An Hour with Congressman Jim Bridenstine

On May 11th, I attended a town hall meeting whose special guest was Oklahoma 1st District Congressman Jim Bridenstine. The event was sponsored by AMAC, the Association of Mature American Citizens, and was attended by about 100 people, most of whom were senior citizens. This gathering was devoid of the rancor which plagued his recent town hall meeting at Oral Roberts University, where pink-shirted progressives shouted down any statement from him or his supporters which met with their disapproval.

He began by by discussing the Affordable Care Act (a/k/a Obamacare), which was the previous president's signature domestic "achievement". Oklahoma, he said, is down to one insurer -- -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield. In 2017, premiums have increased an average of  76% in the individual non-subsidized market. We need more competition and health care options, he said, along with high risk pools, which were terminated in 2014 when the ACA became fully operational.

An Obamacare repeal and replacement bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives on May 4th by a vote of 217 to 213, with all Democrats and a small handful of Republicans in opposition. Bridenstine voted yes. He said it wasn't a bill he would have written, but is a significant improvement over current law. Contrary to Democrat and mainstream media belief, he added,  "this legislation does cover pre-existing conditions every which way possible.. No one will go without health care."

One attendee complained that the federal government shouldn't be in the business of passing health care coverage laws for 320 million Americans, He said it violates Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which enumerates the few, very specific areas for which Congress has
authority.  Rep. Bridenstine did not disagree with that assessment, but indicated current legislation is the best we can hope for, under present circumstances. "We're a long way away," he added, "before final passage of any health care law becomes reality."

Rep. Bridenstine also mentioned the little-known provision of Obamacare that allows congressmen and their staffs to opt out of this coverage and choose the lower cost, more generous, federal employees' health care coverage program. Commendably, his staff voted to forgo this option and live with the law that plagues most Americans . Some were reduced to tears and had to quit. One staffer's family saw their annual cost of coverage increase from $6,000 to $18,000.

He also expressed general support for President Trump's tax reform plan, which proposes to lower the capital gains rate from 35% to 15%, cut individual rates, reduce the number of tax brackets, double the standard deduction, expand child care credits, and eliminate both the estate (death) tax and the alternative minimum tax. Once again, he said, final passage won't be easy but is certainly possible later this year. 


Mr. Bridenstine also thinks the President's foreign policy is a big improvement over that of his predecessor. He cited the strike against Syria's chemical weapons facilities, the dropping of MOABs (Mother of All Bombs) in Afghanistan terrorist enclaves, and the pushback against North Korean aggression as prudent uses of presidential power which thankfully fall far short of nation building. 

He said the previous President thought if we were nice to everyone in the world, they'd be
nice back. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out that way.  "Deterrence works, " he added. "Weakness is provocative. War happens when good people do nothing."

Near the end of his speech, which was following by a question and answer session, he lamented the changed culture he's seen in his four and one-half years in Washington D.C. "We used to believe in absolute truth -- -- good and bad, right and wrong.  Now, everything is relative.  Since many people no longer believe in truth, they don't know when they're lying."

The congressman also reiterated his original pledge to the voters that this, his third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, will be his last. (Markwayne Mullin, are you listening?). It remains possible that President Trump will appoint him NASA administrator. Otherwise, he's unsure what the future holds.Several attendees expressed hope he'd make a future run for statewide office, a notion he didn't entirely dismiss.

Afterwards, I gave him a book to share with his staff. It's titled 'Good Reasons to Vote for Democrats'. I encourage all SoonerPolitics.org followers to check it out. Note: It's a very quick read!