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U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions (TX-32)
After attending U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions' Town Hall Meeting at Richardson's Civic Center Wednesday evening I have only one thing to say--I sure hope that Denton County is planning for a large turnout Saturday morning for Rep. Michael Burgess!
Police estimates came in at over 1,500 people trying to crowd into the 750-seat auditorium. "There were at least 1,000 people in the auditorium, another 200 in the lobby and at least 100 who we refused to let in the doors once the auditorium overflowed." None who were refused admittance were refused due to signage, shirt messages, etc, and all were allowed in after 8pm once enough in the auditorium began to leave.
Rep. Sessions did not have extensive comments to begin the proceedings, going straight to questions from attendees. And, boy, were there questions! Being Texas, ladies were invited to ask their questions first and the dominant topic of the evening was, of course, health care insurance.
One lady asked about the prescription drug bill voted on previously. Sessions replied, "1 million seniors got drugs without a hospital visit. That's 1 million seniors healed with drugs, not a hospital visit. That represents a tremendous savings. Then Wal Mart came out and began offering $4 generic prescriptions." The Congressman mentioned Wal Mart to illustrate Republicans' adherence to a belief in market forces providing services, not government.
One questioner stated that it must be easy for Congress to consider such proposals when members won't be on the same plan as constituents, to which Sessions replied, "I do not accept the Congressional plan and have not been on the plan in 13 years." Another pointed out that there are public-private options in areas such as higher education (state / private universities) and shipping services (UPS / USPS), so why not in health care insurance? Sessions replied, "The problem that I have is that you reduce the 200 million Americans for the 8 to 16 million Americans."
Sessions made a few controversial remarks, declaring that he "does not regret" voting approval for war funding and supporting the war, and was "not ashamed" of his vote to approve funding for the $700 billion bailout package last fall, stating, "These companies have been trying to return funds to the government. Rep. Barney Frank does not want these funds back--he wants the government to own these companies. Or he wants to turn around and re-spend these funds on other areas."
On several occasions Sessions stated, with regards to health care, that he preferred implementing a system that spurred more competition and created more options, not reduced or eliminated them. Specifically, he prefers deploying tax incentives to allow employers to provide and employees to procure the health care benefits that they need without the government getting involved. He cited the result of tort reform in Texas, stating "In Texas we instituted tort reform and now there are 14 health care insurance providers.
The crowd was generally respectful of both Rep. Sessions as well as questions. However, there were a couple of unruly audience members when non-Republicans asked biting questions. "Go back to Canada," one lady nearby quipped after a young man stated that he had lived in Canada for a time and was generally pleased with their service. "Nobama!" one audience member shouted, which I heard over the speakers while I was still out in the hall, in response to one question.
The facility was not adequate for the sheer number of attendees. I had to park two blocks from the Civic Center and many others parked in the same area, with streets surrounding the facility and parking lots overflowing. If this event is any indication of the interest Americans are paying to this current matter, then there will no doubt be many reports of other overflow crowds. Hopefully they will be as manageable as this one was.
Rep. Sessions agreed that such interest on the part of Americans toward the issues is good, stating "I couldn't be more thrilled."
Comments
Bravo, Congressman Sessions. I was at your town hall meeting last night and you were the epitome of professionlism. You were fair to all, but resolute in your opposition to this fradulent bill. And you had your facts readily available to share to backed up your positions.
I was also so grateful that you brought up the fact that banks have been trying to pay back their loans from the orignal stimulus bill. That message and why Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the root cause of the problem to begin with, NEEDS to get out.
As anyone knows who has read this bill, it is not really about health care, but about transfering power from the private sector to the government. This bill must fail for freedom to prevail!
Aww, poor Renee. Your ignorance almost makes me feel sorry for. But you're in friendly territory since we live in Texas. Your facts are backwards, ma'am, starting with your comments about Fannie and Freddy straight on down to your twisted views about healthcare reform. I would suggest that you read more reliable news sources than the limited ones you choose to believe. Perhaps, if you took a minute to think about what our current healthcare system is doing to our economy and to the overall health of our nation, you would reconsider your flawed and erroneous comments. On second thought, just stay the way you are - ignorance is bliss and we should all strive to be happy.
Did anybody ask him why he gave over a million dollars to the blimp company that never made a blimp before? And it's a Chicago company, too--how does that benefit the 32nd congressional district?
Linda, that's a great question to ask, and I had planned on asking about that except that I arrived about start time and the hall was filled to overflow by then so I was unable to. Don't worry, I'll make sure to ask that...come back here to see WHAT I ask...you won't want to miss that article...and his reply!
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