Steve Shogan, an unaffiliated candidate for the U.S. Senate, wasn’t invited to participate in Club’s debate but he showed up in Grand Junction anyway and talked to voters. (Shogan campaign)
“Steve Shogan, independent candidate for the U.S. Senate, sat in the front row at the Club 20 debate in Grand Junction Saturday night and watched as the Republican and Democratic candidates dodged questions he’s been giving answers to since he announced his run in April.”
Can his campaign manager write a press release or what?
Shogan shelled out $300 to set up a booth at Club 20 to talk to voters because he wasn’t invited to participate in the between Democratic inbument Mark Udall and his GOP challenger, Congressman Cory Gardner. Shogan said when he explained that to passersby, more than one person said, “You’re lucky. I hear it’s going to get ugly.”
Shogan, a Democrat turned unaffiliated voter, stepped away from his neurosurgeon practice . Here’s an edited version of how his campaign said he would have answered some of the debate questions (of course, it helps knowing the questions):
How do we break the gridlock in Washington and make progress toward solvency regarding the national debt?
We can begin to make progress toward retiring the national debt by instituting true health care reform and returning the Social Security system to financial stability. The unfunded mandates of these programs account for approximately two thirds of future national debt. We can break the gridlock by electing an Independent who would become a swing vote in an evenly divided partisan Senate.
What about the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) needs to be fixed or changed and what would be the consequences?
The Affordable Care Act simply will not work and needs to be replaced with a plan that will provide health coverage and care for everyone in this country. It will take more than saying “repeal” it, as the Republican candidate asserts or waiting for it to get better, as the Democratic candidate asserts. Right now, we ultimately do take care of people, but too frequently in the least cost effective ways, such as through Emergency Rooms.
My plan is similar to Medicare. Everyone would have basic health care, and everyone would share in the cost. I would take employers out of the equation. They should be happy to be relieved of this crippling burden to their cost of doing business.
A dedicated income stream, perhaps a sales tax, would pay for the tier one basic health care. However, taxpayers would be relieved of expensive Medicare taxes and other costs to offset this new tax. A second tier for extended coverage also would be offered through a robust open marketplace of individual insurance plans. Here individuals could purchase additional coverage in areas they desired, not what government dictates.
How would you protect Social Security for today’s seniors and strengthen it for future generations?
Even in an election year, I wouldn’t put off the hard talk we need to have about a bankrupt Social Security system for one more minute –as the Republican and Democratic candidates seem to suggest with their blanket assurances that they’ll “protect seniors.”
I have a six-point proposal that I would advance as soon as I’m sworn into the U.S. Senate. It includes increasing the minimum age for maximum benefits to 69, increasing the maximum income on which Social Security tax is calculated, changing the cost of living calculation, including new government employees in the Social Security system and reducing fraud and abuse.
