When the question and answer session came up, Debra Swindall was the first to approach the microphone. She prefaced her question by explaining that out of 47 million uninsured in this country, some could afford insurance, some are eligible under other plans, and some are illegal aliens. That only leaves about 11 million . . . → Read More: Town Hall Part B Q&A]]>

When the question and answer session came up, Debra Swindall was the first to approach the microphone. She prefaced her question by explaining that out of 47 million uninsured in this country, some could afford insurance, some are eligible under other plans, and some are illegal aliens. That only leaves about 11 million uninsured. Why spend $1 trillion dollars to insure 11 million people? Only a government mind would think that it is okay to spend a dollar to save a dime. She went on to say that Bishop said that the bill does not cover illegal aliens, but he did not say that illegal aliens come into this country and have large families, and their children are covered and emergency treatment is covered. Her final question was what had to be in the bill for him to vote “no”?

Bishop said that 47 million people, even if they can afford the insurance, are uninsured. When they get treatment they either have to pay on the spot or they do not pay at all. When they show up you and I and everyone that has health insurance will pay for them. Unless the people that can afford insurance are required to insure themselves, all of us will have to pay for their care.

The Congressman is saying that everyone will be forced to have insurance whether they want it or not. The nanny state will be there to make sure that all of our needs are met. Another thing that bothers me is that the 47 million uninsured are getting medical care. They either work to pay off their debts or we pay it through higher costs when we visit the doctor. It is similar to paying higher costs for goods at a store when shoplifting occurs. Well, if we are all subsidizing the healthcare costs for those that cannot pay now, there doesn’t seem to be a problem at all. The only difference is that the government will be involved in leveling the playing field.

The next question came from a gentleman from Lee County. He basically wanted to know if Congressman Bishop would abandon his healthcare plan for the one currently being proposed. To that, Bishop replied, “Absolutely yes.” He then went on to say that the federal health insurance package is basically the same as this insurance exchange that is being proposed. The crowd let off sighs and the man from Lee County said that he did not believe it. Bishop told him that he did not have to believe it. He went on to say that there will be three types of plans in the health exchange. The basic plan, the enhanced plan, and the premium plan. The basic plan has the lowest premium. The federal insurance plan has the same three options, basic, enhanced, and premium. Bishop said that he belongs to the basic plan. He contributes a portion and his employer contributes a portion. It is the same concept. Congressman Bishop, the same concept does not equal the same plan. I think that the man from Lee County wanted to know if you would leave Blue Cross for the public option plan, not if Blue Cross offered three levels of participation.

The next man wanted to know if healthcare reform would pass at all if it didn’t pass this year and also what the cost would be if nothing was done. Bishop told him that if we fail to do something to stop the spiraling cost of insurance premiums for the delivery of health services we will not be able to sustain ourselves or compete in the global market place. We pay twice as much for healthcare than other industrialized countries in the world. Congressman Bishop, we pay more because our health services are the best in the world. Our citizens make more money than any other industrialized nation in the world too. America is the innovator for new pharmaceuticals and procedures. Because we can afford to pay more, that technology is here. Perhaps we no longer want to be the world’s leader in medicine. Bishop went on to say that people without insurance may have to wait for a year or so to get coverage before they can be treated. To that I have to say that people in countries with government run healthcare often have to wait a year or two to be treated also.

A retired RN from Leesburg asked the next question. She prefaced the question by saying that Congress shall not abridge the freedom of speech and insisted that comments were just as important as the questions. She didn’t want to be limited to a question only. She stated that healthcare is not a right and that 70-80% of all illnesses are preventable. She said that we need to take responsibilities for ourselves. Bishop interrupted her to respond to her comment. He said, “You are carrying the Constitution with you. I hope you read it in its entirety because somewhere in there it says something about the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, and I don’t know too many people that can have life without good healthcare.” She replied that there are 300,000 people getting killed going in the hospital so she wasn’t so sure that healthcare always helps people to get well. To that Bishop replied, “I guess you are speaking as a healthcare professional.” The lady did not get to ask her question before Congressman Bishop told her that her time had expired. I find it interesting that our Congressman actually believes that the right to life means that all Americans deserve healthcare. I suppose that they all deserve to have a nice car and home too. I wonder which of our founders intended that? Edmund Burke perhaps?

