Nate Powell Makes Campaign Stop in Colville

U.S. House of Representatives candidate Nate Powell stopped by Fired Up Brewing in Colville on May 28 as part of his town hall tour. Powell, running as an Independent, began the event with a speech that addressed a variety of topics, including the “collapse” of the middle class, inflation, healthcare, taxes, corruption, and more. Powell is a firefighter, veteran, and father who got into politics after the One Big, Beautiful Bill passed, he said. “If we send another lawyer, CEO, or career politician to congress, do we think they’re going to solve these problems that they’ve got us into? It is time that your representative represents you and lives the life that you do,” said Powell in his speech. One topic that repeatedly came up during the town hall was healthcare. Powell advocated for universal healthcare, claiming that Americans spend $6 trillion per year on healthcare, and not everyone is covered. Universal healthcare, which could cover all U.S. citizens, would cost less than that, at an estimated $5 trillion to $6 trillion, he stated. He told a story from his work as a firefighter, in which he arrived on the scene of a patient experiencing a major cardiac incident. Powell said the man didn’t want to go to the hospital or ride in an ambulance because he didn’t have healthcare due to its cost. “We have a gap between Medicaid, for the people that absolutely cannot afford health insurance, and the people with employer-provided health insurance or incomes to buy it on the open market. We have uninsured people, working people that are uninsured. Medicare for all would solve this problem,” said Powell. Audience questions covered the conflict in the Middle East, school support, taxes, climate change and clean energy, term limits, caucusing, healthcare, and related concerns. One audience member asked Powell how to best “break” the country’s two-party system. Powell responded that he didn’t think it would happen, but having Independent representatives would help. “A small group of Independent representatives, sitting between the two parties, forcing them to actually come to the table, compromise, and fight for actual solutions instead of just a way to blame the other side, could be a strong way to get better representation in context,” stated Powell. Another audience member asked Powell what his top priorities would be if he were to be elected. Powell said if he had a “magic wand,” the first legislation he would pass is campaign finance reform. In this scenario, he said he’d evoke healthcare changes, and then move into labor protections. “Wage theft is the biggest category of theft in the entire country,” Powell asserted.