MIDDLETOWN — “Government shutdown or not, I”ve been really busy,” Congressman Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena) said Monday night at the Middletown Area Town Hall (MATH) meeting.
He gave a summary on what he”s been up to and after had a Q-and-A session with Middletown residents on national topics.
The first issue Thompson brought up was the hotly debated shutdown and raising the debt ceiling.
“The idea that we would default on our national debt falls into category of reckless behavior,” Thompson said.
The default would have been disastrous if it happened, he said, and the nearly three-week shutdown cost about $24 billion in lost economic activity.
He also recently introduced a bipartisan legislation that would provide help for districts that have closures of military bases or realignment, as well as started a national caucus on invasive species.
A bill by the caucus was recently passed in the House, and he said it is likely to pass in the Senate. If the legislation is passed, Thompson said, there would be a Congress day in which representatives each had the chance to name the invasive species in their districts.
His first comment from an audience member was about gun violence, more specifically the ban on assault weapons listed in the 12 recommendations made by the national task force chaired by the congressman.
Thompson said while he sees no need for assault riffles, which he said add to gun violence culture in the country, he voted against the ban because it was a distraction from the real issues.
“We could ban (assault weapons) from here to Sunday, and that still wouldn”t make a difference,” Thompson said. Instead, he wants to focus on issues that he feels would have more impact on curbing gun violence such as background checks.
Thompson also said was not in favor of high-capacity gun magazines.
He was also asked his thoughts on Social Security, which he said supported strongly.
“Bottom line, it”s the most successful program that the federal government has ever done,” Thompson said. “Some people, all they have is Social Security, and it”s really important to keep it going.”
Several people also asked about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
“The roll out was huge problem, but I have confidence it will get fixed and the enrollment process will be fixed,” Thompson said.
Some criticized his support for ACA, also known as ObamaCare, because middle-income people may have to pay higher premiums for their policies.
Thompson replied by saying that if people are being dropped, or the prices are significantly raised the policy “was and continues to be a bad policy.”
When it came to questions about the deficit, Thompson said he believes the country shouldn”t spend money it does not have, and voted for $5-trillion worth of cuts when the bill was on the floor.
The Q-and-A was mostly amicable, but things began to boil when it came to talk of the Tea Party.
One woman was offended Thompson called the Tea Party members in the House extremists, but Thompson defended his comment. When one audience member began to raise his voice, Thompson firmly defended himself and his statement saying that it was between 40-to-60 Tea Party members who did not get what they wanted and who caused the shutdown.
“The ACA passed was by Congress, signed by Obama and approved by federal courts,” Thompson said. There was no need for a shutdown when the minority did not get its way.
Berenice Quirino is the assistant editor for Lake County Publishing. She can be reached at 263-5636, ext. 42 or at bereniceq@record-bee.com.