The next question came from a physician and attorney from Albany. She said that she has not heard a lot from the medical profession in the debate. She works at Calhoun Memorial Hospital, a 20 bed hospital. They are a critical access hospital. They bridge the gap between Phoebe Putney and Calhoun County. They were told that 14,000 critical access hospitals such as hers would be closed if the healthcare reform bill passes. Her hospital is on the list. They provide fine long term and emergency care. As an emergency care provider, people will die if these hospitals are closed. The next part of her question was about the physicians. By the AMA’s numbers, 250,000 physicians will seek early retirement. Bishop says that he cannot imagine her facility closing. He says that they want to expand access not restrict it. In regards to her question about the lack of doctors, he said that the bill gives incentives to primary care physicians like loan repayment and scholarships. She said that the bill will take away what she can offer her patients and thus takes away her incentive to practice.

A teacher from Albany asked the next question. She let Bishop know that she favors the healthcare plan. She said that a big portion of her check every month goes to pay for her insurance. She wanted to know if the government plan will help pay for some of the co-pays for doctor visits and medicines that are prescribed. Bishop said that it will help out. When the bill goes into effect, she will have no co-pay when she goes in for preventative care and prescriptions will be covered under the various plans.

After many more questions, a spiritual message was delivered by Congressman Sanford Bishop. I was not in the room when this happened, but I heard that it was good. Debra Swindall stood up to ask why God was allowed there, but had been taken out of schools. She was escorted out by police.

There was some concern that the guests would be screened to allow supporters of the plan in before any of the others. That was not the case. I did see two individuals holding the fliers from Organize For America. They were outside though visibly showing their support for the plan. The town hall meeting was a great way to let people vent, but it accomplished little more than that. The Congressman never expressed any troubles that he has found with the bill. This was merely an attempt to sell us on the plan. Few minds were changed tonight, and that includes Bishop’s.

Congressman Sanford Bishop (D-2-Ga) held his final Town Hall meeting on healthcare reform today, August 20, 2009, at Albany State University. I attended the meeting to hear what our Congressman had to say about the bills. Congressman Bishop said that he had not made up his mind yet about the various bills floating . . . → Read More: Town Hall Meeting Part A]]>

Congressman Sanford Bishop (D-2-Ga) held his final Town Hall meeting on healthcare reform today, August 20, 2009, at Albany State University. I attended the meeting to hear what our Congressman had to say about the bills. Congressman Bishop said that he had not made up his mind yet about the various bills floating around Washington because they are a work in progress. Then he proceeded to tell us why the bill in the House will be great for the country. It was apparent that his mind was made up even before the question and answer session.

He said that his vote on healthcare reform does not belong to Obama, Pelosi, or the House leadership, it belongs to the people of the 2nd District. He said that he would not betray the trust of his constituents. I could not help but think if the Cap and Trade bill where a staffer of Bishop’s said that calls were coming in 100 to 1 against the bill, but he voted for it. Did the vote belong to the people of the 2nd District then?

On some occasions, Bishop said that the bill was about healthcare reform. At other times, he said that it was about healthcare insurance reform. Those are two different things.

Bishop said, “Some will argue that Congress should not be pushing healthcare reform now given the state of our economy, yet the worst thing that we could possibly do is do nothing. The cost of inaction is too great.” According to the chart and study quoted by Saxby Chambliss, the House bill will increase the cost of healthcare more than doing nothing at all according to the Senate Budget Committee.

Bishop quoted facts from the state of Georgia which included us ranking 14th in obesity in adults. He then went on to say that, “These numbers are unacceptable for the United States of America that is supposed to be the number one super power in the world.” The problem is that he is comparing one state to the others and saying that Georgia’s ranking somehow reflects the standing of the nation when compared to the world. In other words, he did not compare apples to apples. What I find to be unacceptable is a nanny state that tells its citizens how much they are allowed to weigh.

