Town Hall meetings from a candidate's perspective

August 14, 2:38 PMPortland Civil Rights ExaminerDianna Cotter

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Stephan Andrew Brodhead

Today's Guest Author is Stephan Andrew Brodhead who is running for the House of Representatives in Oregon's Congressional District #1.

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Health Care is at the top of the American consciousness this summer. It seems that just about everyone has an opinion on it, and there are many people who are passionate about their beliefs on both sides of the argument. As a candidate for the House of Representatives District 1, I feel it is my duty to honestly listen to as many people as possible who feel strongly enough to attend Town Hall meetings that are taking place all over the Nation. To that effect, I have been attending as many of David Wu’s Town Hall meetings as I can; both to listen to citizens and their concerns, and to hear Mr. Wu’s responses to the people.

I arrived at the Seaside Public Library an hour and a half before the event and waited in line with everyone else. It appeared that the individuals ahead of me were all Health Care reform supporters. Those further back in line were far more skeptical. I was one of the last people allowed a chair in the small room which was made available on a first come first serve basis. The questions seemed to be straight out of a talking points memo, even though the questioners were selected randomly from a hat. As I listened to the last question from a health care professional who stated "it was her dream to finally have Health Care for everyone", it sounded like a staged practiced closing statement!

In America, no one is denied care as it stands today. Doctors and Hospitals are required to treat patients regardless of their ability to pay. The issue isn’t one of getting health care to those who do not have it; it is about getting free healthcare paid for by other hard working Americans.

Secretary of State Kate Brown was in attendance, along with a few democratic state representatives, so it seemed to be a staged media event for the Democrats. The answers from David Wu were disturbing and void of any references to the Obama/Wu national debt or how we will pay for anything! He did talk about Medicare somewhat. The 110th Congress overrode George Bush's 10 percent cut in Medicare Doctor Pay outs in 2008. They then raised those payments by another 10 percent. David Wu stated that as part of the current House Health Care plan Medicare payouts to doctors would rise another 5 percent. So the democratically controlled 110th and 111th Congress will collectively raise Medicare payouts by 25 percent in less than one year.

Medicare is forecast to be $682 billion up from a little over $400 billion in 2008. If we then add 5 million baby boomers signing up for Medicare in 2010 at an average of $5000 to $15,000 per year in expenses, and the current $682 billion 2009 Medicare expenses inflate at its traditional 10 percent a year, 2010 Medicare expenses will eclipse $850 to $950 billion or 1/2 of a Bill Clinton budget year. David Wu said nothing about this reality or how we were going to pay for our current obligations to seniors at a ratio of 2.5 taxpayers to 1 person on full ride entitlements. The lack of information regarding how America is going to finance this spending is far past disturbing. There is no discussion at all from Democrats as to how they plan to pay for all of their programs.

One individual asked why not simply pass legislation that made "preexisting conditions" illegal, and leave Health Care in the private sector. Even then, David Wu made no reference to how much Health care insurance costs would go up by with this simple legislative regulation. When asked about Tort reform, David Wu sided with attorneys, and stated that "Tort reform would not save money"! David Wu, even with, Medicare expenses approaching $1 trillion dollars, and deficits looming at $2 trillion would not talk about deficits or taxation. He started to launch into his Bush/Republican Iraq war costs diatribe, and then he realized that Obama has expanded the wars in the Middle East and increased spending from $100 billion to $160 billion a year. Apparently David Wu forgot that he is now an Obama style tax and spend DC status quo imperialist! He then went on to thump his chest on the $300 million he received as part of the stimulus bribe.

So as it stands, after 11 years as Oregon's CD1 Representative, David Wu has renamed a post office, reversed his position on Iraq war funding, added 2 trillion to the debt and now wants to bankrupt America with an ill-conceived and rushed through Health Care program. Absent from David Wu's Health care Town Halls was any reference to federal spending or the taxes it will take to pay for his ill-conceived programs. We already know that the 2010 federal budget will probably be in the area of $4.6 trillion if we add in another Omnibus extension bill of $400 billion.

In order to pay for this level of federal government, Obama/Wu will have to double taxation on every taxpaying American citizen. This is money and hard work that is taken away from the private sector economy. This is money that is taken away from mothers and seniors that would otherwise go for utilities, food, baby formula, the mortgage, and fuel. This is money from hard working Americans that would otherwise go to sending their children to school, buying that new home or saving for retirement.

The reason why David Wu says nothing about taxation is he realizes that in order to fund Obama/Wu's "Great Socialist Sovereign less Insolvent Society" They will have to confiscate your home equity in the form of capital gains taxation. They will have to confiscate the tax return you were going to use to send your child to college. They will have to increase "The death tax" and the inheritance tax! They will have to tax your current Health Care benefits. They will have to tax your energy consumption. They will have to increase your Medicare payroll tax. They will have to borrow money from China and pass the debt on to your children.

What’s wrong with legislation that simply outlaws preexisting conditions, Tort reform and portability without increased taxation or any government interference beyond legislation and the adjudication? What’s wrong with rolling back federal spending to Pre=Bush levels and restoring states rights? What’s wrong with Senator Chris Telfers Oregon Senate Bill 862 which would be a far better solution? What’s wrong with limited government and a robust economy?

Stephan Andrew Brodhead is an Iraq War Veteran, retired Air Force Reserve Aviator, and Real Estate investor. His website is: http://www.StephanAndrewBrodheadForCongress.com