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Report on Tuesday 9/1 Jim McDermott Townhall
By Steve Beren | 09/02/09 | 10:37 AM EDT | 4 Comments
Steve Beren, September 2, 2009
Congressman Jim McDermott held a healthcare townhall last night at Meany Hall at the University of Washington in Seattle.
There appeared to be about 900 or 1,000 in a hall that seats 1,200. Most of those in attendance were supporters of a "single payer" healthcare plan, and many were unhappy with any plan that did not do away with the private insurance industry. Many of those in the audience openly described themselves as socialists and as supporters of socialized medicine.
McDermott said his ultimate goal was a single payer government system, but that there were not enough votes for single payer at this time. Therefore, as an incremental step toward single payer (government control; end of private insurance) he supports a "robust public option."
He will vote against the bill if it does not contain a "robust public option." He said he was not in agreement with President Obama on taking single payer "off the table," but had to be realistic about it. Most of the questions from the audience were from people who were upset that McDermott was not more successful in pushing for a total government takeover without any private insurance.
I was the first person online and waited about 90 minutes to get into the hall (doors opened at 6:15 pm, so I then got a good seat and waited another 45 minutes for the meeting to begin). I was seated way up in fron and had my hand up the whole time. I was not called on. Except for one or two questioners, no conservatives were called on and virtually all the questions were softballs. One person asked about tort reform and received applause from some in the audience. There appeared to be alot of silent (silenced?) opponents of Obamacare present, but they were largely unable to get the microphone and express their opinions.
McDermott said he has to be candid and will not deny that a big tax increase will be needed to pay for this. He is proposing a $1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion dollar) tax increase to pay for government run healthcare. He said he will vote against any bill that does not include a "robust public option" because he does not want that trillion going to insurance companies.
He said that with regard to the trillion dollar tax increase and the "robust public option" that this was still a lot short of his ideal healthcare plan. He said, in response to audience members who were impatient with Obama on this issue, that this is just getting a "toe in the door." He said the bill would be implemented over 2010 through 2015, and that during that time, since there would be a "toe in the door," next would be a foot, followed by a leg, followed by a shoulder, and finally the "whole body" would be through the door.
Along with a few of my supporters, I distributed hundreds of copies of my Open Letter to President Obama on Healthcare http://www.steveberen.com/
However, a few of the meeting organizers (evidently from McDermott's staff and/or supporting groups) were upset that I was giving out flyers to people in the auditorium. One woman involved with event organization freaked out and tried to grab my leaflets away from me. Eventually, campus police approached me (they were just doing their job) and they told me they were instructed by the organizers of the meeting to eject me from the auditorium if I did not stop distributing flyers. Since we already had given out most of our flyers, it was a moot point, but I complied. I've heard of "single payer" - I guess this is "single viewpoint." Keep in mind that this was ostensibly a townhall for citizens to communicate with their congressman and each other.
TAGS: Jim McDermott, Steve Beren, townhall, healthcare, Barack Obama, tea party, socialized medicine, single payer
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4 Comments | Related Topics »King County (WA)
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Comments
I was at Jay Inslee's townhall on Sunday and he clearly stated that the public option would be 100% financed by the premiums paid into the plan by the participants. Gotta love the occasional moments of candor, like this one, from McDermott.
What was the audience reaction to the size of that tax hike?
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|How is it that Bagdad Bob keeps getting reelected when his district includes the
Bremerton Navy Base. Surely there enough conservatives that are associated with
the base to vote him out. As far as his "town hall" meeting went, his organization
probably had a lot of union support resulting in the type of people that were at the meeting.
One has to feel sorry for those in the unions as it seems that they do not have the
ability to think for themselves. They are a pack of stooges who do the bidding of their
union bosses. I would like to see McDermott get a 1 trillion dollar tax increase even
proposed in the House. Talk about a revolt. There will be a march on Washington DC
like no other. McDermott and all of those like him will have to run for their lives.
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|Jim McDermott's town hall last night was very informative. He knows the subject matter inside and out. He was a practicing physician for many years and is intelligent and personable. The 7th district in WA encompasses the city of Seattle, the largest metropolitan area in the northwest region of the US. This is a very progressive populace and as a whole we overwhelmingly support health care reform. Of the 900 or so people who showed about 895 of them support reform. He had a phone call town hall the previous night with 6000 participants. McDermott stated that of that 6000 there was only about 200 people who oppose reform. As far a Bremerton goes don't forget that veterans already get good government provided healthcare. They may not be tremendously opposed to giving a similar option to the uninsured.
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|WIth regard to Mary's comments about the number of people who support healthcare reform, I would point out that the Tea Party activists, conservatives, libertarians, townhall protesters, Republicans, and Democrats disappointed in Obama all support true healthcare reform.
In fact, true healthcare reform is a vital necessity - and in order for it to be true healthcare reform, it must be based on the principles of liberty, the free market, the rule of law, individual responsibility, and the U.S. constitution. True healthcare reform requires DECREASING the role of the federal government in medical care.
Increased government involvement in and control of healthcare would make the situation worse - higher costs, more delays, worse rationing, lower quality care, decreased availability of services, and improper government encroachments on liberty. Obamacare would BLOCK true healthcare reform.
Healthcare reform? YES! More government interference in personal medical decisions? NO!
WIth regard to the Bremerton Naval Base, that is not actually in McDermott's district. It is in the 6th CD, currently represented by Norm DIcks. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington%27s_6th_congressional_district
When McDermott mentioned the need for a $1 trillion tax increases, there was a modest smattering of mild objection and even a bit of derisive laughter. Most Americans, and presumably even many Seattleites, are not in favor of a $1 trillion tax increase - especially since last year a candidate who (dishonestly) promised "lower taxes for 95% of the people" won 53% of the popular vote. But in any case this issue was not discussed because nobody speaking against the heavy tax increase was called upon during the question and answer period.
McDermott said government-run healthcare would eliminate bankruptcies caused by medical expense. This is a dubious claim; moreover, if the experience of the bankrupt Medicare program is any indication, government-run healthcare would generalize the problem of "bankruptcy" by endangering the entire nation to financial bankruptcy through massive deficits, hyperinflation, heavy tax increases across the board, and blockage of economic growth.
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