Kelley & Company, Cory Gardner, October 31, 2013
Station: KNUS, 710 AM
Show: Kelley & Company
Guests: Gardner, Cory
Link: http://kelleyco.podbean.com/
Date: October 31, 2013
Topics: Healthcare.org Website, Committee Hearings in U.S. House of Representatives, Medicaid, Healthcare Insurance, Errors, Timeouts, Reliable Data, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Contractors, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Obamacare, Affordable Care Act (ACA), Colorado Congressional Delegation, Senator Mark Udall, Senator Michael Bennet, Representative Jared Polis, Individual Mandate, Exxon Mobile, Waivers for Big Business,
HOST STEVE KELLEY: That’s right. And you even asked Kathleen Sebelius –thank you on all, on Coloradoans’ behalf – for the entire state of Colorado, or at least your district, for waivers.
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CORY GARDNER: I did. I asked for a waiver for the 4th Congressional district. Yes.
KELLEY: Is – uh, a question on our website, Kelley & Company website at 710KNUS.com – Is this Obama’s ‘Titanic’moment’? Answer that, if you would.
GARDNER: I think – Is this his ‘Titanic’ moment? Is that what you asked?
KELLEY: Yes.
GARDNER: You know, I think that this is a moment where he has proven that he cannot and will not lead. He doesn’t know –. And again, it highlights a trend in this presidency. He didn’t know that the Chancellor of Germany was being spied upon. He didn’t know how bad this website was. He didn’t know that there were warning signs in this. Time and time again, this president has gone in front of the American people and said, “You know what? I’m sorry. I just didn’t know how bad things were.” That’s not leadership.
GUEST CO-HOST KRISTA KAFER: Yeah! The IRS scandal! Everything!
GARDNER: Everything!
KAFER: He doesn’t know anything!
GARDNER: And so, you can’t lead by rearranging the paragraphs in the same speech over and over, and that’s all that he’s done
KELLEY: Would you mind taking a question from a caller?
GARDNER: You bet. No problem.
KELLEY: All right. John has called in and he wants to be on with Congressman Cory Gardner. John, go ahead.
CALLER JOHN: Congressman Gardner, do we have another opportunity in January? We missed the boat a month or so ago when we blinked and Obama got his way and basically took us all to the cleaners. We’re now in a position that the public– even the legacy media is talking about the problems with Obamacare, Benghazi is coming out, and we’ve got a president who we know draws red lines and then ignores them. So, he certainly willing to back down with some people. Can our House of Representatives use the power that the people have given them in order to not fund portions of the government and this time, hold his feet to the fire?
KELLEY: Great question! Great question, go ahead.
CALLER JOHN: Are you willing to help us with that?
GARDNER: I have been willing to make sure that we defund and replace Obamacare, and that’s — I voted a number of times to do just that. And we voted a number of times to get the government open and to make sure it was functioning and the Senate and the President refused to do just that. But what we’ve got to do, not just wait until January, let’s start work now, which we did by introduction of a bill on the House side that would allow people to keep their health insurance if they liked it. It would allow insurance companies to keep their health insurance plans in place for those individual policy holders. And then we continue to push things like the American Healthcare Reform Act, a bill that was introduced by Congressman Tom Price, a doctor from Georgia who’s in Congress and understands healthcare policy probably better than most in Congress. And if we can replace this bill with ideas that will work to bring costs down, to bring quality up, then we will have achieved something for the American public. I don’t think we have to wait until January. I think we can do that now.
KELLEY: So John is suggesting, and I agree, it seems like the momentum is on your side now. Strike while the iron is hot. Is that what you’re saying, John?
CALLER JOHN: It is, and if you can accomplish things between now and January, that’s great. But it seems that the big stick that our House of Representatives has is that they are the ones that have to provide the funding. And if you need to use that big stick – if you have not accomplished what you need to in January, are you willing to use the big stick and use it to the end this time?
KELLEY: Thank you, John. Go ahead, Cory.
GARDNER: Again, I don’t think threatening with the debt limit is a good idea. I think that has proven to not work. The first sixteen days of October we saw that the Obama debacle unroll—the Obamacare debacle unrolling – unfolding between our very eyes, excuse me – between our very – to watch that happen in front of our very own eyes, and it didn’t get the attention that it deserved because there was this issue of a debt limit that we simply cannot cross. And so I think we use this time now to pass legislation to delay the implementation, delay the individual mandate of Obamacare, to defund it – you bet we should! But I don’t think threatening a default with it is a good idea.
KELLEY: All right. We’re out of time. Was there any question you would have wished you had more time to ask, before we let you go?
GARDNER: Now [inaudible]. Are you talking to me? I—You know, Kathleen Sebelius, you know there were a number of other questions that I had for Sebelius. I think I would have liked to have drilled down into the privacy concerns a little bit more. That’s something that hasn’t gotten quite as much attention as it should.
KELLEY: Mike Rogers did a pretty good job on that, from Michigan, as well, so—
GARDNER: He did a really good job.
KELLEY: The good questions were asked, I think, it really accomplished quite a bit just to see exactly the attitude and the response from Kathleen Sebelius. Now, we’ll see how harsh they’ll be in the Senate – on the Senate side, I guess, November 6th, I guess she’s going to be up again. But, uh, Congressman Cory—
GARDNER: It sounds like Darryl Issa subpoenaed her as well to testify before his committee.
KELLEY: Oh, that’s right. Oversight. So—
GARDNER: Yes.
KELLEY: — that should be exciting! Get the chips and dip ready!
GARDNER: [laughter]
KAFER: And the martinis!
KELLEY: Congressman Gardner, thank you for coming on.
GARDNER: Take care! Thanks for having me!
KELLEY: Take care. All right. We’ll be back, Kelley & Company, on 710 KNUS. Bring on the martinis!
