Tiahrt speaks on health care, party politics

At one point during his town hall meeting Monday night, U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., talked about why he thought the Republican Party would be happy come the 2010 election.

In bringing up an example of a seat that the party might gain, Tiahrt mentioned U.S. Rep. Alan Greyson, D-Fla., and his recent comments about not being able to understand former Vice President Dick Cheney “because of the blood that drips from his teeth while he’s talking.”

“You can’t run your mouth like that,” Tiahrt said.

But Tiahrt himself exhibited no vow of silence, taking aim at the Democrat Party, the pending Health Care Reform bill and future U.S. Senate opponent Jerry Moran, R-Kan., in front of a supportive crowd of more than 30 in Grubbs Hall at Pittsburg State University.

Tiahrt was responding to a question from Michelle Huckey, PSU College Republicans president, about how to reach young people with the conservative mission when Tiahrt used the terms “communism” and “socialism” when describing the Democrat Party.

He said that Democrats wanted to get people “into a life of dependency” from “cradle to the grave.”

“That didn’t work in Russia,” Tiahrt said. “And it didn’t work in Germany.”

Tiahrt went on to tell Huckey that America was the land of opportunity, before saying that the Democrat Party “cannot provide that opportunity.”

But most of the town hall was spent talking about the Health Care Reform bill that Tiahrt said Congress was expected to face on Friday. Tiahrt said he was for reform, but against the bill, which he said pushed people into a public funded option.

“This is about freedom,” Tiahrt said. “...Nobody in America should ever have to go to a public official to get health care.”

Tiahrt said that it was up to every generation to fight for freedom, and said that in the past, many people felt they had to fight overseas to protect it.

“This battle for freedom is in Washington, D.C.,” Tiahrt said.

One person asked Tiahrt what options the public would have if the bill passed to get it removed. Tiahrt said Congress would have two future options if the bill became law. The first, he said, would be to repeal it, which he called the more difficult of the options. The second, he said, would be to “de-fund” the bill’s regulations, essentially killing it.

“But the best thing to do is to just beat it now,” Tiahrt said.

Tiahrt’s criticism of U.S. Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., Tiahrt’s likely future opponent for U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback’s vacated seat, focused around Moran’s lack of action. Tiahrt called Moran “a friend,” but said that Moran had yet to be held accountable for inaction while in Washington.

“We need somebody to fight for us,” Tiahrt said. “We need somebody who is going to ride toward the sound of the guns.”

Tiahrt also spoke about the need to curb government waste, his desire to push toward energy independence and his efforts in supporting the Second Amendment. He reserved some time at the end to discuss an ethics probe that he said was started by an anonymous accusation. Tiahrt said the earmarks in question were legal, before adding that he felt he had the right to face his accuser.

“My name has been besmirched,” Tiahrt said.

When Tiahrt finished, the crowd applauded. Huckey, whose College Republicans group hosted the event, said she wasn’t surprised by Tiahrt’s candor, but said that she appreciated it.

“It’s what I was hoping for,” Huckey said. “If he wasn’t speaking his mind like that, he would be just another politician.

“I think that our generation can see through the B.S. I wish everybody would talk to potential voters more that way.”

Tiahrt said that he would continue to voice his opinion, citing the courage to speak up as a primary tenet of integrity.

“I know what I believe,” Tiahrt said. “I don’t care about the criticism. I care about doing the right thing.”

Kevin Flaherty can be reached at kevin.flaherty@morningsun.net or by calling 231-2600 Ext. 134.