Jim Bryan Speaks Out

I have made my views known in many meetings and interviews. I am assembling them here, and I will add to this page day by day.

I have a plan for being a freshman Congressman. First-termers usually aren’t given much chance to introduce major legislation. That does not mean I can’t recognize smart and responsible choices, immediately back them, and help make them better. That does not mean that I can’t immediately work with more senior members of Congress, women and men, to develop legislation and oversight that will help America and my beloved Panhandle. I intend to be an energetic, effective, no-nonsense Congressman beginning the day I arrive.

-–-– Jim Bryan

Questions and Answers

Q. What do you think of women in politics? [April 12, 2008]

A. There is no difference between men and women in politics, or in any profession. I was reared by three strong-minded women who had to make the best of the little they had, and I loved them and admired them for that. I look for character and ability in any person, whether she or he is an auto mechanic or a US Senator.

America’s Health – Insurance Companies’ New Drug Price Policy Victimizes Patients [April 18, 2008]

We all know that medical costs are going up just as peoples’ ability to pay goes down. That is very true in my home, the Panhandle, and especially true in Escambia County. Here is one story that illustrates the policy vacuum and the ability of insurance companies to victimize the average person.

Health insurance companies are adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs. In a traditional insurance plan, the patient pays a fixed “co-pay,” like $10, $20, $30, even though the actual cost of the medicine is much higher. Expensive drugs have a higher co-pay to encourage use of less expensive substitutes. But the insurance principle of spreading the cost over many premium payers applies.

Now, drug companies are charging 20 to 33 percent of the cost of higher-priced drugs that save lives or slow the progress of serious diseases, some of them fairly common, like multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hemophilia, hepatitis C and some cancers. The costs under this company policy can run to thousands of dollars a month. It’s likely to get worse, because promising new treatments for certain cancers, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis can cost upwards of a hundred thousand dollars a year.

The insurance companies’ argument is that their pricing policies keeps everyone’s premiums down. Well, that is true. Except, for the patient who loses her or his house and life savings, and the spouse who also loses all to keep his or her life partner alive, the price of the premium doesn’t mean very much. The insurance companies don’t say this, but the very cheapest health insurance is none at all. Just don’t get sick.

Like hundreds of other details in health care, this situation begs for Congressional action and Congressional oversight.

[This comment was based on information from the April 14, 08, NY Times by reporter Gina Kolata.]

China Moves Ahead Of America In Technology Development [April 18, 2008]

I want to share with you points from a report on worldwide technological competitiveness that was just brought to my attention.

[It appeared in the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine, Spring 2008.]

“We have a situation in which technology products are going to be appearing in the marketplace that were not developed or commercialized in the US. We won’t have had any involvement with them and may not even know they are coming.”

The quote is from Nils Newman, co-author of the High Tech Indicators study at Georgia Tech. Since WW2, Newman noted, the US has been the main driver of the global economy. Scores generated by the study, however, show China with a standing of 82.8 compared to 76.1 for the US, 66.8 for Germany, and 66.0 for Japan. Eleven years ago China’s score was 22.5. The US peaked in 1999 with a score of 95.4.

Newman’s colleague and co-author Alan Porter said: “When you take China’s low-cost manufacturing and focus on technology, then combine them with the increasing emphasis on research and development, the result ultimately won’t leave much room for other countries.” China’s emphasis on training scientists and engineers suggests it will continue to grow its ability to innovate, the report concluded.

My years of university study, especially at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, named by US News as the number one school of its kind in the US, gave me the know-how to start from scratch a trucking business and run it for ten years. It’s still in business. That is not quite the high-power research these professors are doing nor the high-tech development they are studying, but it made a believer in education of this country boy. In my military career I worked with many high-tech systems. These authors are not talking just about consumer goods. The idea that we might not even know what military technologies are coming is kind of scary.

Higher education is another area that screams for Congressional attention – science and technology may be a prime example, but far from the only one. Anyone who thinks that the free market is going to take care of education is goofy. A look at tuition differences between state and private institutions tells you that, and even private institutions rely on major donations from alumni.

But let’s not stop at college. Our education at the national level through all public schools has to be put at the front of this fight. No Child Left Behind has, more than anything else, encouraged a distortion of standards and reporting to meet bureaucratic goals. It has not done the job. I am not a fearmonger. I do not wish China ill. I ache for an America that meets her potential. Also, never forget, America’s grand tradition of public education was originated to make good citizens, not just to get a better job.

Education is becoming another casualty of the Iraq war, along with American dead and wounded, a million dead Iraqi civilians, destruction of environment and ancient civilization, and the incomes of our grandchildren.

Economic and Agricultural Development [April 10, 2008]

The Panhandle has all the attributes of an area that could be attractive to environmentally friendly industry and other sustainable economic development. Much of Florida’s fiscal problem results from over-reliance on population and housing growth – that is no secret. I am grouping agriculture with economic development because farming has declined in an area where it ought to prosper.

I will do all I can from Washington to bring about a sound economy in Northwest Florida and I will work closely with local governments, business and environmental groups to make it happen.

Military Affairs And National Security [April 10, 2008]

I have a solid knowledge of how the military operates at ground level –  what military technology can do in the hands of a soldier, how a military unit operates, and what makes or breaks its efficiency and morale.

My knowledge of military strategy and foreign policy does not rest solely, or even mostly, from being a soldier. I get my understanding of why, when and how to use America’s military power from many sources, not the least of which is my personal commitment to justice and freedom, to the principle that peace can be achieved, that violence is an absolute last resort in true national defense.

One often hears from veterans that because they have military experience they are more qualified to speak on security matters. They are not. One hears from incumbent politicians that classified briefings make them more qualified. That is equally wrong, as we understand from events. They do not understand, as I do, and any veteran also ought to realize –  that wars like Viet Nam and Iraq bleed us of  money and other resources, kill our young men and women, and diminish America’s ideals and values, our true strength.

Veterans Affairs [April 18, 2008]

Senator Mel Martinez’s April 15 E-Newsletter’s “Casework Corner” tells the story of a Korean-war veteran living in an assisted-living facility who submitted an application in December 2006 to the Veteran’s Administration for a pension to which he was entitled. Unable to get a response, he contacted Senator Martinez for assistance. Not surprisingly, the VA acted swiftly on hearing from the Senator and the vet is now receiving his pension and back payments. I am happy for the veteran, who I am sure is also pleased.

My question is – why did a veteran have to go through a US Senator’s office to get a pension that belonged to him?

This is not a criticism of the VA’s staff – it’s a criticism of the politically appointed administrators that underestimated the cost of veterans’ care, the elected officials that encouraged them to do so, and a Congress that has failed to act on behalf of veterans of the Iraq war – and the Gulf war, and Viet Nam, and Korea, and . . .

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