Joe Sestak on the PCN Call-In Show

Joe Sestak, Congressman-elect from Pennsylvania’s 7th district was the guest yesterday on PCN’s Call-In Show. The video is currently available on PCN’s website www.pcntv.com. Francine Schertzer is the host. These are my notes from the show. As always, my apologies for any errors or misinterpretations. In two places the video stalled (with interesting face melting effect) and I wasn’t able to capture Sestak’s entire answer. This was more likely my dsl line that PCN’s feed.


Q: What issues do you anticipate working on?

JS: Democratic party was not given a mandante but an opportunity. Issues: 1) Iraq 2) affordable health care 3) education pre-k through college, 4) pay as you go economy

Q: Which is nearest and dearest to you?

JS: health care. His daughter spent 4 months in the oncology ward. Tells the story of the boy on the other side of the curtain on the ward whose family had no health coverage, and of overhearing social workers talk with the parents about whether he could stay. Also economy, cannot keep mortgaging our future, tragic misadventure in iraq

Q: health care, how to make it more affordable

JS: shared responsibility between individual and society as well as business. It can only be done if bipartisan, looked at the Massachusetts plan closely. It mandates everyone participate, with the healthy participating it brings premiums down. Small businesses join together to make larger pools, competition makes costs go down

Q: how to prevent insurance from raising premiums

JS: competition. Massachusetts plan takes 20 or so insurance plans, allows small businesses to join together to negotiate among 20 or so plans for the best price.

Q: how would the MA plan differ from European and Canadian social medicine?

JS: There is a significant difference. The European model has a single payer. We should rely on competition to ensure that everyone sees what each plan offers and negotiate for best price.

Q: reward practitioners for quality not quantity?

JS: called fee for service in medicare. When he was looking for doctor for his daughter the military gave him information so he could tell what docs were better. Having an IT revolution would help individuals see where they might get the best performance for their medical care. Then shift from fee for service to preventive care and early diagnosis.

Caller: Congrats. America is lacking a good energy policy, need to be more energy independent

JS: Agree. Time to move towards energy independence has come. Need strategic plan. Change tax incentive structure. Not to oil companies to drill more but to companies that use alternative energy. Nation should shift towards alternative and renewables. Incentives to consumers to buy hybrids, etc. that help us have clean and alternative energies. Can be good for business. When JS was endorsed by the Sierra Club, he invited people from a venture capital company in Radnor with many investments in alternative energy to attend. We cannot continue to be dependent on other countries.

Caller: pay as you go, besides health care, what are 2 or 3 other examples

JS: First, cap on discretionary spending, Clinton established a cap on discretionary spending, Any new program must include the revenues to pay for it or shift them from another program. Will allow inflationary rise. Need discipline and accountability

Q: Would programs or services cut?

JS: No, but they would be challenged. Forces us to prioritize, not borrow and spend. Is it more important to spend $8 billion on a tragic misadventure in Iraq or here on homeland security? Over 50% of our debt is owned by foreign nations. Not good.

Caller: Pres. Bush indicates he wants to add troops to Iraq. Can this be reversed?

JS: Disagrees with Bush. Recently moved more troops to Baghdad and violence increased. Congress must argue, compel, and provide oversight. Citizens of this nation do not want increase in troops. Military people in Congress like JS can add experience and background (mentions his own service in the military and the Clinton administration). Mentions redeployment 2007. Encourage Iraq to accept responsibility

Q; withdrawal plan

JS: We must provide a timetable, at least a year in advance, to give parties in that country time to ask surrounding nations in region to come together, with us at the table if they want us, to work toward resolving political issues in that country. The US can call an international conference to pursue peaceful resolution to challenges there. We would redeploy to other parts of the region. Iraq must accept responsibility. Every day we are in Iraq our own security is less. The Taliban is growing again in Afghanistan. Iran and nuclear weapon. Middle East. We need to pay attention to the entire global neighborhood not just one house, Iraq. We must have a date certain.

Caller: How to bridge the gap in our country divided?

JS: If voters gave one message is that they want a coming together to address problems. JS did not running on the left or the right but to fix problems. Wants to fix problems. Spent time since elections reaching out across the aisle, meeting with local leaders, mentions names, chambers of commerce, met with union that supported Weldon. Coming together to address our problems. That’s why he is taken with MA health care plan – a bipartisan coming together of a Republican governor and a Democratic legislature. Must tactically work together.

Caller: You ran a great classy campaign. Caller recently lost his grandfather to Parkinson’s. Stem cell research?

JS: 110% in support of stem cell research. 3000 individuals (sympathies to caller) die prematurely that might have lived if stem cell research successful. Mentions daughter’s chemo (daughter now doing well). How can JS not be for it?

Caller: Voted for you. What will you do with elderly with drugs and cost of high heating oil?

JS: Prescription drugs issue, wants to address early to change approach. Should have federal government negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to get best price, like veterans administration does. Median drug price at VA is 46% less than that via medicare. Current law does not permit the federal government to negotiate drug prices. Donut hole could be closed if can get fair prices. It is wrong if a drug made here can be sold overseas for less than here but cannot be reimported. JS recognizes how imp the pharmaceutical industry is (daughter) and how important R&D is, but wants to be fair to seniors. Donut hole can cost seniors an additional 18% of their income.

