Wyden touts health care at meeting
By Larry Meyer
Argus Observer
Tuesday, June 30, 2009 10:02 AM PDT
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| U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden meets with Malheur County residents in the Ontario Train Depot Sunday during his annual town hall meeting. |
ONTARIO — Health care and Idaho Power transmission lines dominated the discussion during a town hall meeting conducted by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, at the Ontario Train Depot, Sunday, during his annual visit to the Malheur County.
Wyden held similar meetings in three other Eastern Oregon counties on Saturday.
Discussing the health care issue, Wyden touted his Healthy Americans Act, which he said has wide bipartisan support.
Wyden said there are two compelling sides to the health care issue in America. Democrats, he said, believe you can’t fix the economy until people get affordable coverage. However, Republicans, he said, have a valuable point that people should take at least some responsibility for their health care
Wyden’s health care plan would guarantee private health care coverage for all Americans and allows them to choose the health insurance that is right for them.
“The Congressional Budget Office has said (the) Healthy Americans Act does not break the bank,” Wyden said.
It would be cost neutral the first few years but would start saving money in about three or four years, he said.
Oregon’s senior senator also said his bill would stop the practice by insurance companies of “cherry picking” their customers, choosing the most healthy people to sign up for coverage and sending those who are fragile in health to government programs.
On the current economic situation headlined by the failure in the mortgage markets, Wyden said he voted against the $700 billion bank bail out, both when it was proposed by the Bush administration and the Obama administration.
On the transmission line issue, Wyden vowed to look out for the interests of area voters.
“I’m not going to let Idaho Power trample Oregon farmland,” Wyden said. “That would be unacceptable.”
Local residents, many of them rural land owners, are fighting to keep the route of a proposed major transmission line through Malheur County on public lands. The initial proposed pathway pushed the line across mainly private farmland. Wyden also said he would fight any attempts to allow federal regulators from superseding state processes that would protect farmland.
Turning to energy and environmental policy, Wyden said there needs to be policies that strike a balance between promoting energy savings and protecting the environment and strengthening the economy, including agriculture.
“Ag is an energy-intensive business,” the senator said.
The current energy bill moving through the Congress was passed by the United States House of Representatives but still has to go through the Senate.
Commenting on the need for alternative energy and reducing dependency on foreign oil, Wyden said, “When you go to the gas pump, you pay a terror tax.”
Some of the money paid on fuel eventually makes its way to the Middle East and goes through the back door to terrorists, he said.
To bring balance to the table, people have to check partisanship at the door, Wyden said. However, in working for balanced legislation, one does not get a lot of headlines, he added.
“I’m very cautious about putting more taxes on Oregonians,” Wyden said. In considering legislation, Wyden said he looks at bills through the prism of Oregon unemployment numbers.
While acknowledging mounting problems in the nation, Wyden said there are plenty of things that show the United States is the best place to live. He noted people still want to come to America than want to leave.
“In much of the world, you can’t have a meeting like this,” he said.
