PULSE OF THE VOTERS: Patterson concerned about health care since Obamacare ‘didn’t work’
"leans more conservative."
Patterson and his wife own and operate
in French-hybrid vines since 2005, has become a popular venue for weddings
and other events.
"We love our home and are very proud to own a business here," Patterson
says of the community.
Calling himself a "pretty average person," Patterson says he "absolutely" votes
regularly and has been following the developments of the mid-term elections
set for
For Patterson, the most important issue is healthcare. In addition to operating
a small business, he held another job until being laid off a little over a year
ago.
"It's pretty scary to be 57 and not have any health insurance," Patterson admits. "Because of the money I made for my job, though, Obamacare says that I can afford an outrageous amount of money for insurance each
month. Which is simply not true.
"The whole industry needs to be revamped," Patterson says, including pharmaceuticals as well as insurance. "I thought Trump going in was
going to do some things that really would make a difference."
As an example, Patterson cites President
citizens would be able to buy insurance across state lines. "That will make it an effective marketplace and, I think, will bring down the cost with competition," he explains. "I haven't seen that
yet; I hope he does. I think that will help...
"Obamacare didn't work," he goes on to say. "People can rant and rave all they
want to about Trump taking it away. The simple fact is it didn't work. It was dead in
with some common sense and take the power out of the hands of the big
pharmaceutical companies and insurance industry."
Alas the issue most concerning to Patterson is not one he's hearing about from
the candidates running for
It's not just the President's alleged treatment of women which Patterson feels have been over-publicized. Issues like immigration he feels have been "ridiculously battled in the media." Those who are here, Patterson believes,
should be given some path to citizenship instead of the government using its
resources trying to deport every one.
"At the same time I see nothing wrong or racist about securing the borders,"
Patterson adds.
Patterson is also an advocate for people owning firearms and doesn't want
legislators to implement more laws than what are already in place -- saying
he doesn't trust the government to use such laws only for gun control.
"I can't go to a store now and buy a gun without a background check," Patterson says. "I see no problem in enforcing we already have in place."
Whether or not party control of
what Patterson calls "probably the most important" issue for him as a voter. He would like to see
actually gain seats given the president's penchant for controversy -- particularly through social media like Twitter.
"Trump could do some really good things," Patterson says, "and I think he has done some really good things for the economy. His tax package that he passed, I think there was some good and some bad in there just like most legislation that seems to get through.
Patterson believes Trump could go down as "one of the most loved presidents"
in American history if he is able to institute Congressional term limits. "I do not believe anyone should be a career politician," he says. "That's not the way our country was started but that's what it's turned into."
Patterson would like to see legislators limited to two terms without lifetime salaries and benefits. "Let our representatives be people," he says.
Of the recent controversy surrounding
issue but not for the same reasons as most voters.
"I like the idea of the court being balanced as far as left and right...," he says. "The problem that I see personally with the
it as now. If our legislators would do their jobs, the
Of trade wars, Patterson says he's probably been affected in ways that he hasn't seen but that he respects the President's efforts to renegotiate deals that have been unfavorable to
Patterson is supportive of
cooler ties with the country's traditional allies and reaching out to countries
like
Of
believes that if the Trump campaign truly had colluded with the Russians, specific evidence should have been found by now.
"I don't know if there was any collusion or not," Patterson says. "I would say there was certainly no more collusion than
In terms of environmental policy, Patterson does believe in having "common
sense" regulations without using the
"Our state is beautiful," he says of
by anything -- especially manufacturing waste or anything like that."
___
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