GOP rep questions Medicare constitutionality, global warming

Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) said Saturday that he believes Medicare might be unconstitutional, and that climate change science is "highly suspect."

The six-term congressman — who is vying for the GOP nomination to challenge incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill in 2012 — said at a town hall meeting with Tea Party activists that the medical plan for seniors and the disabled was too expensive, and explained a vote against the prescription drug benefit as “expanding an entitlement I wasn’t too comfortable with to begin with.”

In an interview later with the Columbia Daily Tribune, Akin said, “I don’t find in the Constitution that it is the job of the government to provide healthcare.”

That being said, Akin does not believe Medicare could be repealed now that it has become entrenched as a program.

“Now people have contributed their money to it. Now people are dependent on it. Now we have an obligation, and we are between a rock and a hard place on it. I want to manage it to give people who depend on it the best quality healthcare we can," Akin said.

The congressman went on to say that his personal religious faith would be a cornerstone of his Senate campaign, and denounced global warming theories as "highly suspect." He said that he hopes his positions will provide Missouri voters with a clear choice between himself and McCaskill.

"If we have ever voted for the same thing, it means one of us has made a mistake,” Akin said.