HJNO May/Jun 2021

DIALOGUE 14 MAY / JUN 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   One more thing, it is anti-poverty, though, but instead of fighting poverty in Louisiana, it is fighting poverty in China. Would you rather fight poverty in Louisiana, or would you rather fight poverty in China? I’d rather fight poverty in Louisiana. Editor Do you believe Louisiana should simply submit to be the location in the U.S. to build and house oil refineries, plas- tic plants, and chemical facilities so other states and the world do not have to and are cleaner? Dr. Cassidy So, a couple of things — we’re not the only place in which such facilities are built. Just look at Texas. They have more such facili- ties than do we, but it is a place, which has many natural advan- tages. Awell-trained workforce that knows how to do the work of both constructing and maintaining and operating such a facility, the water- way, the Mississippi River that allows the product to get out, nat- ural resources such as chlorine, or chloride that you can make chlorine, as well as natural gas. But I think in your question is somehow a pre- sumption that this is a negative for Louisiana — that we have become a place where we do it here, because you don’t do it someplace else. I think it is to Louisiana’s advantage to have such plants. If you want to go back to healthcare, when I was a doctor work- ing in the charity hospital system at a small private practice, and one half-day a week, I would see the privately insured, every now and then I would see somebody who had formerly been seen at the hospital for the uninsured and now was seeing in my private practice. Almost inevitably, they had gotten a job in one of the petrochemi- cal plants, the refineries or some industry [that] would serve them. Think about that. They were nowmore prosperous instead of being uninsured or poorly insured through Medicaid. They were now well insured, their family was doing better-off, and we can imagine that their grandchildren, their great-grandchildren would be better-off, because that’s what becoming more pros- perous tends to create. That’s a good thing for Louisiana. That’s a good thing for the people that live here. I would rather such industry, as long as they comply fully with environmental regula- tions, move here, because if they do so, it benefits those who are employed there. And, we have the safest environmental safe- guards in the United States. I don’t know if you’ve been to one of the new state-of-the- art facilities, but they’re not the dirty stacks that you see from the ‘50s or the dirty stacks that you would currently see in a country like China or in an environmental propa- ganda film that is trying to somehow sow doubt about safety. But if you speak to the workers who work there, they’re glad they got the job. Editor As a Republican senator from a red state, you made a pretty ballsy vote to impeach Trump. You are a seasoned politician, and I am sure you gave a lot of thought to that vote. Do we see presidential ambitions ahead for Senator Bill Cassidy, MD? Dr. Cassidy I smile a little bit, because right now there’re somany people mad at me. But I think what you’re going at, did I have a sec- ondary ambition for what I did or a second- ary motive for what I did? And really, I can distill my motivation. When I was sworn in with the privilege of representing the great state of Louisiana, I took an oath to sup- port and defend the constitution. Being there on January the sixth, hearing the testimony, looking at all the evidence told me that my vote was the best way to support and defend the constitu- tion of the United States. Now, some folks would disagree with my vote, but I think they would still agree that my primary response — my first respon- sibility — is to support and defend the constitution. And that’s where I think I can find common ground even with those who disagree with my vote. Editor What keeps you up at night, and what gives you peace? Dr. Cassidy Our country has got to deliver on its promise for a better life for all Americans. And we’ve been through a tough stretch, not just with COVID, but also with a lot of jobs that used to be in the United States moving overseas, a lot of schools that don’t work well, a lot of special interests to get their piece of the pie, but theAmerican people feel as if they’re not getting theirs. So, that’s what keeps me up. What gives me peace is we’ve got a great country. We’re in a rough spot right now, but we’ve always worked through rough spots to come out even better — not because of the genius of the American government, but because of the genius of the American people. And I have such confidence in the American people, as we go forward, to get back to that equilibrium where everybody has the same opportunity for the greatest life they would ever wish to have. n