Mourdock talks health care, more during stop

JEFFERSONVILLE — In November, Hoosier voters will go to the polls to decide who will be their next representative in the U.S. Senate.

Last month, Republican voters selected state treasurer Richard Mourdock, ousting six-term senator Richard Lugar. He’ll face off against Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly in the fall.

Mourdock, making his rounds to media organizations around the state, visited the News and Tribune’s Jeffersonville office Tuesday, speaking with a reporter and editorial board representative. Here’s a bit of what was discussed:

HEALTH CARE

“I believe the health care issue will be the biggest issue through the entire election cycle, not just for this race but for the presidential race as well,” Mourdock said.

“I believe campaigns ought to be about contrast and there are few issues that will show greater contrast between congressman Donnelly and me than this issue. Clearly, he believes in Obamacare, he voted for it, he’s continuing to defend it and I think it’s a horrible idea that’s not only going to result in really bad health care but it’s also really crushing the economy right now because of the expectation of the cost.”

He favors a plan that would allow health care to be bought across state lines, creating more competition. Further, he would like to see regulations changed in a way that allows businesses to pool together in purchasing health care insurance, which would spread the risk and reduce costs.

Mourdock believes the health care law will inflate costs and reduce health professionals’ efficiency; “instead of seeing 80 patients per day they’re only seeing 40,” he said.

Of particular interest to the candidate is a mandate that requires an employer to pay for certain services they may be morally opposed to — such as birth control — which Mourdock said he opposes.

But is that fair to the consumer, who may want their birth control covered?

Mourdock’s example was an employer who decided to cover everything but cancer.

“Does that employer have the right to do it? I would say yes they do if they want to keep their health care costs down but it also means it’s less likely you’re going to want to work here. If that employer wants to get the best employees coming in the door he’s going to offer the best insurance possible.”

So is there anything to like about Obamacare?

Mourdock concedes that he has heard support from people on the pre-existing condition coverage that the bill allows. Further, he said, health insurance companies are also embracing a provision in the law which allows parents to keep their children on their plans until they reach age 26.

“Those types of reforms are good ones that we need to continue to build on,” he said.

Donnelly points to the same two reforms as positive progress that came out of the bill.

LOCAL ISSUES

The News and Tribune doesn’t allow politicians to pass through Clark County without answering questions about the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridge Project, which seeks to build two new spans to Louisville.

Where does Mourdock stand on the issue of federal funding for the project?

“The federal government certainly does have a part to play in funding for roads and highways — especially in terms of interstate commerce.”

He said he’d vote in favor of federal funding for the project but ultimately believes it will be split between that and tolls.

“I think it has to be both,” he said.

And then there’s the Ohio River Greenway — a federally funded project that seeks to connect riverfronts in Jeffersonville, Clarksville and New Albany.

He wasn’t familiar enough with the project to take a definitive stance on federal funding for it.

“Where we are today with our budget issues, is it something that needs to be looked at — yeah, I’m willing to look at it.”

ECONOMY

A lot has been said about what is wrong with the economy, but the News and Tribune’s question was what can be done by congress to fix it.

“We have to make sure the Bush tax cuts do go forward and we have to revise the tax code dramatically, I think,” he said.

Mourdock is in favor of lowering corporate taxes, saying the United States has the second highest corporate tax rates in the world. Lastly, he said, regulatory reform is important, and the former coal company geologist uses the Environmental Protection Agency as an example.

“[When it was founded], the EPA was set to be an administrative agency to set the national standard of what rules and regulations should be in the environmental area,” he said.

Each state, in turn, was to form its own regulatory branch — in Indiana that’s the Department of Environmental Management.

Mourdock believes that dynamic has changed over the decades to a point where the EPA has become the regulators.

“Why are these national experts now more influential as to the local setting and the local folks — whose whole purpose and mission is to protect their own environment? This is how the government regulatory environment has grown. So there’s a whole new set of federal regulators that we have to deal with. And it’s, again, crushing any economic development,” Mourdock said.

FOREIGN POLICY

Though domestic issues have dominated much of the political discourse over the last four years, foreign policy in the Middle East and dealing with threats from countries like Iran and North Korea remain as looming questions.

“I think one of the things that we need to be doing is acting more unilaterally than looking to go through the United Nations. We need to act more on our own,” he said.

But what is it the U.S. needs to be doing on its own?

He advocates economic sanctions — including on gasoline — to deal with Iran. Further, he said the U.S. needs to keep a closer eye on the development of terrorist networks in Pakistan and provide support for Israel maintaining its current borders.

“The most important thing that can happen — not just in the Middle East but every place in the world — toward world peace is to have the United States be perceived as a very strong and a very dependable ally. And unfortunately, that’s not where we are today.”

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Mourdock talks health care, more during stop

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