Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ross concentrating on job at hand, not political future

While there is much speculation on the political future of Congressman Mike Ross, he's concentrating on the task at hand  his next term in the House.

There are major problems to address in Washington, D.C., he said, including approving a budget for 2005, working on an energy policy and getting approval on the transportation reauthorization bill. Both bills have been approved by the House of Representatives and committees are working on the Senate version. Ross said hope are to get the bill to the President before the end of the year and have it signed.

This bill contains funding for the proposed overpass in Prescott. However, Ross said, one possible hangup with the bill being signed into law could be the amount of money involved. The transportation reauthorization bill is addressed every six years.

"We have $1 trillion in road needs to be met in the next six years," Ross said. The House Republicans have proposed a budget of $285 billion, while the GOP members in the Senate want to fund the bill at $318 billion. However, Pres. George W. Bush has said he would veto anything over $256 billion.

Ross doubts this bill, in any version, will be passed before the November General Election. This, he said, is because the GOP will likely propose the $318 billion bill, allow Bush to veto it, then override his veto. The party, though, doesn't want the Senate overriding a presidential veto before the election.

However, Ross said the money for the overpass will most likely be included in the bill. "I'm cautiously optimistic it will be there."

For every billion dollars spent on a road program, Ross said, 42,000 jobs are created. "Road programs are job programs."

To make the point, Ross said Franklin D. Roosevelt managed to help get the nation out of the Great Depression through WPA projects, which built roads, among other things. Dwight D. Eisenhower initiated a program of building interstate highways to get America out of the economic doldrums of the 1950s.

"America is heading in the wrong direction, that's why I'm bog on road programs," he said.

The current administration inherited a balanced budget and projected fiscal surplus and turned it into the largest deficit in American history. The federal government, Ross said, is borrowing $900,000 every minute and spending $1 billion a day on interest on the national debt.

"This is the first time in 50 years the GOP has controlled the House, Senate and White House," Ross said, "and it's not a healthy situation." This, he added, is because there is no room for compromise or common sense to enter the equation, as all issues become partisan.

Ross took a shot at the GOP saying the Democrats have always been called the tax and spend party, but this is exactly what the Republicans are doing now.

"If we're going to deficit spend," he said, "let's not do it for the wealthiest 1 percent, but put people to work like Eisenhower and Roosevelt did with road programs.

"When you have to borrow money to pay for a tax cut  that's bad fiscal policy."

A total of 40 percent of America's publicly held debt is being held by two nations  China and Japan, Ross said.

In talking about Iraq, he said nothing has changed and supported the search for weapons of mass destruction and ousting Saddam Hussein. But, Ross would like to see a NATO-led military force enter the picture to help get the nation stabilized as it prepares for its first national election. The Iraqi citizens will elect a president and prime minister possibly later this year or early next year.

The interim government has limited authority. It can work on getting the infrastructure of Iraq rebuilt and set a date for the national election.

"The only positive to come out of this so far," he said, "is NATO has agreed to train the Iraqi military and police force.

"I thought we should reach out to the international community and have a NATO force with us. If we'd done that," he continued, "we would never have needed to call in the Arkansas National Guard, or the Guard from any other state. We could have reduced the number of U.S. soldiers there to about 70,000." Currently, there are 130,000 troops in Iraq.

Ross did say a strong U.S. military presence is needed in Iraq, but NATO forces would help balance things out in stabilizing the region.

Though Hussein has been captured, he said, Osama bin Laden is still running around loose, making homemade videos and encouraging terrorists to try to destroy America.

"We have 11,000 soldiers in Afghanistan looking for him," Ross said. "There's something wrong with the post Iraq war policy, but I will continue voting to fund our soldiers and make sure they have the resources they need to get the job done and return home safely."

Ross regularly visits the Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington to talk with the wounded soldiers. But, he said, we don't hear about them in the media. "It's amazing the sacrifices they make in their commitment to this country."

In talking about his political future, Ross said he's heard the rumors about a possible gubernatorial run in two years. "If I run for governor, it will be a family decision. I'll sit down and talk with them.

"I love what I'm doing," he continued, "I'm focused on doing the job I was elected to do. I'm moving up in leadership in the House and am one of the top 10 fund raisers for other Democrats in tough races.

"I don't know what I'll do."

Ross said if anyone is planning a vacation to Washington, D.C., if they'll give his office advance notice, he can arrange a tour for them.