Rep. Paul Broun Comes to Athens

7:20 p.m.: A woman says that what people need is good jobs and good benefits. The university and other folks aren't paying people right. Linda Lloyd says we have a food bank and we can't keep it full. We need some help serious. Our folks can 't make it too much longer like this.

Broun: The way to reduce poverty is a good paying job, and the education to fill those jobs. Remembers a mayoral race in which the candidate said he didn't want any business coming to town that employed more than 50 people. There're no more manufacturing jobs in Athens because of policies here.

7;12 p.m.: Broun says we've got to get rid of the tax burden. The government intrusion in health care is what's driven up costs. We need to get burdens off businesses so you can create jobs.

A woman speaks against a new law that mandates home buyers to put down 20 percent on a house.

Broun says, High tax rates on corporations are driving jobs off shore. By removing those tax rates, you create new jobs. It was government that created the housing boom. Says it took almost a year to refinance his house. Blames this on Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank. 

7:07 p.m.: Participant complained about the Patriot Act and the searching of citizens in airports, "where naked hands are put on people's body parts, and that's disgusting." Broun says he has called for Janet Napolitano to resign. 

Broun says, "We hear from our Democratic colleagues that Republicans are the party of Big Business. That's wrong." I'm for the little guy. We hear our Democratic colleagues say we need to tax millionaires and billionaires. The Fair Tax would stop that. Says the people paying more than $250,000 a year are small businesses. 

7:02 p.m.: Trustees of Medicare say it's going to run out of money. Social Security trustees say it's going to run out of money. There's no money in the Social Security Trust Fund. Two thirds of the money spent today is spent on entitlements. The reality is if we don't reform Social Security and Medicare, nobody's going to get it. This is the opening of the discussion. You deserve the truth. There's not going to be any Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or Veterans Benefits if we don't take care of this. 

6:57 p.m.: Time is running out. Few questions have been answered directly. Few issues have been explained. Encourages people to go on line and send him questions and messages. 

Participant recommends getting rid of the cap on Social Security. Says people earning above $100,000 are not paying Social Security. Eliminate the cap for individuals, not businesses. The other idea is to get rid of the COLA. The amount you get when you retire is what you get the rest of your life. Wants people to delay getting Social Security for five or six years and get more.

6:54 p.m.: Broun says he has a bill to cut corporate taxes in order to create more jobs. Cutting taxes will give the corporations more money so they can create jobs and bring home the offshore operations and put people here to work.

6:50 p.m.: One man advocates withdrawing all foreign aid and getting out of the U.N., and that prompts a scattering of applause. More applause when Broun advocates getting the U.S. out of the U.N. and the U.N. out of the U.S. 

6:45 p.m.: A veteran says we've got a war that's gone on for more than a decade. We need to bring the troops home and start reducing the spending on the military. Broun now says we need a strong military to protect us. Says it took only 200 American troops to throw the Taliban out of Afghanistan. Because they worked with the Northern Alliance. Says the Presidents don't understand the tribal system of Afghanistan. Says we should never have another Vietnam. Why the U.S. is in Libya is beyond me,  Broun says.

6:39 p.m.: Broun: Monetizing our debt affects everything. It's estimated that one third of the cost of gasoline is because the fed is printing dollars. But the debt isn't related just to that. The federal government is spending money it doesn't have. $14.3 trillion debt means each of us owes $47,000. We're got to stop the spending in Washington. I'd like to see us go back to a money system based on gold or silver. Congress is supposed to set monetary policy, not the fed. Says he won't vote to raise the debt ceiling. Proposes getting rid of the Department of Education. Wants local school systems to control education, and those folks need to get a real job.

6:33 p.m.:  Broun says the next issue is federal spending and debt.

I've been concerned about the spending side, says one guy. Good business, good government, good families. Increase revenues and reduce spending, when possible. Exxon Mobile has paid no taxes. It's a time for them to do their part to support the country. GE filed a 20,000 page tax return. 

Broun: I think we need to stop all subsidies. The big oil companies are being subsidized by millions of dollars. We are writing $6 billion checks for corn-based ethanol. Corn based ethanol hasn't worked. The oil companies gets 7 cents a gallon and the government gets 40 cents a gallon. I want to stop subsidizing corn based ethanol. 

6:29 p.m.: Broun now will address the questions.. We are charged Biblically with being good stewards. We need to have alternative fuels. Barack Obama has said he doesn't care if gas goes up as long as it goes up slowly. If gas goes to $8 a gallon, you'd see a lot of small cars as in Europe. As one who believes in liberty, I don't think the government should control what kind of cars we drive. God has given us a tremendous amount of energy resources in this country, and we've got to develop them. Unless God decided somehow to create more oil. 

6:21 p.m.: Broun moves on to gas prices and energy. I think what this country needs is a program to develop alternative energies like a NASA program. Why not develop our own alternative energy and say the heck to petroleum and the heck to carbon?

UGA Student: I would like to stay in Georgia. Do you have any plans to have programs to invest in renewable resources? 

VFW: How can we go to a non-pertroleum system when the oil companies have so many lobbyists? UGA guy: I'm concerned about the reliance on coal fired plants that pollute and that use millions of gallons of water a day? Older lady: using nuclear energy as our energy is a risky business. I'm concerned about that. She recommends turning down the volume on the PA system. Another UGA student: been facing these education cuts. Why did he vote against ending subsidies for big oil companies?

Someone: More oil in North Dakota than in Saudi Arabia. Cut the budget for the Department of Energy. Someone: Nuclear power is very safe. I spent eight years working in the Navy and I don't glow in the dark. 

Older guy: people here have to learn to conserve. We need to start making little cars and stop making SUVs. The American public can't stand to drive a sensible care. They have to drive a big SUV or a truck. That's one of the major problems. Someone else says to put the speed limit back to 55. Another calls for investing in public transportation.

6:19 p.m.: Go to any hospital and you'll find people who can't speak English. We've got to make English the officials language of this country. Guy says that Broun's great bills just can't get passed. He says we need to end Obamacare. Bending the cost curve of health care is lowering the slope a little bit. He says he has introduced two bills to repeal Obamacare. Those bills will never be passed while he is President of the United States. 

6:15 p.m.: Broun is asking the crowd for their number one issues. He says he can tell that some people don't do the Internet. Wants to know who's number one issue is "immigration and border security."

Woman: More concerned with corporate issues. She says enforce the law on the corporate level. Broun wants to know if anyone else has that issue. Man asks how are we doing to pick the fruits and vegetables in Georgia.

Woman: Illegal aliens aren't cheap in reality. We're paying for their schools and for their health care. Our seniors need that healthcare and we're not giving it to them.

Broun: Talking about the e-verify program. He has a bill to encourage employers to use e-verify. We're got to enforce the law. We're got to stop this birthright citizenship in the country. We see pregnant ladies come across the border, come from around the world. It's a misapplication of the 14th Amendment. The sponsor of that bill says it doesn't apply to Indians or Aliens. We have to take illegal aliens off the welfare system.