Coffee with Comer
Congressman Comer talked about the country’s immediate issues and answered questions. Photo by PJ Martin
By PJ Martin
Editor
The Herald-News
On Wednesday, October 16, Congressman James Comer (R-1st District) visited the Old School Café in Edmonton to meet with citizens, answer questions, and give an update on what is happening in Washington, DC. District Director Sandy Simpson was also on hand to offer support to anyone who had questions or needed assistance with Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, or any other federal issue they might help with.
Comer stated, “So there’s 750,000 people that live in the first congressional district that we try to work with,” adding that he was doing ‘town halls’ or ‘coffee with’ events in the district to learn the issues people are most concerned about.
He relayed some of the things Congress is currently working on, “…obviously, we’re trying to get an annual budget passed. And one of my biggest complaints…the federal government just spends too much money.” He added that the biggest issue today is always the economy, but specifically inflation and then crime which is affecting the larger cities the most. “I think a big part of why we have so much crime is because we have a wide-open southern border.”
“It is against the law to walk across that southern border,” but he added that no one is being held accountable for the border problems. The number of illegal aliens is weakening the system, “So you’ve got a burden on the school system. You’ve got a burden on the health care…We’ve got to secure the border, and I’ve been a strong proponent for that.”
“So, I’m chairman of the House Oversight Committee, and we try to go after waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in the federal government, there’s no shortage of that…bring people in that work for the government, that we feel aren’t doing a good job, and hopefully try to get some accountability there, either spend the money better or resign, or just trying to be held accountable. That’s kind of what our committee does.”
Fentanyl
One of the country’s major issues is the drug cartel bringing fentanyl into the US and Comer explained how it’s done.
“I was at the border. I took my committee down there about nine months ago. I met with Border Patrol agents and we went out on the drive. There were 52 people that crossed the border that they apprehended. They wanted to be apprehended… They go across the border, and they sit there and they wait for Border Patrol to come to pick them up, and they take them back and feed them and provide housing and transportation, and we don’t know what happens to them after that. That’s kind of been a secret with this administration, but you can rest assured you’re paying for it, whatever’s happening after that…Those 52 people, were all from two countries, Cuba and Uzbekistan. Now if you know where Cuba and Uzbekistan are on the map, you know they didn’t walk across that border. Somehow, they got to Mexico, and then they walked across the border.”
“The drug cartels are bringing all the fentanyl in and the ingredients to make it are coming from China. China’s sending it to Mexico. Mexico’s making and mixing it up in pills in what used to be labs, just a few miles into Mexico”
People from all over the world are answering the cartel ads, he explained. The cartel brings them by bus load, around 50 at a time, and telling them to cross the border via a well-worn path, then they sit and wait to be picked up by Border Patrol.
“When the Border Patrol leaves, and there’s these three guys sitting there with backpacks, once they leave, they walk across the border with the fentanyl with a backpack, and they walk several miles, and somebody picks them up on the road, and they start going around the interstate–this goes on every day on our southern border. Every day, and it just drives me crazy that nothing’s going to be done.”
Election Integrity
Comer said one of the questions he is asked about a lot is election integrity and he explained that the biggest problem was because of absentee ballots. “Here’s what happened during covid. States, including Kentucky, changed the rules of absentee ballots and instead of calling the clerk to request a ballot, they just mailed out ballots.”
“Here’s what happened during Covid. States, including Kentucky, changed the rules of absentee ballots and instead of calling the clerk to request a ballot, they just mailed out ballots,” Comer said.
He noted that this year is more back to normal without all those absentee ballots. “Not every state requires a driver’s license like we do, which I think is criminal, and I think every state should. But with respect to absentee ballots, that’s where I think the problem was four years ago…”
As far as Kentucky, he stated that historically paper ballots accounted for about 2%, but during Covid, it was 30-40%, adding that “it appears it’s going to be back down to what it traditionally was.”
This gentleman requested help with a matter and Director Simpson and Congressman Comer were willing to help in any way they could. Photo by PJ Martin
Medication Prices
The House Oversight Committee recently spoke with the three major pharmaceutical managers about the ever-increasing drug prices. Comer explained what happened, “There’s a thing called a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM)…They were created to negotiate drug prices with the big pharmaceutical companies, to try to get better deals for Medicare, and things like that, to lower the price of medicine. But what happened over time… the PBMs started their own mail-order pharmacies.”
“So, we led an investigation on the Oversight Committee, and we found that these pharmacy benefit managers were actually increasing the price of drugs, on certain drugs, and the pharmacists have been complaining about it for years. If you have an independent pharmacy, you have to buy your drug through the PBMs. Well, now the PBMs have their own pharmacies. They’re charging the independent pharmacies more than they sell it for, you know, because they’re trying to put them out of business, and that’s why you see so many pharmacies around America are shut down, because the PBMs are squeezing them out so that they can be the only person left standing.”
“The pharmacy benefit managers were also gouging Medicare…the newest group to get on board to help us fight these pharmacy benefit managers is the oncologists,” Comer said. He explained that the PBMs were rejecting the cancer medications for the cancer patient that the oncology doctors were recommending so that they could recommend other medications they would make more money on.
“We’ve tried to get them (PBMs) abolished, we’re trying to break these PBMs up, and things like that…We published a report showing some specific drugs that people were taking for cancer and diseases that they had, that they were having to pay a whole lot more for than they should have. And hopefully, that’s gonna lead to some changes. That’s a big issue for me that we’ve been taking on.”
Social Security
Several questions were asked concerning Social Security being put on hold for various reasons. “The whole Social Security’s gonna have to be…there’s changes that need to be made, but nobody is gonna say that in an election…That’s unfortunate, because with a program that big that that many people have, you should always be talking about it and making necessary changes along the way,” Comer said.
He stated that he gets more calls about this bill than anything else, The Social Security Fairness Act, explaining that, “Teachers don’t pay into Social Security, but if they’re married to someone who does pay in, they’re not allowed to get the Social Security benefits from a deceased spouse, because they’re on the Teacher’s Retirement System. It’s really kind of been unfair…We’re finally I think gonna vote on that in three weeks and it will pass the House.”
“I support those changes,” stated Comer.
“Every county is unique, but for the most part, the counties have the same goal. I think we’re losing too many of our best young people, in my Congressional District. They’re moving to Nashville, moving to Indianapolis, moving to where the good jobs are.”
“Again, if you ever need anything from my office, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’ve got two great young ladies in the office with Metcalfe County ties and Sandy’s over here regularly, and I just live next door (Monroe County). So don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your support.”
The café was crowded with people who came to listen and possibly ask questions. Photo by PJ Martin
