Once again I got to a town hall public meeting on health care reform when it was about to start and wound up in the overflow area – this one inside with Congressperson Yarmuth (D-Lousiville) and a local radio personality helping MC – at Central High School – about six blocks into the predominantly working-class, majority African American West Side. Because of my Florida driver’s license, I’m not sure I would have been able to get into the auditorium anyway.
There were more people here, but the crowd – even with plenty of opponents, including a bus – was more heavily tilted toward pro-health care reform people, including plenty of single-payer people. Yarmuth said he’s a co-sponsor of the singler-payer bill but he seems prepared to vote for whatever comes out although he said we’d probably someday wind up with single-payer. Yarmuth started out by setting out a range of health insurance reform regulations – no pre-existing condition exclusions, no lifetime caps, no kicking people off insurance for getting sick, portability – that, when he asked, most people there agreed with.
I couldn’t see Congressperson Baron Hill Monday – and I could see Yarmuth on the big screen – and I’m not sure how Yarmuth would have done with a more hostile crowd – but Yarmuth was a little more goofy, smiling nervously, and – noticeable on the big screen – moving around a lot. He raised some more complicated issues than Hill perhaps, and we had 1 ½ hours and so the questioners had more time to raise complex issues. Eventually he showed one concerned person that what they were complaining about in the proposal was a consequence of the reglations most people had agreed to (which suggested how radical some of them were). People brought up abortion, end-of-life decisions, and of course the budget deficit, the constitutuion, and government power. Many seemed skeptical about Keynesian countercyclical policies, though he tried to explain them. I was proud of both Hill and Yarmuth, who – before at least mixed crowds – sticking to their guns. They both laid out principles they were seeking and Yarmuth – when asked – said although he is a single-payer supporter – said he was not doctrinaire and would listen to suggestions from anyone. Like Hill, in response to a question about tort reform, Yarmuth said some of these Indiana-style lawsuit merit review boards were in the bill, but Yarmuth went into more detail, saying there were grants in there to encourage states to adopt these. He also conceded that – with all of the existing law the 1,000-page bill amends – you’d really have to read something like 10,000 pages to take it all in.
Health care reform advocates had gathered as early as 4 p.m. and were to have a vigil afterwards at 8 p.m. I got there just before the meeting was to start – at about 6:30 p.m. – and – after some delay – got waved into the overflow area without the heavy airport-style security (and ID-ing) that those going into the main auditorium went through. I saw Carloa and Jamie from church and a few others I recognized – though not the Organizing for America organizer whom I had met Saturday and not come back to make calls for Sunday. On the way there I called Bruce’s voice-mail to say I would not make it to canvassing Thursday – three nights out in a row, with two of them to health care – plus I don’t feel great. In my e-mail Wednesday night was a notice that national GOP chief Michael Steele was to be speaking Thursday AM in Floyds Knobs, IN, against health care reform, but I won’t make it to that. I saw the same ex-WLKY reporter, now with Fox, there was who was there Monday night in New Albany. Yarmuth pointed to President Obama’s speech to Congress – next Wednesday night – just scheduled today – as an important event in which the president may finally say more specifically what he wants, including possibly accepting state coops instead of a national public option (though Yarmuth hinted such a coop would have trouble developing in Kentucky with the sickest population and with a wide swath of rural areas without enough doctors and nurses). We’ll see what happens then and see if I volunteer or go to any more events before then.
-- Perry
There were more people here, but the crowd – even with plenty of opponents, including a bus – was more heavily tilted toward pro-health care reform people, including plenty of single-payer people. Yarmuth said he’s a co-sponsor of the singler-payer bill but he seems prepared to vote for whatever comes out although he said we’d probably someday wind up with single-payer. Yarmuth started out by setting out a range of health insurance reform regulations – no pre-existing condition exclusions, no lifetime caps, no kicking people off insurance for getting sick, portability – that, when he asked, most people there agreed with.
I couldn’t see Congressperson Baron Hill Monday – and I could see Yarmuth on the big screen – and I’m not sure how Yarmuth would have done with a more hostile crowd – but Yarmuth was a little more goofy, smiling nervously, and – noticeable on the big screen – moving around a lot. He raised some more complicated issues than Hill perhaps, and we had 1 ½ hours and so the questioners had more time to raise complex issues. Eventually he showed one concerned person that what they were complaining about in the proposal was a consequence of the reglations most people had agreed to (which suggested how radical some of them were). People brought up abortion, end-of-life decisions, and of course the budget deficit, the constitutuion, and government power. Many seemed skeptical about Keynesian countercyclical policies, though he tried to explain them. I was proud of both Hill and Yarmuth, who – before at least mixed crowds – sticking to their guns. They both laid out principles they were seeking and Yarmuth – when asked – said although he is a single-payer supporter – said he was not doctrinaire and would listen to suggestions from anyone. Like Hill, in response to a question about tort reform, Yarmuth said some of these Indiana-style lawsuit merit review boards were in the bill, but Yarmuth went into more detail, saying there were grants in there to encourage states to adopt these. He also conceded that – with all of the existing law the 1,000-page bill amends – you’d really have to read something like 10,000 pages to take it all in.
Health care reform advocates had gathered as early as 4 p.m. and were to have a vigil afterwards at 8 p.m. I got there just before the meeting was to start – at about 6:30 p.m. – and – after some delay – got waved into the overflow area without the heavy airport-style security (and ID-ing) that those going into the main auditorium went through. I saw Carloa and Jamie from church and a few others I recognized – though not the Organizing for America organizer whom I had met Saturday and not come back to make calls for Sunday. On the way there I called Bruce’s voice-mail to say I would not make it to canvassing Thursday – three nights out in a row, with two of them to health care – plus I don’t feel great. In my e-mail Wednesday night was a notice that national GOP chief Michael Steele was to be speaking Thursday AM in Floyds Knobs, IN, against health care reform, but I won’t make it to that. I saw the same ex-WLKY reporter, now with Fox, there was who was there Monday night in New Albany. Yarmuth pointed to President Obama’s speech to Congress – next Wednesday night – just scheduled today – as an important event in which the president may finally say more specifically what he wants, including possibly accepting state coops instead of a national public option (though Yarmuth hinted such a coop would have trouble developing in Kentucky with the sickest population and with a wide swath of rural areas without enough doctors and nurses). We’ll see what happens then and see if I volunteer or go to any more events before then.
-- Perry
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