'We've got to rebuild trust'

Calif. lawmaker returns to Kalispell to stump for Obama

A California congresswoman who graduated from Flathead High School returned to Kalispell to stump for Barack Obama on Friday, saying the Democratic candidate would deliver meaningful change to the nation's health-care system.

Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., graduated from Flathead High in 1955 as Lois Grimsrud. After getting a degree in nursing, she returned to Kalispell, where she married Walter Capps in 1960 at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, where her father, the Rev. Milton Grimsrud, had served as pastor.

"I had breakfast with a few of my old classmates," Capps said as she mingled with a gathering of about 30 people Friday at the Museum at Central School.

"It's a real treat, a privilege, for the opportunity to come back to a place I call home," she said. "I realize, looking back, that it was a wonderful place to grow up … I have a lot of Montana still in my spirit."

Capps said energy in the Obama campaign has been driven from the grassroots level in communities across the country such as Kalispell. It reminds her of the Civil Rights era, a period when she became politically aware.

"I think [that era] is really not dissimilar to what we have today," she said. "I think it's time for that kind of spirit again."

Capps entered Congress in 1998, succeeding her husband as representative to California's 22nd Congressional District after his death. She has since maintained a deep interest in health care, belonging to a series of congressional caucuses on health-care matters.

She recalled that during the last presidential debate, the candidates were asked whether health care is a right, a responsibility or a privilege.

Sen. John McCain, she said, declared that it is a responsibility.

"Barack Obama said it is a right, and I believe that," Capps said.

With Medicaid for disabled and elderly citizens and the government's expanded role in children's health insurance, the U.S. gradually is moving toward a universal-health-care system that provides all citizens with access to health insurance, she said.

"It won't be easy to hold out universal health care as an ideal that becomes a reality," she said. "Barack Obama has promised to do that in his first term."

She explained that Obama's proposals will compel insurance companies to pursue preventive health care, increase competition in the industry, and streamline the record-keeping bureaucracy that has developed in the health-care system. The result will be lower health-care costs and premiums, Capps said.

McCain has proposed family tax credits of $5,000 that would be directed toward covering health-care costs.

"He thinks $5,000 per family is going to be helpful," Capps said.

Taking questions, Capps heard from a woman who referred to a media economist who asserted that neither McCain or Obama are going to be in the position to follow through on any of their proposals because of the cost of the government bailout of the financial system.

"That's a pretty pessimistic viewpoint," Capps said. "I don't want to be Pollyanna about it, but we can't afford not to deal with health care and education."

Having a healthy and educated work force will be a crucial ingredient in the country's long-term economic future, she added.

Capps went on to reflect on the $700 billion bailout that was signed into law last week.

"It was very difficult to pass," she said. "It was painful to vote yes to anything that seemed like a bailout for Wall Street."

Capps asserted that it was necessary not for financial firms, but for ensuring the survival of Main Street businesses that depend on having available credit.

Capps acknowledged that Congress has low public-approval ratings, but said potential exists for that to change with strong leadership.

"We've got to get back that confidence and rebuild that trust," she said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com