McCain: Rosemont needed in this economy

Sen. John McCain on Friday said the proposed Rosemont Copper mine on the eastern slope of the Santa Rita Mountains “can be good for our economy,” and said the state’s high unemployment rate presents a good argument to go forward with the project.

McCain told a group of about 10 community leaders before his town hall meeting in Green Valley that jobs are important and that Arizona’s “real unemployment rate,” which takes into account under-employed workers and those who’ve not sought work in the last four weeks, is about 17 percent.

Several in the group, including Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll and GVCCC president Stan Riddle, told McCain the mine is overwhelming unpopular in the Green Valley area for several reasons, including water.

“Frankly, I’m sorry,” McCain said. “We can’t let the environmentalists run and ruin this economy.”

He later added, “For me to reject out-of-hand something that will employ 400 families, I’m not going to do that.”

McCain, R-Ariz., said, however, that it’s important to “have the proper studies done” to determine the mine’s effect on the environment. The Coronado National Forest is expected to release a draft environmental impact statement on the open-pit mine by the end of June.

That statement will help evaluate whether the mine would be approved. U.S. Reps. Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords, both D-Ariz., have come out strongly against Rosemont, citing several environmental issues. Others have said the jobs created would be offset by those destroyed in an area that is a prime tourist draw.

Later, McCain told about 800 people at the town hall meeting that a temporary worker program would help reduce illegal immigration and ease border enforcement. He also called for more technology, including use of drones and placing the National Guard on the border, which drew applause from a packed house at Valley Presbyterian Church.

McCain ripped the administration’s economic stimulus spending and its pursuit of health care reform, saying “the American people overwhelmingly have said ‘no, we don’t want this.’ They want us to go back and back and fix health care but without a government takeover.”

The first audience question for McCain was repeated in various ways throughout the hourlong meeting: What can be done to stop the Democrats in Congress and the White House from expanding government and public debt and changing the health care system? One questioner labeled the government’s direction “socialist.”

McCain at first noted that he and other opponents have turned public opinion from pro-reform to anti-reform over the past year, and called for a Republican victory in the special Massachusetts Senate election on Tuesday to get a much-needed edge. When pressed about what constituents could do to stop the Democratic majority, McCain replied, “Write, call, e-mail, voice your views as citzens of this country” because a majority oppose the reform.

He said the Democrats’ health-care plan raised the Constitutional issue of whether the government can compel individuals to buy health coverage, and said he thought Congress’ apparent intention to award different Medicare funding to different states to obtain votes for the bill also was a violation.

He prescribed lower health-care costs, saying that would be aided by curtailing medical malpractice lawsuits, saying physicians must practice defensive medicine, and calling for employers to give employees incentives to exercise and quit smoking.

McCain said the Democratic Congress and the Obama Administration are spending more wildly than any “drunken sailor” could have imagined, but also said he was worried that health-care reform would cut $530 billion from Medicare. He said there is fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare, but not $530 billion worth, and so reform would mean benefits would be cut.

One speaker praised Medicare Advantage for paying $111,000 of his $120,000 medical bill, while regular Medicare would only have paid $98,000. McCain said Medicare Advantage, chosen by 330,000 Arizonans, is imperiled by health care reform, because Democrats want government-controlled health coverage, or Medicare, rather than private health insurance. He also noted that Medicare reimburses health-care providers less than actual costs.

In the earlier, 20-minute meeting with community leaders, McCain also said a National Heritage Area designation for the Santa Cruz Valley “is a good idea. I just want to make sure everybody’s at the table... I’m certainly supportive of the idea.”

He called the National Heritage Area designation in Yuma “remarkable.” The designation provides the basis for heritage-based economic development, among other benefits. There are 40 such areas in the country. The Santa Cruz designation was approved by the House in September. U.S. Sen. Jon Kyl has expressed reservations about the plan.

McCain did not say directly whether he supported a permanent Border Patrol checkpoint north of Tubac, but said, “If the government establishes a permanent checkpoint then all the bad guys know where you are.”

He said a permanent checkpoint should not be an excuse to cut back on other methods of intercepting illegal drugs and illegal immigrants flowing from Mexico.

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