In a recent article in the New York Times about our little district and the possibility of a Schwarz/Walberg rematch in '08, there was an interesting quote I found near the bottom of the article from Joe Wicks, Walberg's chief of staff: “He [Walberg] is going to work on increasing access to health care and move toward energy dependence” Why is this such an interesting quote? Well frankly because of what Walberg has said in the past about health care, and Walberg's main backers, The Club For Growth's views on health care.

As reported by Fitzy right here, when Walberg was asked was asked if Americans had the right to universal health care in last cycle's debate he responded: “Absolutely not. It's not a right, it's an opportunity we have." How do you get more access than universal health care? Then in an op-ed in the Lansing State Journal, he wrote “Medicare changes look like Hillarycare,” in response to the bill that passed the house (which Walberg voted against) to allow Medicare to bargain with drug companies to get lower prices. In this article he states the good ol' Pro Big-Pharma line on this bill that it will limit drug choices for seniors. Oh, and his idea to lower health care costs, tort reform. (Haven't we heard that before?)

When I first had an the idea of writing a post on Walberg views on health care, I found little online about Walberg's views on this ever increasing issue in our country. Then I realized I could search for the next best thing, how The Club For Growth views health care. I figured an organization that backs Walberg so aggressively, must think that he represents their views. So what does The Club say about health care?

Here are a few quotes I found from Steven Moore, The Club's Founder:

“…Every American taxpayer knows full well the fiscally catastrophic impact of programs like Medicare, Medicaid and other blank-check redistribution programs.” on Medicare

“There is no excuse for creating an entitlement for prescription drugs; it will inflate federal debt, rob money from future generations and socialize health care.” on prescription drugs.

On the main page of their web site, The Club today criticizes John Edward's universal health care plan in an article titled: “John Edwards Wants to Raise Your Taxes.”

Health care is a major issue in this country and it is goint to take more than changing the out come of health care lawsuits to fix this problem.

By the way, Walberg's Issue's page only has a Press Release about blood drives filed under Health Care.

If anyone knows of any more information on this topic please let me know!

Labels: 2008 Speculation, Club for Growth, Health Care, Issues, Medicare, Tim Walberg

As the 100 Hours continue today, Democrats took up the issue of allowing Medicare to negotiate with prescription drug companies for lower prices. It's worth noting that private insurance does this already. Only Medicare is paying higher, un-negotiated prices. It allows the federal government to participate in the free market like any other economic player. The bill, HR 4, passed 255-170.

Tim Walberg voted No. This time, 24 Republicans joined the Democrats in voting yes, but the entire Republican delegation from Michigan voted against the bill. Democratic Congressman Sander Levin (MI-12) did not vote.

Just as an interesting side-note, the pharmaceutical industry contributed $10,172,305 to Republicans during the 2006 election cycle, or 69 percent of their total contributions. Since 1990, the industry has contributed $90,146,207 to Republicans, or about 67 percent of their contributions during the period. However, according to Open Secrets, Tim Walberg did not receive any contributions from the industry.

Did that have anything to do with the way they voted?

Labels: 110th Congress, Health Care, Issues, Medicare, Tim Walberg, Walberg Voting Record