I had the very real pleasure of meeting Congressman Bill Cassidy, M.D. and hearing him speak at an event this past Sunday evening. I was very much impressed by Congressman Cassidy, and have pledged my support to his campaign for United States Senator.
Bill Cassidy has been in Congress since 2008, important experience to navigate the waters of the capitol. He has a conservative voting record and stoutly opposed Obamacare, whereas Mary Landrieu has voted 97 percent with President Obama, and cast a decisive vote that allowed the Obamacare law to pass.
In the election against the incumbant, Senator Landrieu, Bill Cassidy can certainly win. Mary Landrieu won with only 51 percent of the vote in 2002, and 52 percent in 2008. She now polls–astonishingly as an incumbant–at only 39 percent of the vote. It’s possible that Bill Cassidy can win without a runoff, and if not, he should win with a runoff.Bill Cassidy went to public school, LSU and LSU Medical School. During his senior year of high school, he was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery. It was determined that he didn’t have cancer, but this experience turned him toward a life of service.
Bill is not a polished speaker, but he is a thoughtful and passionate presenter of a view that is needed in the senate for Louisiana. I’d much prefer to have an honest, wise and capable person like Bill Cassidy, than one who talks the talk in Louisiana and walks the walk of President Obama in Washington, like Mary Landrieu.Bill Cassidy has worked in the Charity Hospital System since 1990 and still sees patients there. He worked with the school board to immunize 36,000 needy children children over a 6 year period. During the aftermath of Katrina he helped man an abandoned K-Mart to treat hurricane victims. Around 2005 or 2006, he contemplated and then ran for the Louisiana State Senate. In 2008 he became a U.S. Congressman.
Bill Cassidy sees the many flaws in Obamacare, and has from the beginning. He stated that it is hurting working people right now–with people being reduced to part-time and laid off to get below the 50 employee criteria. Where he sees problems, he proposes solutions. An example is that he offered an amendment, which was signed into law, to relieve homeowners of some of the pending burdens of flood insurance–proving he can be effective even in this difficult Washington climate. Bill Cassidy is concerned that cuts in the military are hurting our fighting strength rather than addressing the waste that many see.
Some of his thoughts on healthcare are that the patient must come first, not the bureaucrats. This includes choosing the doctor and the plan. There should be price transparency for hospitals, surgery and all such procedures, in both price and quality. Health saving accounts allow the patient to manage their own healthcare costs with an eye to saving their own money, which results in savings in our healthcare system itself, something lacking in Obamacare.
In short, Bill Cassidy was impressive and I have no doubt in my mind that he will be a wonderful asset for Louisiana and the nation. And don’t forget, as Bill reminded us again and again, the eyes of our nation will be on Louisiana as this election could well change the senate–removing Harry Reid and the Democratic senate majority.
Republicans can win! We must win!Let’s roll–electing Republicans in our odyssey toward Heaven on Earth!
