Mike Enzi and obstructing Health Care

Presented by: The Religious Freedom Coalition of the SouthEast

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Question: "Separation between Church and State." Who coined the Phrase? Give up? Answer: Thomas Jefferson - one of the founding fathers of this great Nation and a creator of the U.S. Constitution and the First Amendment to that same Constitution. Thomas Jefferson, in 1802, wrote a Letter to the Dansbury Baptist Convention, referring to the First Amendment to the US Constitution. In it he said:

"Believing that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their Legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church and State."

Early Life and Career

Born in Bremerton, Washington to Elmer Jacob Enzi and the former Dorothy M. Bradley,^[1] Enzi grew up in Thermopolis, Wyoming after his father's return from military duty on the Pacific Coast. He attended elementary school in Thermopolis and graduated from Sheridan High School in 1962. He is an Eagle Scout and a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.^[2]^[3]

Enzi received a degree in accounting from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., in 1966. He is also a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. He received an M.B.A. in retail marketing from the University of Denver in Colorado in 1968. He also served in the Wyoming Air National Guard from 1967 to 1973.^[4] On June 7, 1969, Enzi married the former Diana Buckley; the couple has two daughters, Amy and Emily, and a son, Brad.

Soon after his marriage, Enzi moved to Gillette where he expanded his father's shoe-sale business ^[5], NZ Shoes, which later also featured locations in Sheridan and in Miles City, Montana. As a young business owner, he served as president of the Wyoming chapter of the United States Junior Chamber. Enzi was elected as Mayor of Gillette in 1974 at the age of 30 and he held the position for two terms. He served until 1982, and during his tenure, the city doubled in size. From 1976 to 1979, Enzi worked with the U.S. Department of Interior on energy policy via its Coal Advisory Committee.

Enzi was elected to the Wyoming House of Representatives as a Republican and served from 1987 to 1991. He was then a member of the Wyoming Senate from 1991 to 1996. While a member of the State Senate, Enzi became a vocal opponent of proposals to allow legalized gambling within his state. He served as the primary spokesman of WyBett, an anti-casino group in 1994[2]. During this time period, he also worked professionally as an accountant with an oil drilling company, holding this job from 1985 to 1997. During the 1990s, he also worked as an executive director with the Black Hills Corporation, an energy holding company that owns utilities and natural gas and coal mining operations.

Senate Career

Enzi was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996. He endured a tough primary challenge during his first campaign, before winning election by an 8-point margin. Enzi won by a very comfortable margin in 2002. He became the senior U.S. Senator from Wyoming when his colleague Craig L. Thomas, died on June 4, 2007, from leukemia. His new colleague is fellow Republican John Barrasso, a former State Senator from Casper whom Enzi, as a then-State Senator himself, only narrowly defeated in the 1996 GOP senatorial primary 33%-32 percent.

Enzi is currently serving his third term in the U.S. Senate which he won with over 76 percent of the vote against Democratic opponent Chris Rothfuss, a professor of political science at the University of Wyoming.^[6]

Enzi has served as Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee from 2005-2007 and following the Democrats taking control of Congress is now currently the Ranking Member on the committee. On this committee, Enzi has sent several bills to the President's desk on reform for all of these areas. Enzi was also crucial in the passage of George W. Bush's controversial No Child Left Behind Act.

Political Views

Enzi was ranked by National Journal as the sixth-most conservative U.S. Senator in their March 2007 conservative/liberal rankings[3]. Despite his strong support of the War in Iraq, he was one of 14 U.S. Senators to vote against the Iraq War funding bill in May 2007 because he opposes the clauses of the bill which increase domestic spending.

On social issues, Enzi is strongly conservative. He opposes all types of abortion and has voted in favor of proposals that would provide restrictions on the procedure for minors, those stationed on military bases, and other groups. He has voted in favor of failed constitutional amendments that suggested banning gay marriage and flag desecration. Enzi also is a strong supporter of gun rights and is ranked very favorably by the National Rifle Association (NRA)^[7].

Enzi supports overall taxation decreases and has voted for the repeal of legislation governing such things as the death tax and "marriage penalty." He also calls for a partial privatization of Social Security and has consistently voted against measures to expand Medicare or to enroll more children or lower-class individuals in public health care. A strong supporter of the coal industry, Enzi also rejects alternative energy proposals and advocates Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and offshore drilling. He has a somewhat mixed record on trade issues; he has voted to approve most free trade bills but has rejected the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), one of the largest pieces of such legislation, and is opposed to presidential fast tracking of trade relation normalization.^[7]

Enzi takes a hard-line view on illegal immigration and has been rated highly by groups that support tighter border controls. He has voted in favor of the construction of a fence along the U.S.-Mexican border and against the implementation of guest worker programs. Enzi has voted to uphold the PATRIOT Act and is opposed to calls to cut down on wiretapping and to extend rights to Guantanamo Bay detainees. Enzi has also rejected calls for a timetable for military withdrawal from Iraq.^[7]

In 2005, Enzi became the ninth U.S. Senator from Wyoming to ascend to the rank of Chairman on one of the 16 standing committees in the U.S. Senate. Enzi has been a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee since his arrival in the U.S. Senate in 1997.

Enzi's committee led the first revisions to mine safety laws in 28 years by promoting the use of new technologies to improve mine safety and save lives. During his time as Chairman of the HELP Committee, 37 bills were reported out of the committee, 23 bills passed the U.S. Senate, 352 nominations were reported favorably, and 15 laws came through the committee that were eventually signed by President George W. Bush.

Enzi has joined Barrasso in endorsing the nomination of Richard Honaker of Rock Springs to the U.S. District Court in Cheyenne. The selection has been pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee for more than a year because of opposition from secularists and supporters of abortion rights.

Mr. Obstructionist

Enzi, one of three Republicans ostensibly negotiating health care reform as part of the Senate's "Gang of Six," told a Wyoming town hall crowd that he had no plans to compromise with Democrats and was merely trying to extract concessions.

"It's not where I get them to compromise, it's what I get them to leave out," Enzi said Monday, according to the Billings Gazette.

Enzi found himself under attack at the town hall simply for sitting in the same room as the three Finance Committee Democrats. Republicans in the crowd called for him to exit the talks. He assured conservatives that his presence was delaying health care reform.

"If I hadn't been involved in this process as long as I have and to the depth as I have, you would already have national health care," he said.

"Someone has to be at the table asking questions," Enzi said. "If you're not at the table, you're on the menu."

Enzi was also hit from the other side, as constituents criticized him for taking significant campaign cash from the health insurance industry while opposing a public insurance option that would compete with private plans and take a bit out of their bottom line.

Enzi's blunt portrayal of his real role in the negotiations makes bipartisan compromise impossible to emerge from the Finance Committee. Democrats around the table have already conceded the public option, yet appear to be no closer to winning any Republican support. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), another of the three Republicans continuing to negotiate -- or at least to meet -- has said that even if he agrees to a deal, he won't vote for it unless he can persuade a good many of his fellow Republicans to go along as well -- a prospect that would only be possible in the face of a dramatic Democratic capitulation.

The Republican negotiators are under intense pressure from GOP leadership to walk away from the discussions.

Earlier this week, one of the three Democrats in the talks, Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, said that he would support passing health care with a simple majority if it became clear the GOP wasn't serious. Well Duh!!!

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The Two Faces of Mike Enzi - Mr. Obstructionist

Early Life and Career