Young frets in talk to GOP

WASILLA — Dark clouds are looming over the nation, U.S. Rep. Don Young said Friday in his address to the Valley Republican Forum.

"We do now have an administration and some leaders in the Congress that want to transform America as we know it into a Socialist country," Young said.

His speech covered natural resource extraction and health care reform, two areas he thinks the country is headed in wrong direction.

First, he pointed to Canada as a model of a resource-extracting economy. Canada, he said, has low unemployment, a stable housing market, a growing gross national product and a near-zero national debt.

"How have they done that when we have failed?" Young asked. "They have done it because they are a producing country."

Timber, fossil fuels and minerals are driving the Canadian economy out of the recession, he said, whereas the administration and leaders of Congress borrow their way out without producing anything.

"When America finally wakes up, they’ll realize we are going to buy $500 billion worth of oil from overseas and not develop any of ours," Young said. "That’s like a guy cutting his wrist here and asking for a transfusion here."

In addition to drilling for oil in the Chukchi Sea, Young pointed to a dam across the Susitna River and a bullet line bringing natural gas down from the North Slope as projects that would make Alaska the leader in energy for the North.

Yet, resource development is stymied by an administration that rules through regulation, not legislation, Young said.

Before switching to health care, Young mentioned the cap-and-trade bill working its way through Capital Hill. The "crap and trade" bill, as he called it, is a cruel tax adding $3,500 to the energy bill of all Americans, he said.

The proposals for heath care reform will transform America, Young said. He said he understands there are problems with the system, and health care reform should focus on lowering the cost, improving access and making insurance coverage portable.

He suggested this could be done by investigating why costs are so high and encourage more people to become doctors and nurse practitioners.

None of the proposed bills do this, he said.

"What they do is give you a government-run program," Young said. "You’ll wake up tomorrow with less medical care and a huge tax on your salaries."

Young said he wants to solve the problems, not create a "demi-god government that tells me what to do."

This means, he said, people have to take responsibly for their own health care. He is worried the entitlement mentality is creeping into the younger generations. If you really believe in limited government, you have to be willing to accept the responsibility for yourself, he said.

"If you drink a fifth of this great vodka that’s made here in the Valley a day, I don’t want to pay for the sclerosis of your liver," Young said.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.