By Roger McKinney
news@joplinglobe.com
BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. —
U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins, R-Kan., on Wednesday addressed questions about partisanship, the health care reform law and the Arizona immigration law.
She met at Cafe on the Route with eight residents who showed up for her Congress to Kansas campaign tour. She is facing a challenge in the November election from Girard Democrat Cheryl Hudspeth. Robert Garrard, of Edgerton, filed for the post on the Libertarian ticket.
Health care
Residents Esther and Clyde Bond said they are concerned about how the health care reform law might affect them. They said they oppose it.
“We fought it with all that we had,” Jenkins said of the Republican opposition to the measure.
“Where do we go from here?” she said. “If the Republicans regain the majority in the House, we have a plan to repeal it and replace it with a Republican plan.”
Jenkins said the Republican plan addresses rising health care costs but doesn’t seek government control of health care.
“I don’t know whether Republicans will regain control of the House,” she said. “Obviously, I’m hopeful.”
Partisanship
Baxter Springs City Councilman Stan Pickering, who identified himself as a Democrat, said he thinks partisanship rules in Congress.
“My biggest complaint is the minute either party brings anything up, it becomes political,” he said. Pickering said too many in Congress are working for their parties and not for their constituents.
Jenkins said that when she ran two years ago, she was frustrated with members of her own party who were running up federal deficits.
“It must change,” she said. She said there are many issues on which Republicans and Democrats can agree, including energy policy.
“I don’t work for John Boehner,” Jenkins said, referring to the minority leader in the House. “He can’t vote for me.”
Immigration
Addressing another question, Jenkins said she supports the Arizona immigration law, SB 1070, which requires all immigrants, including legal immigrants, to carry documents at all times and requires police to check the immigration status of those they suspect are not documented.
Opponents say it would result in racial profiling. A federal judge has suspended most of the law’s requirements. The U.S. Justice Department has sued the state, saying immigration regulation is a federal power.
“It’s very disappointing this issue wasn’t dealt with at the federal level,” Jenkins said. “It’s a security issue. It’s an economic issue. We need to secure our border.”
Tax cuts, debt
Speaking with a reporter as people left the event, Jenkins was asked if she favors allowing any of the tax cuts enacted during the George W. Bush administration to expire as scheduled this year. President Barack Obama has backed allowing tax cuts for those who make more than $250,000 a year to expire.
“I think letting them expire would be a complete and total disaster” for the economy, Jenkins said.
She also was asked if the tax cuts have contributed and are contributing to the budget deficit.
“We don’t have a revenue problem,” she said “We have a spending problem.”
A congressional analysis last month found that extending all the tax cuts for 10 years would add $3.8 trillion to the national debt.
Democratic opponent
Hudspeth, contacted by phone, said Jenkins isn’t serious about reducing the deficit.
“Who is she working for, the 2 percent of people who make more than $250,000 a year, or the other 98 percent?” she said.
Hudspeth said reducing the deficit will require revenue increases and spending cuts.
“We’re going to have to make cuts in military spending,” she said. “She’s (Jenkins) willing to write a blank check for the wealthy and a blank check for the military.”
With regard to health care, Hudspeth said the law that was enacted this year didn’t go far enough.
“There’s a lot more work to do,” she said. “I suspect the Democrats will work to make the law better. I would not repeal it. I would improve it.”
