Westerman talks Trump, health care reforms
U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-District 4, voiced his continued support for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump despite recent controversies and promoted the GOP’s Better Way platform during a wide-ranging teleconference call with Arkansas media on Monday.
Asked if he still supported Trump after his recent “back and forth” with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, Muslims whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004, Westerman said, “Donald Trump wasn’t my first choice and he probably wasn’t my second choice, but now that it’s down between (Democratic nominee) Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, it’s pretty easy for me.”
He said his main concern was the U.S.
Supreme Court. “We already have one vacancy there and that appointment will determine whether the court leans more conservative or more liberal,” he said, noting Trump “has put forth a good list of candidates from what I understand, and the conservative groups have vetted these candidates, and you probably couldn’t find a better list of candidates to pick from for the Supreme Court.”
He said there could be “one or two or three or maybe even four justices in a very short time that are not on the court anymore” and “what happens with the Supreme Court in this next term will affect our country for a long time.”
Westerman said he views Clinton as “President Obama 3.0” and “I don’t think we will make much progress in the right direction with her as president. I sure think she will appoint young liberals to the Supreme Court that will forever change the direction of this country.”
He stressed he still supports Trump, but noted, “I wish he would focus more on issues that matter and not get trapped up in some of the things he’s been trapped up in.”
Asked if he was concerned about Trump having the nuclear codes and whether he has “the temperament to be trusted with it,” Westerman said, “That’s not really a question for me. That’s a question for the American people when they go to the polls. Obviously, if he gets elected president he will have those nuclear codes and I trust if he has the confidence of the American people, he will handle that in the way he should, and he will put good advisers around him.”
He said he was not confident with Clinton as commander in chief “with her track record in the Obama administration.”
Westerman said he was “excited” to discuss his work with the “Better Way” platform proposed by the House Republican Conference in conjunction with the office of House Speaker Paul Ryan, whom he met with in the early stages.
“It’s an organic plan and recognizes we have talent from around the country and we’ve gone back to our districts and listened to our constituents to identify the major issues,” he said, noting they conducted a survey of the representatives to rank the most important issues and “out of those rankings we came up with a top six.”
He said the issues they came up with matched up with the issues identified in a nationwide poll as the ones people were most concerned about, with “the biggest one being national security” and health care a second major concern.
“The other four mainly deal with the economy and the way government functions. I am excited about these things and I think this is a concrete plan to move forward. People say Republicans are opposed to stuff and ask what are we for? Well, you can go to (www.better.gop. com) and see what we’re for,” he said.
He encouraged those in his district to “let me know” if they have suggestions or “better ideas” about the issues.
“This is a way for a lot more voices to be heard and to focus on those issues that are important. I wish the presidential campaigns would focus more on these issues, as well.”
He admitted that some people have compared “The Better Way” to 1994’s Contract with America and noted, “It’s something we totally came up with based on what we think the issues of the day are today. (The Contract) was the last time that was done and we had some successful legislation come out of that.”
Asked if some of the elements in their health care proposal were borrowed from Obamacare, he said, “If there’s things that can be taken and improved upon, we should do that. I would not rule it out just because it was part of Obamacare, but it should be more patient and doctor centered rather than move to a single payer system.”
He noted Clinton was “pushing for that back in the ’90s.”
Regarding the Affordable Care Act, Westerman said “from what I’m seeing from the federal level, it’s imploding upon itself. We’re not just seeing increased rates in programs like private options or Arkansas Works or Medicaid expansion as it’s been done in other states, we’re seeing private insurance rates go up.
“Health care costs continue to grow and we’re seeing more limited access to health care. That ties into our plan to address the health care issue and to have a plan that’s more patient provider centered. One that gets the federal government out of setting prices for services.
“One that creates more competition in the marketplace and one that will allow you to buy health insurance across state lines and that will hopefully protect those health insurance services or health cost services for those that truly need them.”
He said the states need to be more accountable by “putting caps on how much federal money goes into state programs. Right now there is no limit on how much the federal government spends on those programs. We have got to segregate those programs into different buckets and put caps on each bucket.
“We’ve got to incentivize the states to manage those plans better. The states, I think, will be for this because it gives them more flexibility and takes the heavy hand of CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and the federal government and at least lifts it off them so they can design programs that better fit their states.”