Before visitors were allowed to ask questions, Congressman Bishop quoted Edmund Burke. He explained that Burke was one of our founding fathers and made this statement in 1774 on the roll of the Representative. “Certainly, gentlemen, it ought to be the happiness and glory of a representative to live in the strictest union, the closest correspondence, and the most unreserved communication with his constituents. Their wishes ought to have great weight with him; their opinion, high respect; their business, unremitted attention. It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs; and above all, ever, and in all cases, to prefer their interest to his own. But his unbiassed opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to you, to any man, or to any set of men living. These he does not derive from your pleasure; no, nor from the law and the constitution. They are a trust from Providence, for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable. Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.” The only problem is that Edmund Burke was NOT a founding father and he made that statement in his address to the electors of Bristol. The year was correct though. Burke did say it in 1774. This may seem like a minor detail, but if we cannot trust the Congressman to know the founding fathers, can we really trust him to know what is in the healthcare bill?

The Congressman gave the web site where the draft of the bill from the House could be viewed.
He also made it a point to hold the bill up before the crowd twice and say that he has read it. If you did not want to read the bill, Bishop provided the people with a summary of the bill.

Bishop talked briefly about cooperatives, but he also talked about the public option plan. He said, and repeated it for emphasis, that it would not be funded by government subsidies, but would be funded by the premium that it collects. He said government will have to advance start-up costs, but those costs would be repaid. This will give competition to the private sector to help drive the price down. Since when does the government need to provide competition to the private sector to drive the price down? There is competition in the private sector already. Should the government start setting up fast food restaurants to provide competition to McDonalds or does Burger King do that? I have been puzzled by this for awhile. How can the government with its deep pockets provide fair competition to any business in the private sector that has to make money to pay employees and expenses? Furthermore, he says that funding will come from premiums, yet the CBO says that taxes will go up and still there will be a deficit of over $250 billion.

A friend of mine received this in her e-mail this morning. She didn’t even know she was on the President’s e-mail distribution list. Go figure!

I find it interesting that the town . . . → Read More: Your Golden Ticket]]> Would you like a golden ticket? Something that would help you get into a town hall meeting with Congressman Sanford Bishop?

A friend of mine received this in her e-mail this morning. She didn’t even know she was on the President’s e-mail distribution list. Go figure!

I find it interesting that the town hall meetings are all “open to the public” but there is a place for supporters of the plan to RSVP. Also, notice the instructions in the PS that read, “Before the event, please print off a flyer to display and make sure that your support is visible.”

So, there you go! If you want to get into one of these events, RSVP and print off the flier. By the way, I did not click on the link to print the flier. Heaven forbid that I too would end up in the government’s distribution list!

I am still waiting to hear how attendees of the Columbus and Ft. Valley Town Hall meetings were treated. If you attended one of these, please comment to let us know. By the way, the graphics with this letter did not “copy and paste”. If so, you could see that the heading was from Obama’s “Organizing For America”

_________________________________________________________
I wanted to send you an urgent invitation to town hall meetings with Rep. Sanford Bishop this Wednesday, August 19th, and Thursday, August 20th. This is an ideal opportunity to make sure your support for health insurance reform is seen and heard at exactly the right time.

Our congressional representatives are back home this month, and they’re facing more and more pressure from special interests on health insurance reform. It’s critical that we get out there and show them where we stand.

I hope you can join. Here are the details:
Wednesday, August 19th: Town Hall in Columbus

Wednesday, August 19th: Town Hall in Fort Valley

Thursday, August 20th: Town Hall in Bainbridge

Thursday, August 20th: Town Hall in Albany

Our representatives are under attack by Washington insiders, insurance companies, and well-financed special interests who don’t go a day without spreading lies and stirring up fear. We need to show that we’re sick and tired of it, and that we’re ready for real change, this year.

Please try to arrive early to whichever town hall you can attend, and make sure that the most powerful voices in this debate are those calling for real reform, not angrily clamoring for the status quo.

RSVP here:

http://ga.barackobama.com/BishopTH

Thanks,

Lee

Lee Goodall
Georgia State Director
Organizing for America

P.S. — Before the event, please print off a flyer to display and make sure that your support is visible.