{"id":6102,"date":"2009-09-14T09:56:59","date_gmt":"2009-09-14T15:56:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=6102"},"modified":"2009-09-14T15:16:12","modified_gmt":"2009-09-14T21:16:12","slug":"former-sen-domenici-opposes-public-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/09\/former-sen-domenici-opposes-public-option\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Sen. Domenici opposes public option"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Former

Former U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, shown here in 2008. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

While President Barack Obama took his health care reform message on the road<\/a> over the weekend, retired Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a>, who\u2019s back in New Mexico for a week, says he doesn\u2019t support creating a public option.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really worried about the bigger problem, which is the debt and the deficit. I think part of the drag that’s pulling down getting any place on the health care is that there\u2019s an undercurrent of fear among our people about the debt and the deficit,\u201d said Domenici, who was a senator from New Mexico for six terms until he retired last year.<\/p>\n

Domenici, a Republican, said in an interview that he believes the current deficit crisis is more daunting to voters than health care reform, and the record debt is pulling New Mexicans away from reform and making it difficult for many to make sense of the health care bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest issues are how do you pay for it?\u201d asked Domenici. \u201cI don\u2019t think the way (Obama) suggested to save $500 or $700 billion from Medicare or Medicaid makes very much sense to the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Domenici said that suggestion is \u201ckind of incredulous,\u201d because if such savings were possible they would have already been implemented.<\/p>\n

Senior White House Adviser David Axelrod, who appeared on CBS\u2019 Face the Nation<\/a> on Sunday, said the president is standing by his promise that whatever bill he signs will not add to the nation\u2019s deficit. During the program, Axelrod said the president \u201cis absolutely committed that he will not sign a bill unless he can say to the American people honestly that this bill will not add to our deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Domenici insists the deficit is a key element reforming health care in the country. Last month, Domenici, who is a senior fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center<\/a> (BPC), spearheaded the organization\u2019s first major federal debt report, \u201cDrowning in Red Ink.\u201d<\/a> That report called the size of the federal debt \u201cunsustainable\u201d and a \u201ccritical threat to America.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Domenici was Senate Budget Committee chairman, Congress produced three consecutive federal balanced budgets from 1998 to 2001 — the first time such a balance had been achieved in four decades.<\/p>\n

In August, after Drowing in Red Ink was released, Domenici said it was time to take action to trim the deficit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fiscal health of our nation is at stake. We can no longer continue on the present path of unprecedented deficits and debt,\u201d Domenici said at the time. \u201cWithout dramatic changes in fiscal policy, America will find itself far weaker in the world, economically and strategically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having a tough time but keeping busy<\/h3>\n

Domenici, 77, is in Albuquerque after recovering from surgery. The nine months since he retired have been difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a big operation and it was bigger than they thought. The recovery was very hard on me,\u201d Domenici said. He added that he also misses being in the Senate.<\/p>\n

Domenici didn\u2019t mention that he\u2019s also been in the news since his retirement because of the ongoing federal investigation into the U.S. attorney scandal. Earlier this year, a grand jury subpoenaed records from Domenici<\/a> as part of its investigation, and some say charges against him are possible.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the former senator is keeping busy. While in Albuquerque, he has received an update on the Bosque Restoration Project<\/a>, for which he secured $27 million before leaving the Senate.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, he\u2019ll be in Las Cruces for the 2009 Domenici Public Policy Conference<\/a> at New Mexico State University. The second annual conference will focus on national issues including the U.S. economy and national debt, homeland security and the U.S.\/Mexico border, national security, and nuclear energy.<\/p>\n

Among those scheduled to participate along with Domenici are U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano<\/a> and Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chairman Gen. James Cartwright<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s video of Domenici\u2019s interview:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

A prior version of this posting incorrectly stated that Congress produced three consecutive balanced federal budgets in the 1980s.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While President Barack Obama took his health care reform message on the road over the weekend, retired Sen. Pete Domenici, who\u2019s back in New Mexico for a week, says he doesn\u2019t support creating a public option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[117,136,116],"class_list":["post-6102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-health-care","tag-pete-domenici","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6102\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}