Wisconsin Rapids Tribune: Duffy makes pitch for budget reform at town hall meeting

By Nathaniel Shuda
Daily Tribune Staff

GRAND RAPIDS — If the federal government does not make changes to Medicare and Social Security, the current systems will not be able to sustain themselves.

However, the government should keep the current level of benefits for all people currently under such programs that are vital to maintaining a living wage for older Americans already on a fixed income.

That was the message Monday from U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Ashland, during his first town hall meeting in south Wood County since taking office in January.

“For half of our seniors, the only income they get is Social Security; you cannot take that away from them,” Duffy told about 100 people at Mid-State Technical College’s Wisconsin Rapids campus. “I’ll fight tooth and nail to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

That is why Duffy said he supports the Republican-created budget proposal, drafted in part by House Budget Committee Chairman and fellow GOP Rep. Paul Ryan of Janesville — a plan under which people 55 or older can keep their current level of Social Security and Medicare, Duffy said.

When it comes to taxes, the government should simplify its tax code, eliminating the “nooks and crannies and loopholes” large corporations use, while still making sure they get tax breaks for creating jobs, he said.

“We’ve got to streamline the tax code and make it fair and flatter,” he said.

Other solutions to what Duffy referred to as a spending problem — not a revenue problem — include returning to 2008 spending levels for five years and reducing higher-bracket tax rates to 25 percent and eliminating loopholes that allow companies to get out of having to pay their taxes due.

For Linda Hobbs, 58, of Rudolph, Monday’s event marked her first town hall meeting, though she occasionally attends leadership conferences in Washington, where she has heard lawmakers speak.

“He was surprisingly open,” Hobbs said of Duffy’s willingness to take questions from sometimes critical audience members. “People have to give him a chance to do something.

“I think he’s going in the right direction; the debt is there, and we need to do something about it,” she said.

John Daven, co-chairman of the Wood County Democratic Party, said though some of Duffy’s views were fairly predictable, others came as somewhat of a surprise.

“For the most part on the budget, it was kind of what I expected,” said Daven, who attended Monday’s meeting, noting, however, that Duffy did have some good points on closing tax loopholes for large corporations and on his willingness to reevaluate the country’s involvement in international military conflicts.

Although it likely will be difficult, finding a solution to the budget issue is possible, Duffy said in a post-event interview while pulling on his signature flannel jacket, noting it will require sacrifice from all Americans.

“If we continue on this course, this is unsustainable,” he said.

The article is available online HERE.