Latest Answers

Latest Answers http://www.askyourlawmaker.com/answers/latest/%2A/%2A/%2A/%2A a view of answers sorted by date en King: Well, if you say get rid of Medicare, you have to say get rid of Social Security and Medicaid. Those policies are established, they have created constituency bases, our entire society and culture has been rearranged because of them. The family dependency that we used to have where we took care of our parents and grandparents among our family and we liked to have big families then, so we had plenty of kids to pass us around when we got older. That's all disappeared. It's not completely disappeared, but it's just dramatically reduced, so we don't have the social structure, the underpinnings any longer that we had that took care of our senior citizens for example or Medicare. So, the question doesn't really apply to today's society in the same fashion. What I'm saying is, 'Let's not create an entire dependency class because that further fractures the fabric of America.' Reporter: But you support Medicare? King: I support Medicare because I recognize that our society's not in any condition to go backwards on that. http://www.askyourlawmaker.com/answers/king%3A-well%2C-if-you-say-get-rid-medicare%2C-you-have-say-get-rid-social-security-and-medicaid.- Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:53:27 -0600 jeanneamy 2729 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.com Three hundred million people is a huge risk pool, I'll concede that point. A 400% increase in eight years in premiums that's numbers I have not seen, but I can tell you I have looked exactly at numbers that calculate off of the legislation here in the House of Representatives, and it would be the $84 a month premium to the 25-year-old man in Indianapolis for example that would triple in cost immediately upon enactment of the bill. This would be a multiplier for a premium of a family of four, age 40, relatively healthy. Their multiplier of about $545 a month premium, you would multiply that times 2.21, $1,185 or somewhere in that neighborhood would be that premium. So, this bill increases the cost and triples them for young, healthy people. It does reduce the cost of premium for people that are arrive at Medicare eligibility at about 11%. But this huge risk pool doesn't translate into 300 million people paying premiums. http://www.askyourlawmaker.com/answers/three-hundred-million-people-huge-risk-pool%2C-i%2526%2523039%3Bll-concede-point.-400%25-increase-eight-ye Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:16:45 -0600 jeanneamy 2727 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.com Well, I don't think it's the government's responsibility to balance the market. I don't think government can do that.I'm an Adam Smith type of an economist and as a young man, I poked through his book "Wealth of Nations" and mine I think has 1,057 pages in it. I studied it carefully forward and back and it put me to sleep a lot of nights. But, in the end, I came out of it believing that free market forces are what will save this economy and government cannot manage this, it's got to be supply and demand, it's got to be the invisible hand and we need to get government out of the way. And, I don't say that we shouldn't have taxation, we've got to be able to fund government - but, government is too intrusive, it's too big, it's too many taxes and I used to say up until this year, in fact, I said we've got to slow the growth of government.Sometime about two or three months ago, I came to the conviction no we actually have to shrink government, it won't do to just slow the growth, we've got to shrink government and let the free market bring us out of the economic decline that we are in. http://www.askyourlawmaker.com/answers/well%2C-i-don%2526%2523039%3Bt-think-it%2526%2523039%3Bs-government%2526%2523039%3Bs-responsibility-balance-market.-i-don%2526%25230 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:25:43 -0600 jeanneamy 2725 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.com “Yes this administration has done better by any number of objective judgments. One, the people they’ve appointed are better – they’re more qualified. They’ve restructured the office in New Orleans. They have implemented an arbitration panel. They have moved over a billion dollars of projects through the pipeline in a short period of time. So that’s a “yes” they are doing much better. But the answer is still, in my view, “no” this country is not prepared for a catastrophic disaster. In terms of its housing strategy is not yet in place. This is not the fault of this administration; it should have been worked on in the prior administration it was just punted down the field. But it’s under consideration now. But the housing strategy is still not as developed and sophisticated as it needs to be, particularly any kind of relocation – massive relocation from a flood, like we had, or an earthquake. We still have as our primary source, I mean way our primary way, of you know, trailers, basically, which our country can’t even produce enough of in our own territory. But um, and then I think our communications strategy, while its - our communications technology, while it has been improved it’s probably not exactly there yet, even, even that. So it’s a work in progress.” http://www.askyourlawmaker.com/answers/%2526lt%3Bp%2526gt%3B%2526amp%3Bldquo%3Byes-administration-has-done-better-any-number-objective-judgments.