Obama holds town hall meeting today & the debate over the health care reform bill, HR3200 continues

August 11, 1:19 PMJacksonville Republican ExaminerPatrick McMahon

Previous Next

2 comments Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Jacksonville Republican Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Long lines could be coming if government healthcare is passed in it's current form

 UPDATE: It looks like President Obama's town hall is relatively calm and that it is a high probability that many of the people were planted, because people do not chant "Yes We Can" unless they are diehard supporters of the president. Also:

New Rasmussen Poll shows that 42% support the liberal healthcare plan, and 53% oppose the healthcare plan! The tide is turning!

President Obama will be hosting his first town hall meeting since the public forum for politicians and voters to interact has emerged as the main venue for protesting healthcare reform. The event will be in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and the tickets were distributed by lottery to roughly 1500 people. The White House expects some tough questions and even a possible disruption during the event. Earlier this morning, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter held a town hall meeting and was met with boos, jeers, tough questions, and shouts from people in the audience. Folks, this doesn’t look like these protests are dying out anytime soon.

I happened to watch Senator Specter’s even live on TV this morning (which both FOX News and CNN carried live) and by my count, out of the 30 questions he took, 23 were on healthcare reform and 22 of those questions were from people against the plan. It was truly a sight to see watching it live because you will see that there was no organized mob and that the people were scattered across the room. Those opposed to the plan numbered at least 75% of the room, judging by the shouts, boos and who would stand up to cheer. The Obama town hall meeting will likely not be as contentious, but it should not be a cake walk for the president. New Hampshire is notorious for having an independent streak and I am sure that President Obama will face some heat.

When are people going to realize that these people are passionate about fighting the government and do not want this healthcare reform bill? Public opinion is against the bill and the politicians in Washington are just not listening to the will of the people. Like I have said before, these people may be organized and I think some of them are. However, they are passionate and are being referred to as “un-American” by proponents of the bill. The only thing un-American is how these outspoken people are being treated. They have a right to interact with the government, to speak their mind, and to protest peacefully. Efforts to paint them as extremists are wrong, will backfire, and make the people who spout that nonsense is wrong.

Now, I just wanted to say that House Bill 3200 is not an easy read. I have a degree in political science, have taken courses on American Healthcare Policy, and have been writing for over three years. Despite this, I cannot understand what is in the bill. HR3200 is very complex, is extraordinarily long, and hopefully will never be passed. This health care reform bill has major problems in it, especially funding for it. I will continue trying to decipher what is says and provide future analysis of it. The Obama town hall meeting and the debate over the health care reform bill, HR 3200, are happening across our country as we speak and opponents of this horrible plan deserved to be heard. Remember, those in Congress work for us, so it is in their best interest to start listening.