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The Villages
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Congressman Webster says Congress, President have ‘accomplished zero’

During an address to local business owners and community leaders on Tuesday morning at Mission Oaks senior living in Oxford, Congressman Daniel Webster covered a wide array of domestic and international topics.

After going into detail about his thoughts on the North Korean conflict, Iran, tax reform and repealing the Affordable Care Act, among other domestic and international topics, Congressman Webster indicated that the current administration, Congress and Senate have accomplished nothing toward resolving these issues.

“Those issues are the biggest, and we have accomplished zero. I have begged, as much as I can beg, for us to pick one and just do it,” said Webster.

In reference to American tensions with North Korea, Webster suggested that “the head of North Korea is a strange person who can do anything” and that he was “unpredictable.” The Congressman went on further to imply that China was not a true ally.

“I always thought that China would help us. And they have a little bit. They’re not our friend…He’s dangerous, and he’s unpredictable…we’re not going to fire first. But we’re going to defend ourself. And we’re going to defend our friends,” said the Congressman.

The Congressman went on to speak about additional international topics, including the civil war raging in Syria, suggesting that it was “just a battle between two super powers” and that it was “going nowhere.” He called the leader of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, a “mean, nasty guy who kills his own people,” and that Russia was on his side, while America was with “the other side.” He concluded by saying he didn’t think the situation would get any better:  “I don’t see anything happening there, I don’t.”

The Congressman’s domestic concerns included tax reform and healthcare, but when asked about the Department of Education, he simply retorted, “We don’t need it.” He went on to explain that the department makes “horrible choices” and that the country would be better off without it.

In the same vein, Webster suggested that federal programs generally have no place among the states and districts in which they are enforced. “Congress and the Federal Government is good at one thing: Cookie Cutters,” said Webster, alluding to programs that work at a federal level but may not be adapted appropriately for states and districts.

The Congressman spoke briefly of the need to bolster infrastructure in Florida and in the nation, suggesting that weakened dikes in Florida were creating issues all the way down to the Everglades. He then transitioned and spoke briefly of the need for a border wall.  “The president’s going to get a wall. That’s an infrastructure project and he’s going to have a lot to say about that,” said Webster of the proposed wall on the shared border between Mexico and the United States. Many have decried that the sheer magnitude (with some estimates saying it would take decades and billions of tax payer dollars) and ineffectiveness of the wall would be overly burdensome and unnecessary.

In reference to healthcare, Webster indicated that “the problem, if we do nothing…over the next 10 years” will be that we owe “three quarters of a trillion dollars in interest” every year. He further suggested that because we do not have money to pay for the debt, we would have to “borrow three quarters of a trillion dollars to pay the interest.” Later in the session, when asked by an audience member where the money would come from, Webster indicated that countries like China, England, Canada and Russia would most likely lend it.

In reference to Social Security, the Congressman noted that he had noticed a “bunch of law offices” surrounding social security offices during his time in Congress. He belittled them as glorified middle men that charge to offer the same help his office offers for free, and ultimately that whenever those attorneys “have a tough case,” they reach out to his office anyway.

Although his “listening tours” have drawn the ire of some Villagers who say they simply pay lip service and don’t actually address questions raised, Webster indicated that his office had done more than 20 listening tours and that they always “try to listen to people there, let everyone go around and say something,” suggesting that if “they have a question,” his office always tries “to answer them.”

“I’ve done these town hall meetings and you know what, nobody asks about Korea. They don’t ask about ISIS. They don’t ask about Syria. They don’t. Nobody. But it’s important,” said Webster.

After a question was posed about having a “magic wand,” the Congressman described how he might use it: “I would get rid of the 60-vote filibuster rule in the United States Senate. When the majority of the people can’t make a decision, it’s wrong. We have basically a few people telling the Senate, “We’re the minority and nothing, we’re not letting anything pass.”

On his voting record, the Congressman indicated that he is always “either going to vote yes or no,” establishing that if he is “51 percent for something” he would vote for it and if “49 percent for it,” he would vote against it. “There are no perfect bills. I vote not for a perfect bill, but for one that I can at least say I’m more for it than against it. I was elected with 50 percent plus one vote, so I try to vote that same way in Congress,” added the Congressman.

Perhaps the one bright spot was the Congressman’s thoughts on tax reform, indicating that he had hope for resolving this issue sooner than the others because of the agreement on both sides of the aisle for reform.

“Tax reform has a great opportunity – I think maybe we could even do a bipartisan reform,” said Webster.

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