Brevard County Young Democrats

Name: Steve Blythe
Occupation: Family Practice Physician
Residence: Indialantic, FL
Seat you are running for: U.S. House of Representatives, Florida District 15 (currently held by Dave Weldon - Republican)
Website: http://www.blythe2008.com
Additional Links: YouTube Introduction, Brevard County School Board Testimony, Candidate Petition Form

• Hundreds of thousands of young people will be returning from foreign wars. What is your solution for insuring long term care for these veterans?
  

  I propose the creation of “Medicare Part V” – any veteran who is not eligible for care through the VA system can be covered through the Medicare system with basically the same coverage they would now get through the VA. Any VA-eligible veteran who does not live near a VA facility or who feels they are not getting the care they need could “opt out” of the VA system and be covered under “Medicare Part V”

• 47 Million Americans are currently uninsured, many of them young people. What would be your solution for affordable health care coverage?
  

  I am a member of Physicians for a National Health Plan. When I worked on the border of Canada I was a Canadian Medicare provider. Their system is very good – in spite of the propaganda you have heard. Everyone is covered, and everyone is equal. It is very just, and no one lives in fear of not having the care they need.

• What is your opinion of the new Project Constellation program? Do you think there should be a gap between the Space Shuttle program and the Project Constellation? And, what priority do you place on the U.S. Space Program?
  

  I am in favor of the core missions of NASA – deep space research and life science research using the ISS. Hubble and the Chandra radio telescope are yielding incredible new information about the universe! I think the proposed lunar station and manned trip to Mars is a distraction, not to mention terribly expensive. We already have expensive moon rocks, and we need to prioritize the NASA budget. And even considering the entire US budget – can we afford to build stations on the moon when our bridges are collapsing?

• The War in Iraq has killed almost 4,000 Americans and has cost us close to $500 billion to date. What is your solution to resolve this conflict and bring American troops home?
  

  We need to get the hell out. However, we have created a chaotic civil war with up to a million civilian deaths and currently 2,250,000 refugees – which we are doing nothing about. Our absurd policy right now is to arm the Shiite insurgents against the Sunnis and in the Sunni areas to arm the Sunnis against the Shiites. This will really help in the long run!! (being sarcastic). We have done absolutely NOTHING to negotiate for peace – to work with religious and political leaders of the region to form a peace process to which all can subscribe. I think we need to work on negotiations as we plan withdrawal.

• Why are you running for office? What makes you qualified for the job more than other candidates?
  

  I have passion. I am sincere. I am extremely concerned about the direction our country is headed. I have been an activist since I was 18. I am not a slick politician, but I don’t really think we need any more slick politicians right now. I was active beginning with the anti-Vietnam War movement and worked against the building of the Seabrook Nuclear Reactor in new Hampshire (education and demonstrations). I was very active against the US support of dictatorships in Central America and spent time in Guatemala and Nicaragua, and spent several months working with Guatemalan refugees in Chiapas, Mexico. I understand a lot about the dynamics of the world, and certainly the dynamics of Latin America, which is undergoing amazing democratic change right now. I am not, and have never been, in anything for myself. I have put my life on the line (literally, in Chiapas) for my beliefs. I cannot be bought.

• Do you support a woman’s right to choose abortion? If yes, what would you do to protect that right? If no, what is it you would do to change it?
  

  I support a woman’s right to choose. I would fight against the piecemeal efforts to destroy this right. No one likes abortion – one proven way to reduce the need for abortions is to make sure that all women have access to contraception information and services. I worked with the Brevard ACLU and a group of concerned parents to push the Brevard County School Board to move away from its Weldon-inspired “abstinence-only” sex ed curriculum to an “abstinence-based comprehensive curriculum”. This included testimony to the school board and participation in a committee appointed by the superintendent.

• Do you support gay marriage or civil unions? Why or why not?
  

  I do not think we should deny legal rights to couples who have non-traditional relationships, whether that is elderly heterosexual couples living as partners or homosexual couples. “Marriage” is a term used often to describe a religious ceremony. If a church feels that it is against their beliefs to perform gay marriages, that is their prerogative. But that should not be confused with legal rights that couples should be granted.

• How do you feel about the affordability of college education and how do you feel it should be adjusted?
  

  College education and postgraduate education is always an investment in the future. It is an appropriate role of the government to support our educational institutions and to support low-interest loans, Pell Grants for poor students, etc.

• Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to cure the diseases that millions of Americans suffer from. Do you support embryonic stem cell research? Why or why not?
  

  Absolutely. They can be thrown in the toilet, but not used for research, under Bush/Weldon regulations. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.

• How do you plan on managing the need for growth, the limited water supply, and the health of the Indian River lagoon?
  

  These are problems nationwide – the fastest growing city in the US has no water! (Las Vegas). We need to support local initiatives such as we have had here in Brevard County that force local governments that provide services to halt growth until they have in place the ability to continue to meet the service needs – schools, water, sewage, police/fire, etc. of the growing populations. Similar efforts through the federal government might be important, but these are roles of local governments. Clearly the overall health of the water supplies is the province of the federal government – through environmental controls and protections – many of which have gone lacking in the past seven years!