August 12th, 2009

There are a slew of articles on yesterday’s town hall meeting to discuss healthcare reform held by Sen. Specter.  They all convey the same point:  these meetings aren’t actually “debates,” but rather events where those who oppose healthcare reform come to bash legislators.

Here’s a sampling.

From the Patriot-News, an overview of last night’s town hall in Lebanon:

They allowed about 250 people inside, shutting the door on hundreds more who stood in a line stretching around the block.

Then they gave out cards numbered 1 through 30, and people who got them could voice questions but not statements.

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, at his town hall meeting on health care Tuesday in Lebanon, urged the audience to remain civil when others voice a different view. He would tolerate no demonstrations or booing.

It took 14 minutes for the event to border on chaos.

A gray-haired man, who had no card, rushed forward.

“You are trampling on the Constitution! … You and your cronies in the government do that all the time!” he shouted.

Specter moved toward him, also bellowing. Police officers moved in, but Specter waved them off.

“We’ve just had a demonstration of democracy,” Specter said after the man had spoken — or rather, shouted — and left.

…

It reflected the tension and hostility smoldering throughout the 80-minute event and the national health care debate that has caught fire this month. Around the country, members of Congress have held similar meetings and faced angry crowds.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

“There is more anger in America today than at any time I can remember,” Mr. Specter told reporters after yesterday’s Lebanon County meeting.

But Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, said the news media’s focus on extreme incidents has overshadowed the daily run-of-the-mill discussions taking place about health care. “It’s frustrating for a lot of us that are trying to get information out there about health care — and get accurate information out there — to [see the media] give the sense that the entire debate is angry people yelling at legislators, when that’s not the case,” Mr. Doyle said.

“People do think we need to do something. There might not be total agreement on what that is yet, but I think it would be fair to say that there’s a broad consensus among Americans that this system is unsustainable.”

August is being painted as a critical month by supporters and detractors of a health care overhaul, as both sides work to shape public opinion before Congress returns to work after Labor Day.

Thus far, three committees in the House have approved different versions of a health care bill, while the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has approved one version and the Senate Finance Committee is working on separate legislation.

Conservative groups have incited supporters to show their displeasure for the bills by contacting their representatives. The Obama administration — which has put health care at the top of its domestic agenda — has responded with a Web site, linked from whitehouse.gov, to fight what it feels are misconceptions about the reform it is pushing.

…

Some town hall forum confrontations have been anything but civil. Scuffles have broken out at events in Tampa, Fla., and outside St. Louis. An effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil Jr., D-Md., was hanged. Rep. Brad Miller, D-N.C., reported a death threat. Yesterday, a swastika was found painted on a sign outside the district office of Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., about a week after he was involved in a contentious argument over health care at a community meeting.

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

“This country is turning into Russia,” one man said in a common refrain, standing toe to toe with Specter in a hall at the Harrisburg Area Community College campus here. Chants broke out – “You work for us!” and “Read the bill!” – as the senator tried to answer questions.

…

Specter, accompanied at both town halls by several plainclothes Capitol Police and state troopers, said it had been difficult to explain the Democrats’ plans without a specific bill to defend. The House has a version pending, but the Senate does not yet have specific legislation.

“The objectors have gotten ahead of the curve, and a rumor is hard to dispel,” Specter said after the Lebanon event. “It’s a lot easier to knock down a house than it is to build one. So it’s a struggle. And August is going to be a critical month whether there is going to be legislation. . . . I’d say the jury is assembling. It’s not out yet.”

And from the Philadelphia Daily News, an opinion from the editors:

“…

Our guess: The profound changes represented not only by the election of a black president but also by the continuing demographic transformation of the country and the passing of the generational torch, is deeply troubling to some Americans. True health-care reform, if done right, will represent yet another big change. Fear makes some people cling to the status quo.

This is not new. Consider this warning about another proposed federal program: “[If this program passes] . . . we will awake to find that we have socialism . . . [and] we are going to spend our sunset years telling our children . . . what it once was like in America when men were free.”

What danger prompted this warning? It was Medicare – and the doomsayer in 1961 was none other than Ronald Reagan.

Imagine if Reagan had succeeded in persuading the nation not to change. The consequences of avoiding change are just as dire now.

This is what Obama should be saying: If you like the private insurance you have now, you won’t get to keep it, not without health-care reform. Right now, 14,000 Americans a day are losing the insurance they have.”