LEESBURG - Third District Congressman Mark Souder talked about national issues and related them to local concerns during Monday's Kosciusko County Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Tippecanoe Country Club.

Souder received 80 percent of the Kosciusko County vote in the last election. "It's not easy to get people to turn out when you're getting 80 percent of the vote," the Grabill native said in his rapid-fire manner. "I'm used to close races. It's amazing people even stay engaged."

The congressman said he has more of a fight in other counties. "Here, you don't have the Democrats to blame for problems."

He said northeast Indiana tends to vote for governors who are not a "wholly owned subsidiary of Indianapolis. At least Gov. Daniels can say the Democrats have had this 16 years now. It will take time to fix things."

Souder said the Senate has been challenged to reform Social Security, told to get courageous and make the move to privatization.

"I heard President Bush say in South Bend that he campaigned on the Social Security reform issue. He didn't.

"I've been for private savings accounts since 1965. But we're going nowhere. It isn't going to pass. You have to sell it to young people. We're tackling the issue with people who have the lowest voter registration, who won't benefit for 40 years."

He said the United States now has a historically small population of senior citizens. People age 100 and older are the largest growing demographic and people age 85 and older are in the second largest category.

"Young people now can expect to live to 110. We can't convince them to save their own money and the more Bush campaigns, the worse it will get."

The congressman said it is hard to tell how things are going in Iraq and Afghanistan. He called the campaigns "moderate successes. There are no terrorists here because American heroes like Maj. Todd Fiscus are over there.

"It isn't clear exactly how we're getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan. We have no bases to train the people; it's unorganized."

He said the invasions and occupations have merely bought us time to have better computers with better tracking systems to follow potential terrorist movements.

"We won't buy peace in the Middle East as long as we stand with Israel. Democracy isn't going to change the world. Is democracy what you value most?

"In Iraq they want to ban Christianity. Women can't teach without their heads covered. What do we stand for if not equal rights? Will we sit here and back a republic that declares itself Islamic? Is it a democratic goal to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth?"

Souder discussed progress on four OSHA bills, government reform and postal reform.

He said it was easy to blast Clinton. Now the Republicans have to make their changes.

In response to questions, Souder said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas will be "cut losoe" as soon as he's found guilty. "There's no evidence of wrongdoing. Everything we do is published. I don't take a trip until it's signed off by the ethics committee. It's legal to hire your family members as staff.

"The filibuster won't pass," Souder said of the move to stop the legislative stalling technique with a simple majority rather than the 60 votes it takes to end a filibuster now.

"It's a tradition. It's a lot of politics and a lot of policy. We'll need it when Hillary [Sen. Hillary Clinton] is elected president in 2008."

In response to another question about people who seem tied to the social welfare system, Souder called them "poor souls."

"We've reduced the welfare roles by 40 percent. Food stamps? Try to change food stamp requirements and you have the Department of Agriculture and the Farm Bureau involved. People on food stamps have to buy certain commodities, did you know that? Thier purchases mean additional price supports and subsidies to farmers.

"Which program do we reform? Food stamps and welfare programs are a fraction of the cost of Social Security. You're in a rural area. It's much harder for people in New York City when there isn't work.

"But no one will be hungry in America, no one will starve."

Souder said the No. 1 problem in health care is people having expectations that are too high.

"They want a plasma TV for the price of a regular TV. They want a designer drug that took 20 years to develop for the price of an 'old' drug.

"It's getting so private insurance is paying only what the government pays. We're far down the socialized medicine road. When does the government stop paying? When it's paying 60 percent of medical bills? We're past way past the 60 percent mark at the state and federal level. Twenty years from now we'll be a tiered health care."

Souder said the Clinton administration proposed a regional health care system that's already being adopted by organizations like Parkview and Lutheran health care systems as they buy area hospitals and clinics.

The problem with socialized medicine is the lack of innovation that follows, Souder said.

"We already have criticism paying for medical devices [like hip and knee joint replacements] in Medicare. If you cap that, who is going to come up with new designs and lighter materials?"

County chairman Aaron Rovenstine challenged attendees to invite friends and family to the GOP's fall event. [[In-content Ad]]