percent over 20 years,” he said.
The congressman said the fastest route to greenhouse gas emission reduction is through nuclear power. And there are no immediate plans to build new nuclear plants in the United States.
Action by the Senate on cap-and-trade has been delayed, and the congressman holds out hope that the Senate will not deal with it.
Goodlatte started his community meeting Monday by offering some graphic information about the burgeoning federal debt.
The upcoming 2010 budget of $3.6 trillion includes $1.2 trillion of borrowed money, which Goodlatte said is 75 miles of $1,000 bills stacked on top of one another.
“Guess who is going to pay?” Goodlatte asked. He said today’s young students and younger people will be burdened with debt for years to come.
Over the next 10 years, Goodlatte said the projected annual deficit is no less than $600 billion a year.
“We cannot stay on this track and not suffer immense consequences,” he said.
The long-term impact will include both higher interest rates and inflation, Goodlatte said.
The congressman plans teletown meetings with his constituents in the next week or so. He said he can reach about 30,000 people at at time with those.
As for in-person town hall meetings, Goodlatte said he hopes to do those during the fall.
Reader Reactions
The Status Quo are selling propaganda and downright lies, across the TV, radio bandwidths. LIES! Lies and more lies about both Health care and illegal immigration. The facts are that President Obama has an objective of introducing a Canadian and European type single payer system. In truth it’s like a nationwide—MEDICARE—like all senior citizens receive now. It’s only difference their will be—NO CO-PAYS, DEDUCTIONS, NO PREMIUMS AND NO PRE -EXISTING CONDITIONS. The Special interest lobbyists, who work for the wealthy health care industry, are using every means possible to derail any kind of Universal health care. We must remember the British/English, French, German, Danish and other have been well accepted by their population for decades, with no worries about bankruptcy or Debt collectors calling. My health care in England, was first class when I lived in there, without financial worries and no distractions from profiteering insurance companies.
Since the inception of the European common market and the directive of open borders for cheap labor pouring into the industrialized nations, they have been overwhelmed by the impoverished needing health care. Such conditions didn’t exist before the 1960’s, as the their was no mass immigration and waiting periods. In America today and since the newest waves of legal and illegal immigration, costs to medicate these people have sky rocketed who have never paid one penny into the system. Each previous government never have restricted immigration, but allowed taxpayers to pay for their health care and welfare benefits. Each year approximately 1.5 million new immigrants are granted work visas and many become public charges.
Now Obama is insisting on yet another AMNESTY, which will be even costlier to the American taxpayers, so says the Heritage foundation. American taxpayers should not have to subsidize US businesses, which has been happening for years? A large majority of pariah corporate executives, do not want any restrictions on foreign national workers, that is why they have tried to kill a mandated E-Verify identity data base, to extract all illegal immigrants from the working environment.
That SANCTUARY STATES like California must rescind illegal immigrant refuge policies. That President Obama’s health care renewal plan—WILL—attract millions more impoverished people from around the world. That they can join with the 20 plus million already here, to get free medical care under the Democrats law now passing through Congress.
MY QUESTION IS! WHY SHOULD TAXPAYERS SUPPORT THE ILLEGAL LABOR FOR THE PARASITE CORPORATE ENTITIES ACROSS AMERICA? CALL TODAY AND GIVE POLITICIANS AT 202-224-3121 YOUR CRESCENDO OF FRUSTRATION? THAT’S ALL THEY UNDERSTAND—WHEN THEIR JOBS ARE IN PERIL. GOOGLE NUMBERSUSA AND JUDICIALWATCH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CORRUPTION AND PROFITEERING FROM BOTH PARTIES. OVERPOPULATION will be the irreversible consequences of mass immigration.
While Democrats across the country are running and hiding, rather than face their constituents this summer, Goodlatte was in a great position to take advantage. Too bad he’s joined the “no talking face to face” crowd.
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