The Emporia Gazette

May 28, 2012

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COTTONWOOD FALLS — Sen. Jerry Moran visited Chase County Wednesday as a part of his Listening Tour across the district.

Moran said it was his 15th time in Cottonwood Falls on the tour and the town was his 59th stop out of 105 counties he represents.

Moran said while he went from the House to the Senate, his focus remains the same in the Senate.

“We live lives in a special way in Kansas,” Moran said. “My focus is on agriculture, small business, transportation, education and health care. We’re trying to make sure we keep the small communities alive and well.”

Moran said the United States is broke and has reached a turning point — a crossroads.

“If we don’t do some things differently, things are going to go south on us,” he said.

Following his opening comments, Moran took questions and comments from the audience. One question centered around Social Security.

“Our goal is to preserve Social Security,” Moran said. “And save and preserve Medicare. Doing nothing is a problem with Social Security. The solvency is not there for the future.”

Moran said there are less people working and more people retiring.

“There is a real problem in the future and doing nothing is not an option,” he said.

Another question focused on the county’s debt ceiling. Moran indicated he would not vote to raise the debt ceiling.

“I think it’s irresponsible to raise the debt ceiling and keep going like we’ve been going,” he said.

Other topics discussed during the meeting were Wars and troops overseas.

“I am opposed to what the president is doing in Libya,” Moran said.

Moran added that the country needs to start pulling out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Moran added that Afghanistan still remains a “backwards, chaotic and tribal country” and the United States should bring troops home as soon as possible. He said the same for Iraq.

“It seems we’ve done all we can do,” he said.

The nation’s debt was discussed during the meeting. Moran said .42 cents of every dollar spent in Washington is borrowed and that five months of every year is operating on borrowed money.

“It’s not decreasing, it’s increasing,” he said.

Moran continued by stating that 90 percent of the country’s gross national product is equal to the debt it owes.

“At some point it becomes clear that we can’t repay,” he said.

In relation to the country’s debt, reduction of expenses was brought up. Moran said he cannot vote for anything that would put troops in further harm’s way, but he did suggest a process where every program is analyzed rather than across-the-board cuts.

“We ought not to nickel and dime everything,” he said, adding that Congress has not passed an actual budget in two years.

Moran talked about some changes he is seeing in Congress. He said it’s the first time he’s been in office that he’s seen Congress talk about reducing spending. He added that the debt ceiling is the one piece of leverage that exists to force Congress to work together.