Congressman Dave Obey says, while Congress may be taking its time to complete a reform package, the status quo is definitely not sustainable. “You’re going to have double the number of uninsured that you have today, unless you have major changes in the health care system,” said the Wausau Democrat.

“When Harry Truman tried to reform the health care system, it was costing us four percent of our total national income, when Dick Nixon tried to do it, it was costing us eight percent. Today it’s costing us seventeen percent, and within ten years it’s going to cost us twenty five percent.

Obey insists that, absent some reform, twenty five percent of domestic product could go to health care in another ten years. Given the complexities of the debate, Obey says there’s no hurry in Congress. “There is no definite time line,” said Obey. “It will take as long as it takes, to overcome the misinformation being put out by the insurance lobby.”

“You’ve got 535 people who have different opinions,” said Obey. “That’s the way the country works.” Obey said if he had to bet, he’d wager a final vote on health care reform will come “right around December 23rd, at midnight.”

WXCE’s Kurt Mayer submitted this report

Should beer drinkers foot the bill for tougher OWI laws? That’s a concept which appears to be gaining traction at the Capitol, in the wake of the state Assembly’s unanimous approval of a package of enhanced drunk driving measures.

“I came out for the beer tax, and I’ve gotten some very positive comments from people,” said Madison Democrat, state Representative Kelda Helen Roys. Roys wants proceeds used to fight drunk driving and other alcohol-abuse issues. The beer tax in Wisconsin hasn’t been raised since 1969.” Roys calls it “a very modest increase in a tax that has not been increased in forty years, to help pay for enhanced prosecution of drunk driving, to pay for better treatment and more effective programs to stop drunk driving.”

“I’m very optimistic, there’s no question that there’s a buzz in this Capitol,” says the bill’s author, state Representative Terese Berceau. “There’s no question that the public is saying do something about drunk driving, and there’s no question that legislators are saying we’ve got to come up with the money somewhere.” In 2005, the Madison Democrat proposed raising the beer tax from two dollars to ten dollars a barrel. Now, she says the increase should be even higher, to pay for the increased costs of the OWI crackdown. 

“There are so many different players in this, who would like some of the money,” says Berceau, noting that the state’s district attorneys are likely to request additional staffing to deal with an increase in drunk driving arrests. A legislative panel is expected to hold a hearing on the bill in the coming weeks.

WIBA’s John Colbert contributed this report