Illinois Valley News

Jaynee Germond

Jaynee Germond, a Roseburg resident and Oregon 4th Congressional District candidate, made her way to Grants Pass on Thursday, Jan. 28 to address the Josephine County Republican Women.

Approximately 17 people attended the meeting at a café.

Germond ran against incumbent Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield) as a Constitution Party candidate in 2008. She said that she is running for the seat because experienced politicians have brought “nothing but grief” to citizens.

“I am running to be a representative of the people,” Germond said.

Citing her endorsements from the 9/12 Project and the Republican Liberty Caucus, she said she signed a pledge put forth by the Club for Growth to repeal any health-care bill passed by the current Congress.

Germond said that if she wins the May 19 Republican primary election against Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken, she will seek the support of the Constitution and Libertarian parties. Such a move would bolster her “electability” in the November general election, she said.

A series of bail-outs by the federal government during 2008 and 2009 of failing financial firms was blasted by Germond. She accused officials of enabling banks to make bad decisions.

“Responsibility is gone. There is no accountability anymore,” Germond said. “We seem to have gone down a dead-end road, one with no turnaround.”

Germond said that the growth of groups such as the 9/12 Project demonstrates that the public is becoming weary of such policies. She added that on the heels of Scott Brown’s election to the U.S. Senate seat long held by the late Ted Kennedy, Republicans have a chance to regain control of Congress in the 2010 election.

One-third of the Senate is up for re-election this year, Germond said, which allows voters the chance to choose candidates who understand the Constitution.

“We have the chance to really make an impact on the Senate,” Germond said. “We can send a message.”

Germond took aim at many of DeFazio’s recent votes. She criticized DeFazio’s support of the health-care reform bill working its way through Congress, and said that he only voted against a cap-and-trade bill because it did not contain enough regulations.

Along with U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), DeFazio has supported the designation of further wilderness areas throughout the state, Germond said. Also mentioned was DeFazio’s vote against the bail-outs, but Germond said that the veteran Congressman did so because the proposal was not big enough.

“He needs to pick up his toys and go home,” she said.

Also addressed by Germond was the issue of health care. She worked in the industry for some 25 years, and characterized the U.S. system as “the best in the world.”

Germond said a solution for escalating health-care costs could come in the way of medical malpractice caps and tort reform. She said that Texas enacted such legislation in 1994, which prompted malpractice lawsuits to drop from more than 1,000 to around 100 in just one year.

More than 7,000 physicians have since moved to Texas, Germond said.

“If that doesn’t improve accessibility, nothing will,” she said.

Germond said that tax credits could be given to health-care providers who service the uninsured.

“That tax credit benefits everybody,” she said.

Natural-resource issues also were mentioned by Germond. She said that her husband, Rich, comes from a family of loggers, and that “environmental” groups should be sued to stop them from preventing resources from being utilized.

“This land is our land, and it’s time to take it back,” Germond said. “The federal government can’t afford it anymore.”