Caller: jobs going overseas. Your thoughts on outsourcing?

JS: One short-term, change tax incentives that reward companies that move off shore or move jobs offshore. Second, key is to tie knowledge to innovation. America’s educational system allowed us to get competitive edge. Economists believe that if things don’t change China will be #1 world economy by 2050 with India #2. Education is key. China admires not only Harvard but community colleges that produce artisans (welders, etc). E.g. working with businesses for clean energy. Imagine wind turbines made here. Must work with businesses to keep us competitive. Make sure worker rights and environmental standard are included in trade agreements.

Caller: environment, global warming

JS: When we had 16 EPA administrators this past year say global warming is real and a challenge, plus all the scientists saying the same thing, how can we not believe it? Supportive of Kyoto treaty, and further in long term. Increase CAFÉ standards. Must change how we measure mpg. Detroit made cars lighter to get better mpg, Japan made more efficient.

Q: district?

JS: Great district. Born and raised here. Left for Navy for 30 years. Came back to visit family. Middle class working family is primary component of district. People are just comfortable with one another.

Caller: ethics and accountability. Did election speak to those demanding great accountability?

JS: public concerned about reality and perception of influence by lobbyists on votes. JS could vote for any ethics, lobbying or campaign finance law, none would be too strong. All JS needs to know he learned in the Navy : don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal. The government’s loss of credibility is tragic. At orientation week, Nancy Peolosi said ethics was her highest priority (said it 4 times).

Q: what was orientation week like?

JS: Good, Republicans were together with Democrats for part of it. JS had been so focused on his own race he did not know about other races, enjoyed meeting other new congressional reps. Learned about staffing requirements, protocols. Met with Democratic caucus. Looking forward to getting back to DC when Congress reconvenes in January.

Q: Have committee assignments been made yet?

JS: Not yet. JS would like defense security, intelligence, armed services, or appropriations, but really most wants to serve on a committee that concerns domestic issues mentioned in this show. Believes in investing in people.

Caller: public education, underfund schools but implement programs like No Child Left Behind?

JS: Must establish pay as you go economy, then say if NCLB is of value then need to invest $40 billion needed to achieve it’s potential success. Need to change it, fully fund it but also change type of testing. Must judge a school if scores go up depending on where the kids start not judge them all together (if kids start with lower scores, must take improvements into consideration, not just one standard for all). Watching his daughter, he is more appreciative of accessible pre-k for those who want it. $1 in pre-k gets $7 in more productivity when that child is an adult, less crime and less time in jail. Affordable accessible college or training. Tax credits to college or training school or grad school. Knowledge and innovation undergirds the economy. Parallel investment in health of individuals.

Caller: Congrats. Health care. Plans for health care for young people. College grads but jobs don’t provide health care and can’t afford it indivdually.

JS: Spoke today at Chester Co Industry and Business Council and at chambers of commerce. 4-5 years ago 60% of companies with 200 or more employees offered health care, now much lower. Small businesses provides most new jobs. But can’t offer health care. Shared responsibility between individuals and companies. Mandate that all must participate and company must be in pool with other small companies to leverage negotiating power. Premiums will go down. Healthy people in plans, premiums go down. Preventive care means lower taxes because public spending goes down. We are close to $9 trillion in debt but when Clinton left office we had a $5 trillion surplus. We have to reverse that.

Caller: Congrats. Grad student, worried about interest rates on Stafford loans, and also pell grants which haven’t gone up in 5 years.

JS: We should take student loan interest rates back to where they were. Cut interest rates in half to where they were. We need to take all tuition assistance programs (6 of them) and combine them into a simple $3000 tax credit per year that you are in college. More parents are investing in college savings plan. Often that will cover costs of public college. In PA, public university tuitions risen over 50%, JS would love to be on Education committee to work on disciplining costs. [choppy video]

Caller: 73 years old. Best economy in his lifetime. Limo driver. Sees help wanted signs and stock market going up. How come public didn’t know that.

JS: GNP gone up 3% each year, unemployment at an all time low. But real wages gone down 1800$. Productivity has gone up. Real wages have declined. Fruits of that has gone to the wealthy. Tax credits for top 1% wealthy. If you earned $42K, you got $16, if you were a millionaire you got a Lexus. In first 2 years of Bush administration over 2 million jobs were lost. Jobs have come back but median wage of jobs lost was app. 34K, new jobs at app. 30K. Add in a 70% increase in health costs, college tuition gone up 50%, but tax credits for wealthy? Not good.

Caller: Congrats. Privatization of social security.

JS: opposed to privatization. [choppy video]

Caller: Congrats. Tax reform. Alternative minimum tax.

JS: Surprised and disappointed that this congress has not addressed alternative min tax. Meant to address millionaire and multimillionaires and now encroaches on middle-class.

Caller: term limits. Also, as a congressman are you required to pay for health care?

JS: Will not be taking congressional health care, sticking with what he has. Does not like term limits. There would be no need for campaign finance reform if all candidates, even incumbents, had a certain amount of money to spend. Incumbents would run on record. Need more even footing. The current need to raise money in campaigns is harmful to the process. A lot of good men and women donated to his campaign. Those who have vibrant ideas and integrity should stay in office.