-one%2C- Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:54:13 -0600 Peter G 2684 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.com Lynch: As a legislator you mean? Well I supported the recent energy bill which I think will provide huge incentives for green technologies to be developed. It’s pending in the Senate but I understand there’s a willingness at least on part of Senate to take that up. I think it’s a long range bill, this is so called cap and trade, that I think will reduce our reliance on foreign oil. I think that’s the big shift that has to occur for us to make any dent at all in climate change, global warming. That’s the effort that we’ve put together so far and it has a lot more in it than just incentives for green technologies; there’s also incentives there for different standards for automobile efficiency and also I think for conservation where we’ve been missing the boat quite a bit. I think some of the most simple stuff can be the most impactful. But we’ve put our eggs in one basket so to speak in terms of this energy bill in the hopes of turning the corner Reporter: Do you worry that costs will go up for rate payers? Lynch: I think there are some costs there but I think there ‘s costs either way. There are externalities from unwise practices that damage our environment. Those costs are spread. So yeah, I confront there will be costs, but I think it’s money well spent. And you’ve got to try to change behavior, and that’s never easy. So I think in the end people will look back and see that bill, if it’s passed, as being a turning point. Reporter: I was interested that you specified as legislator what you do, are there things that you do as an individual also? Lynch: I recycle, that’s what I thought you were getting at. You try to reduce your carbon footprint, like anybody else. Of course flying to DC back and forth, that doesn’t help – but that’s part of my job. Reporter: Do you go home every weekend? Lynch: Just about, just about. About once a week, I go home. Reporter: Where do you live when you’re here in DC, if I may ask? Lynch: I walk to work, walk back and forth to work. I don’t have a car in DC. So I’m pretty good there, once I land, right? I live over on the Senate side, it’s a nice walk, it’s a ten, fifteen minute walk at the most. So my carbon footprint is pretty good down here in DC, but it’s not too good, the fact that I get off the plane, and my wife and I both own automobiles up in Boston, because of the demands for me, you know, my district is 19 towns and 2 cities, so I probably do more traveling than I need to. http://www.askyourlawmaker.com/answers/%2526lt%3Bp%2526gt%3Blynch%3A-legislator-you-mean%3F-well-i-supported-recent-energy-bill-which-i-think-will- Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:32:51 -0600 Peter G 2682 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.com “I don’t have any comment on that.” (Reporter: “…just wanting to get your assessment…?”) [no response] http://www.askyourlawmaker.com/answers/%2526lt%3Bp%2526gt%3B%2526amp%3Bldquo%3Bi-don%2526amp%3Brsquo%3Bt-have-any-comment-.%2526amp%3Brdquo%3B-%28reporter%3A-%2526amp%3Bldquo%3B%2526a Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:44:30 -0600 EW Johnson 2680 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.com "I don't know. I don’t know. I said I was disappointing and I think given what the situation we are going through with the House it is a mistake for us to go in with a weaker plan in conference. You know I don't have a good explanation as to why. We were at almost 200 plus members that wanted. I wish more would have been done to try to bring those other ten fifteen over. But they held out and Blue Dogs held out and to some extent they had a great deal to say about what we ended up with and it is disappointing to say the least." http://www.askyourlawmaker.com/answers/%2526lt%3Bp%2526gt%3B%2526amp%3Bquot%3Bi-don%2526%2523039%3Bt-know.-i-don%2526amp%3Brsquo%3Bt-know.-i-said-i-was-disappointing-and Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:48:20 -0600 Peter G 2671 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.com “I don’t think there is a simple answer to that. I think the question is, does that child want to find the natural parents. If the child wants to find the natural parents, I would think they should exhaust any means available to do that, but I am aware of a number of cases where the parent did not want to be reconnected with the natural child. It’s not a yes or no answer.” “Well I had a case… some time ago where a young person who needed a bone marrow transplant because they had leukemia, he had been adopted, and we were able to locate the parent. And the parent was willing to identify themselves. So I think every case is different. I am a strong believer in family. If family wants to be together, they should exhaust every opportunity to do so. If family does not want to be together, then that’s their decision.” http://www.askyourlawmaker.com/answers/%E2%80%9Ci-don%E2%80%99t-think-there-simple-answer-.-i-think-question-%2C-does-child-want-find-natural-parents Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:04:01 -0500 jeanneamy 2657 at http://www.askyourlawmaker.com