Rep. Herrera Beutler Talks Debt, Flooding at Centralia College

    U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler dealt with a much friendlier crowd Wednesday night at her town hall meeting in mostly conservative Lewis County, when compared to a raucous event in Vancouver earlier this week.

    However, the freshman congresswoman had her share of critics who questioned whether her actions matched her rhetoric of lessening the burden on the less-off and underinsured.

    “I’m saying deeds are more important than words. Your words are wonderful, I love them. I want to see action, I want to see you get tough and stand up for taxpayers,” said Dave Lynch, who drove down from Olympia to Centralia College. “The budget should be balanced, but not on the backs of poor people. The military should have major cuts. The Cold War is over, and Osama bin Laden is dead. When do I get my freedom back?”

    Well over a hundred people came out to hear Herrera Beutler for her first-ever town hall meeting in Lewis County since being elected last November.

    The Camas Republican kicked off the event with a 25-minute PowerPoint presentation on the nation’s dependence on foreign countries due to the United States’ multitrillion dollar deficit and the projected Medicare cost increase over the next decade.

    “The can has been kicked down the road so many times that we’re at this point,” Herrera Beutler said. “Doing nothing to me means the government is going to default on the promises it made to a whole generation.”

    She used statistics from the Congressional Budget Office that showed the government insurance program for the elderly is on pace to go bankrupt by 2020.

    “Doing nothing is not an option,” Herrera Beutler said.

    Herrera Beutler defended her position supporting a budget proposal by House Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that would let seniors buy health insurance on an open market with vouchers. She said the move would not only protect Medicare for current seniors, but ensure the program would be there for future generations, adding it wouldn’t change anything for those over 55.

    Voting against legislation that would increase the debt ceiling and allow the U.S. government to borrow more money is an easy decision, she said.

    Herrera Beutler compared the issue to a teenager getting a parent’s credit card and racking up bills.

    “You can choose to pay the credit card bill and move on, not pay the bill and hurt your credit score or pay the debt and cut up the credit card,” she said. “I’m not going to vote for any debt ceiling increases that doesn’t cut up the credit card.”

    The comment got raucous applause from the audience.

    Asked by Centralia City Councilor and Chehalis River Basin Flood Authority member Edna Fund if she had any words for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that announced earlier this week that their project to add 11 miles of flood-protection levees in and around the Twin Cities could face delays due to a lack funding, Herrera Beutler said the federal agency “better start listening” to local groups.

    Herrera Beutler said solving the basin’s chronic flood problems was still a major concern for her.

    “This is a priority for me, and I’m in constant communications with the agencies responsible for (the Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps and flood control),” she said. “A 1,000-year flood shouldn’t be the basis for how we draw those maps.”

    She reiterated her support for multiple solutions that incorporated some form of water retention on the upper Chehalis River.

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    Marqise Allen: (360) 807-8237, Twitter @marqiseallen