John Thune

Posted: August 26th 2009

The New York Times reports:

Like other Republicans, Senator John Thune of South Dakota, a member of the party’s Senate leadership, says he believes complaints about the health care overhaul go far beyond policy to a more elemental matter of trust.

“I think there a general distrust of the federal government’s capacity to manage something like this,” Mr. Thune told reporters in a conference call Tuesday morning.

Mr. Thune pointed to the administrative problems in the “cash for clunkers” program ... as a recent example of federal fumbling that has exacerbated public fears about government-run programs.

Mr. Thune was echoing comments by some of his colleagues that the angry sentiments heard at some town meetings reflected a mounting fear that the federal government, with its takeover of the auto companies and some financial institutions, is getting far too expansive and intrusive, particularly at a time of mounting federal debt.

He noted that even a forum he conducted at a large agricultural exposition at home — usually a meeting focused on farming issues — evolved into a health care discussion. “Even among the farming and ranching community here in South Dakota, that is the issue that is on everyone’s radar screen,” he said.

As for the legislation, he didn’t hold out much hope for any bipartisan deal, pointing to the deep ideological divide between Republican senators opposed to Democratic proposals and Democrats who see this as their health care moment.

“They have been fighting for this for a long time and they see this as a window of opportunity to accomplish it,” he said.