Two GOP hopefuls pledge fight for health-care repeal
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Fifth District Republican nomination candidates Robert Hurt and Feda Morton are both saying this week that they would work if elected to Congress to repeal the federal health-care reform signed into law by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
“I have pledged to the people I’m seeking to represent that not only will I vote against government-run health care, I will seek to roll it back should it become law this year,” said Hurt, a Southside state senator and the early favorite to win the GOP nomination in the Fifth.
“Its trillio- dollar price tag is the wrong solution for our grandchildren. Its tax increases are the wrong solution for our middle-class. Its Medicare cuts are the wrong solution for our seniors and its abortion funding is the wrong solution for those with no voice. As Virginia’s next Congressman I will go to Washington to fight to bring jobs back to the Fifth District, ensure that we cut out of control government spending and restore our values which Tom Perriello and his allies in Washington step on every day,” Hurt said.
Tom Perriello, a Democrat, voted in favor of the reform in the House on Sunday.
“For more than a century, our leaders have promised affordable universal health care to all Americans. Today we delivered that result in a way that our local hospitals say will improve quality and reduce costs for patients,” Perriello said in a statement on the vote. “Middle-class families will save $1,000 to $2,000 per year, and small business owners will see the cost of covering their workers drop. This bill will help our rural hospitals and clinics keep their doors open, improve health care for over 400,000 local residents, reduce the federal deficit, and provide coverage to 48,000 more individuals in the Fifth District alone – more than the population of Danville.”
Morton, calling the move to reform a “naked grab of power” by Democrats, pledged to use the full powers of the Fifth District seat in Congress if elected “to defund nationalized health care,” according to a press statement put out by the Morton campaign.
“The House can simply refuse to approve funding for the health-care bureaucracy. Bureaucracy lives off money; if we starve the beast, we can kill it,” Morton said in the release.
Morton also bruoght the abortion issue into the debate. “I absolutely think that voters will remember how so-called pro-life members like Tom Perriello and Bart Stupak caved in the face of pressure. Why some members of Congress would trust an executive order from Barack Obama, one of the most anti-life presidents ever, simply boggles the mind. We need to send a true pro-life representative to Washington to stop this madness,” Morton said.
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From DailyProgress.com: Severed gas line at home of brother of Congressman Tom Perriello being investigated by local, federal authorities. http://bit.ly/9y5i1J
Incident takes place a day after a local Tea Party group mistakenly posted the address to Bo Perriello’s home as benig that of Tom Perriello.
Tom Perriello released the following statement in response to an ongoing FBI investigation into a severed gas line at the home of the congressman’s brother.
“My number one priority right now is ensuring the safety of my brother’s family, and I am grateful to law enforcement for their excellent work. While it is too early to say anything definitive regarding political motivations behind this act, it’s never too early for political leaders to condemn threats of violence, particularly as threats to other Members of Congress and their children escalate. And so I ask every member of House and Senate leadership to state unequivocally tonight that it is never OK to harm or threaten elected officials and their families with anything more than political retribution. Here in America, we settle our political differences at the ballot box.”