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Outgoing U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross laments missed opportunities

By Christopher Heath, WFTV.com

U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross (Facebook photo)

By Christopher Heath, WFTV.com
On April 11, U.S. Representative Dennis Ross of Central Florida was preparing to tell his Washington D.C. staff the bad news that he’d be retiring. 
As staff members gathered for the announcement, one looked up at a TV in the office and remarked that there was breaking news: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan had just announced that he would not be seeking reelection.   

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Ross is one of 31 Republicans not seeking reelection in 2018.
 
“I knew I wouldn’t serve more than five terms,” said Ross (R-FL 15).  “But this is the right decision at the right time.”
 
For Ross, that decision comes as Republicans across the country are preparing for what is anticipated to be a very tough election cycle.  Historically, the party in power suffers in a midterm election. 
Republicans hold a 42-seat advantage in the House of Representatives. However, with a record number of members not running for reelection, the departure of an incumbent like Ross in a solid red district gives Democrats a greater chance of flipping the seat, even though Republicans are still expected to hold it.
 
“Just as a matter of history, there should be a level of concern for Republicans, just because we are the party in power, it is the White House’s first midterm, traditionally, we lose a lot of seats, whoever that party might be,” Ross said.
 
In an interview with Eyewitness News, Ross said the key to Republicans holding his seat and holding the House will depend on how effectively they can sell their accomplishments. But that is an admittedly short list.
 
“The one thing we have got to be able to do that we haven’t been able to do very well is give that 30-second reason to keep us in office,” Ross said. “What will help us is the tax reform that we did that will give people a little more money in their pockets.”
 
But, while Ross leaves Congress, following the passage of the tax bill, he admits Congress missed several other opportunities, including dealing with health care, entitlement reform, infrastructure and immigration. 
 
“We have got to make sure we take care of those that are here, that didn’t come here of their own choosing. We don’t deport them. That’s not right,” Ross said.  “But just doing nothing again is not the way we handle this policy.”
 
It is on the topics of health care reform and entitlement reform that Ross said the missed opportunities might be the most severe in the short and long-term.    
 
In the short-term, health care costs are increasing.  Part of the increasing cost of health care comes from the ending of what are known as “cost sharing reductions” or CSRs.  Under the Affordable Care Act, insurers were given federal dollars to help defray the cost of issuing qualifying healthcare plans.  In October of 2017, the Trump administration ended the CSR payments. Congress could have added CSR to its 2018 spending bill, but did not, and as a result, many insurers are raising premiums to help cover the cost.
 
As for the debt, in its 2017 annual report the Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees found that the Medicare trust fund would be depleted by 2029 and the Social Security trust funds would be depleted in 2034. 
Compounding this looming crisis is the current debt situation. Currently, the U.S. national debt is up 2.8 percent since the first of the year, with the national debt now exceeding $21 trillion. The US’s high debt lead Fitch Ratings in April issue a statement saying the debt, "puts the public finances in a weaker position to confront any future economic downturn."
 
“Entitlements are the mandatory spending, and we just turn a blind eye to them because they are automatic, and they just renew themselves every year,” Ross said. “We are setting ourselves up for disaster.  We can’t keep saying we’ll address it later. It is disappointing to me that we didn’t take on a lot of difficult issues, and mandatory spending is the only way we’ll be able to get our debt and deficit under control.”

Cox Media Group

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