Two GOP Senate leaders to attend health care talks in Miami-- and you're not invited

August 31, 6:35 PMMiami City Buzz ExaminerRobbin Swad

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Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., holds a health care town hall meeting Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2009 in Sun City, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

U.S. Senators John McCain and Mitch McConnell will be in Miami, Tuesday, for a "private" health care reform meeting at Palmetto General Hospital.
The Miami Herald has reported that while the meeting will be closed to the public, members of the press will be in attendance. The South Florida event is part of a series of talks-- one, which took place in Kansas City on Monday, and another to be held Tuesday in North Carolina.

In the meantime, South Florida progressives and union leaders shan't let a good health care protest opportunity go to waste. Both groups are calling for their members to turn out to be seen and heard outside Tuesday's "private" health care reform meeting .

The Miami Herald article states that

 "on Monday, an e-mail from Fred Frost, president of the South Florida AFL-CIO, to union members urged them to go Tuesday afternoon to protest the event. `Both senators will be talking about healthcare reform with a hand-picked audience of doctors and health insurance executives. We need a huge turnout for this event!'"

Likewise, Democracy for America has posted the following announcement on their website:
 

"Join us and others in giving Sens. McCain & McConnell a proper progressive welcome.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st; PALMETTO GENERAL HOSPITAL; HIALEAH, FL; 2:00 PM.This event is free and open to the public, so bring your friends, family, co-workers and neighbors. The more people the better!"

Hopefully, Miami City Buzz Examiner can help get the word out, since the RSVP attendee list, thus far, appears a bit scanty.

The Miami Herald also mentions a "scheduled" appearance will made by the two Republican lawmakers Tuesday evening at a fundraiser at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables.

Both McCain and McConnell have been skeptical of the methods by which health care reform may be funded. On the Kansas City Star's political web page, McConnell is described as having criticized "plans to pay for health reform by cutting Medicare and Medicaid. Many of the patients at the hospital use Medicaid services."

While McConnell is said to have urged a more "incremental" approach, "McCain sharply criticized spending for health care reform, insisting the nation's spending and debt are not sustainable." Kansas City Star