U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler, D- Waynesville

From Daily Planet Staff Reports

As the United States Congress increasingly is gridlocked by extremist bickering on both sides of the political fence, the Blue Dog Democrats, such as himself, will be best positioned to guide the country on a steady course in the future, according to U.S Rep. Heath Shuler, D-Waynesville.

Shuler touted the Blue Dogs  during a Power Lunch Meeting of the Council of Independent Business Owners on Aug. 26 at Magnolia's Raw Bar & Grilled in downtown Asheville.

Shuler’s speech, billed as a "State of Washington Update," was followed by a question-and-answer session, with questions submitted by the meeting's attendees on index cards and read aloud. More than 100 people turned out to eat, socialize and hear the congressman's speech, which lasted about 30 minutes. The Q&A continued for 20 minutes. 

CIBO, led by President Rod M. Hudgins Jr., civil-structural engineer, is considered the Asheville area's conservative alternative to the Chamber of Commerce.

Shuler, who is facing a challenge in November from Republican nominee Jeff Miller of Hendersonville, began by noting that his last stop was at a jobs fair at A-B Tech’s Enka campus, where, between 10 and 11 a.m., there were 300-400 people waiting to get in.

"How can we really change what's happening in our communities?" Shuler asked. He said even small changes, such as improving one family's life in our community, is where such efforts usually start."

He then challenged the CIBO members to “take that same kind of attitude (of helping fellow local residents) and love of the United States and take it to Washington, we could tear down the walls” of poverty.

“I see that in my Blue Dog group ... I feel pleased to be named the whip of the Blue Dog Caucus,” which, Shuler said, “represents how 80 percent of Americans feel ... I fight on both sides of the aisle — with my own party and with the other party.”

“The margins will narrow after November. I truly feel the Blue Dogs will rule the country because we will be the deciding vote,” as extremists from both sides vye for power.

As for controlling spending and increasing efficiency in government, Shuler said the federal government needs a “performance budget,” touting it as the way “to have federal employees to compete with one another.”

Shuler also spoke in favor of the current government trend to make huge expenditures on infrastructure improvements. “It’s a 6:1 return on investments for every $1 in infrastructure improvements,” he said. “We have to put the infrastructure in place” as the first step in rebuilding the U.S. economy ... Next step is what we can do is to bring jobs back to America. American imports products from elsewhere that have problems with safety and quality. That’s not a problem with American products. We have to financially incentivize these companies to come back” from abroad, Shuler said.

To that end, he said North Carolina alone has lost about 750,000 jobs in the textile industry in recent years.

As for budgets, Shuler said, “We can’t spend more than we’re making ... We have an opportunity in our country to build our country back ... I said this last time I was here (with CIBO): When was the last time we had a (national) goal? When (John F.) Kennedy was president, the Apollo project’s goal was to put a man on the moon ... We united as one (people). We’ve got to get there (the goal), not only as a community, but as a country.”

After a pause, Shuler added, “Sometimes, we’ve got to give (unfortunate people) a helping hand.”

Shuler said Americans need to re-emphasize its traditional trait of helping neighbors. In 1940, “if your neighbor’s barn burned to the ground, what did we (Americans) do? We built the barn back. We had a barn-raising” immediately.

Speaking generally about his political theory, Shuler said, “It’s not about who’s in power, it’s about making our country better ... We must seize the moment, and we can change our community one step at a time. But if we do it as a country, we can make it happen” much more rapidly.

During the Q&A, which featured a CIBO officer reading each question from a card to Shuler, with no follow-up questions.

“If given the opportunity to vote on ObamaCare, how would you vote?” Shuler was asked.

“I voted against the health care bill,” Shuler replied succinctly. “There’s an opportunity to overturn a lot of the problems” in the bill in the future. Also, he noted that among the reasons he voted against the bill is because, embedded in it, requiring small businesses to send out a 1099 report “on every purchase over $600.”

He added, “I’ll have the opportunity to change a lot of things that are happening.” However, Shuler noted that when health care goes from 18 percent to 24 percent of gross domestic product, “you’ve got a problem.”

“What do you contribute to get a comprehensive climate change bill?” another attendee asked.

“Continuing to purchase petroleum from our enemies is not the answer,” Shuler said. “I want to ensure that the next generation has some chance at enjoying our environment as we have.” The congressman cited the success of the California electric car company Tesla Motors as an example of American’s continuing capability to innovate and excel.

“Do you want to continue the tax cuts by the Bush administration? he was asked.

“Here’s what we must do first,” Shuler replied. “We have to get lean. Get control of your expenses first before raising taxes.” At that point, he said “70 percent of our national debt was from the Bush administration” spending and 30 percent from Obama administration spending.

“We had a surplus before then,” Shuler said of the federal budget. Regarding the burgeoning national debt, Shuler said, “It’s unacceptable. Simply unacceptable.”

In light of the current U.S. debt problems, someone asked why Shuler supported the passage of a recent appropriation of $26 billion for teachers, police, firefighters and Medicaid.

“We took money to make sure we abided by Paygo,” Shuler said. “When you start laying off police, firefighters and teachers, then it’s a big problem ... We’ve got to do what we can, but we can’t keep borrowing money from China ... It (the $26 billion appropriation) was paid for, so we didn’t have to borrow from China” for it.

“Is there a GOP alternative to the Blue Dogs?” Shuler was asked.

“There used to be a powerful GOP group — the Tuesday Group,” Shuler answered. “They still exist, but not as a strong” group.

Redistricting is needed to return moderates to political power, he said, “If we don’t agree to change districting, then we’ll get increasingly radical elements on each side. So we’re getting total opposites” now. “I’d like to see the moderates on each side of the aisle get a chance to turn our country around.”

As an example of the districting problem, Shuler said, “You want to get rid of (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but there are no Republicans in her district in San Francisco,” so she never will face a challenge for her seat.

“Do you think any cap-and-trade legislation will ever see the light of day?” someone asked.

“I think it’d dead,” Shuler said of cap-and-trade.

“Do you support Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House?”

“Great question!” Shuler said with a broad smile, as the crowd chuckled. “I’ve talked about the need to have moderates running things. I wouldn’t rule out the idea that I might run. You never know, maybe a Blue Dog will emerge” as speaker of the House.