Charles Oliver
Dalton Daily Citizen
DALTON —
Voters are very concerned “and even a little bit scared” about where the United States is going as a country, says former Georgia Senate Majority Leader Bill Stephens.
“Almost every single person I talk to gets around to making that point,” said Stephens, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the 9th District U.S. House of Representatives seat. The 9th District includes Whitfield and Murray counties.
Stephens spoke to The Daily Citizen before a campaign appearance in Dalton on Wednesday. He said there are three issues that seem to particularly concern the voters he has been speaking to: soaring federal spending and debt, government intervention in general and health care.
He said health care has probably been the biggest issue recently, with voters concerned about the health care bills that Congress may pass.
House Democratic leaders say they may vote as early as this weekend on a health care reform package. But Stephens said that no matter what happens this year, health care will be a concern well into the future.
“We should start by fixing the things in health care we know are broke. For instance, the Veterans Administration hospital system,” he said. “There have been plenty of stories about how the VA system is dysfunctional. If the government can’t run that, I don’t know how it can run health care for everybody.”
Stephens said he’d like to see the system opened up more to the private sector, to encourage competition and give patients more choice in their treatment.
He said a good first step toward cutting federal deficits would be to freeze non-defense discretionary spending.
“I don’t think revenue is the problem so much as it is the spending,” he said.
But he acknowledges the proposal would leave untouched entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security, which make up about two-thirds of the federal budget.
Stephens said he would also try to call attention to wasteful spending, such as $500,000 provided in the current year’s budget to Missouri fish farmers for fish food.
“When I was in the state Senate, I created the Georgia stuck pig award to call attention to crazy spending,” he said.
Stephens said Rep. Nathan Deal’s announcement that he will resign rather than finish his term has placed a cloud of uncertainty over the race. Deal’s resignation will force the governor to call a special election but exactly when isn’t clear since Deal has said he will remain in Congress through the end of March to vote on health care.
Stephens said he will run in the special election and the Republican primary. He said the special election has forced all candidates to speed up their campaign efforts.
A businessman from Cumming, Stephens served eight years in the Georgia Senate.
For more information about Bill Stephens, go to billstephens.com.
