Fresh off the campaign trail after a sizeable victory, Congressman Jim Matheson, D-Utah, spoke Wednesday at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on the current political climate of change8212;the message President-elect Barack Obama utilized during his campaign.
Matheson said he believes voters have been dissatisfied with the polarization and partisanship in Washington and are craving a change of pace.
“Folks in this country are looking for a little more statesmanship and consensus building,” Matheson said. “I think our political system will rise to the occasion.”
Attendees of the forum focused their questions on the economy, health care and energy. Matheson addressed these issues and the economic crisis in detail. As an opponent of the $700 billion bailout package, Matheson said he felt the bill missed fundamental problems in the economy.
“What was lacking in the legislation was a plan to deal with the underlying problems of home prices,” Matheson said. “Until you have stability in home prices, you’re not going to solve the problems.”
Rachel Kellers, a senior in economics, agreed with Matheson’s approach to the bailout package.
“I’m glad he didn’t support the bailout,” Keller said. “I hope that he and Congress will address the real problem of home price instability in the next session.”
Cheryl Kish, a Utah Republican and supporter of Matheson’s opponent Bill Dew, also attended the forum.
“I don’t agree with everything he said, of course,” Kish said. “But it helped me to see that he is a moderate Democrat.”
Kish said she particularly agreed with Matheson’s opposition to the federal bailout and his more conservative approach to fiscal responsibility at the federal level.
The congressman also expressed concern about the national debt, which is more than $10 trillion. Matheson pointed out that if the national debt is appropriated equally among every citizen, each person owes nearly $32,000 to the government.
“While you may not feel that the issue of national debt impacts you every day, I’m here to tell you it does,” Matheson said. “It’s not going to be easy to right this ship.”
In regard to energy policy, Matheson seemed to take a centrist approach. Although he did not directly say he is in favor of drilling offshore, he said that until new technologies take over, America will depend on oil. However, he did note that America cannot drill its way to energy independence.
Matheson said he also believes new technology and alternative energy will see major progress in the coming years.
“I’m quite optimistic that the country is going to meet this challenge,” he said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but I think it’s going to happen.”
Matheson said he is concerned that America’s health care policy is heading down a path it can’t sustain. The cost of health care coverage is rising above the rate of inflation, and the quality of health care is not competing with that of other industrialized nations, he said. Despite the magnitude of the situation, Matheson believes congress will begin making proper transformational steps in the coming session.
Matheson will begin work on these issues as he begins his fifth term in January.
John StaffordUtah Congressman Jim Matheson addresses issues facing the country and congress during a speech at the Hinckley Institute of Politics. Topics included energy, the economy and health care.