Pictured above is U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell at Middlesboro ARH. The Senator was in Bell County on Thursday. He spoke at a luncheon hosted by the Bell County Chamber of Commerce and then at the hospital.
McConnell is the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Kentucky’s history, an advocate of conservative principles, and currently serves as a senior member of the Appropriations, Agriculture and Rules Committee.
Bell County Judge-Executive Albey Brock introduced Senator McConnell to community members on Thursday, and expressed great appreciation and admiration for the contributions that have been made by McConnell in support of Bell County.
“We appreciate you at a level that I don’t think we can express in words,” said Brock. “And I know, I for one, am certainly proud to have you as my Senator.”
Senator McConnell took the floor around noon and addressed the crowd, which consisted mainly of concerned citizens, local officials, business owners and area leaders.
“I’m happy to be back in Bell County today and to see all of you,” stated McConnell. “A good place to start would be to thank you for a very nice margin last fall, which I deeply appreciate it... and I am deeply grateful for your attendance today.”
McConnell expressed his views on the new administration and discussed a variety of important political issues that U.S. citizens encounter in this era.
“Let me start by saying that I very much approve of what the President is doing in Afghanistan and in Iraq,” McConnell explained. “I think he has essentially continued the policies that have kept us safe here at home since 9/11. It’s very challenging to have to continue to engage in these kinds of military conflicts, but we have an enemy with whom it’s hard to get a peace agreement.”
Then, McConnell criticized the new administration’s decision to close Guantanamo Bay Prison. “It is the perfect place for these kinds of killers. No one has ever escaped from Guantanamo and no one ever will escape from Guantanamo,” said McConnell. “It is a unique and difficult challenge not made better by a decision to close Guantanamo, so I hope the President changes his mind about that. This has worked. It isn’t broke and doesn’t need fixed.”
The Senator briefly shifted his sights to the domestic front, and gave his take on the current state of the United States economy.
“We are on a spending spree of unprecedented proportions. We passed a stimulus bill... but basically, what we did was borrow close to a trillion dollars for the purpose of jump-starting us out of the recession,” stated McConnell. “There is some indication the economy may be turning around, but if this is so, it has nothing to do with the stimulus.”
Additionally, Senator McConnell addressed his “core concern” relating to the future of healthcare in the United States, and the problems with government-controlled healthcare.
“We have the finest healthcare in the world, bar none, and public opinion polls indicate that Americans agree with that. This is not just a bunch of healthcare professionals declaring that we have the best healthcare in the world. The American people believe we have the best healthcare in the world. It is a provable thing,” stated McConnell. “American healthcare is very costly. It is the most costly in the world, and everyone would like to bend the cost curve. It is also important to remember, however, that some of the cost is driven by the quality.”
McConnell specified several ways the government could decrease the cost of medical care in the United States for the betterment of everyone.
“Number one, I would go after junk lawsuits against doctors and hospitals. Number two, I would equalize the tax code. Number three, I would incentivize wellness programs,” said McConnell. “There are a variety of other adjustments that we can make that I think would not take us down the road of destroying the finest healthcare in the world, and replacing it with a kind of mediocre European model.”
McConnell continued his conversation on healthcare after the luncheon, as Middlesboro ARH hosted a visit from the Senator, as well.
The event was hosted by the Bell County Chamber of Commerce, the SKCTC Small Business Development Center and Eastern Kentucky Jobsight.
Adam Young is a staff writer for the Middlesboro Daily News. Contact him via e-mail at ayoung@middlesborodailynews.com.
In 1952, corporations paid about 33 percent of the tax revenue taken in by the IRS. In 2006, thanks to Republicans like Mitch and George W. Bush, corporations paid only 8 percent of the total -- 92 major U.S. corporations paid no tax at all. Guess who had to take up the slack. Yep, you and I did.
People who vote for Republicans are either too ignorant or too stupid to know what their actual best interests are, and as george Santyana wrote, those who do not learn the errors of history are doomed to repeat them.
President Obama wants to enact federally what already exists in 30 states -- a publicly funded health insurance program for employees to choose if they don't like the private ones. Republicans say this would put a government bureaucrat between the patient and the doctor, which they say is bad. Right now, however, insurance company bureaucrats are between the patients and the doctors and telling the doctors and hospitals how much they can charge for treatment. Why should they have this right, and why should we have to pay for it?
If you think Mitch McConnell is in favor of quality health care for ordinary schmucks like you and me, then you haven't gone online and looked at his list of campaign contributors. Republicans are for ordinary Americans the way the ACLU is for the Ten Commandments on the courthouse lawn.
What the crap kind of dim-wit statement is that?
And just who is good ol R??
Jeez! With this kind of mentality (or lack of),
it's scary to think of who's in the voting booths of this state, choosing our leaders.
VOTE MITCH OUT!!!!!!
We appreciate you at a level that I don’t think we can express in words,” said Brock.
Man, that's just sick!!!!