I had reached the farthest left of my liberalism. This was evident in the following letter.
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Some Republicans would still have us believe that America is a “shining city on the hill,” a beacon of freedom to inspire the earth’s downtrodden. Step outside Fox News’s fanciful world and what do you see?
Today’s America embraces war. Weapon-making is hugely profitable.
Assisting our multi-national corporations, our “democratic” government destabilizes third-world economies and covertly overthrows or assassinates recalcitrant leaders because those nations possess rich natural resources.
The corporatocracy that recently has run our government permits our air and water to be polluted and our food, drugs, and chemical products to go mostly untested because, hey, what’s a few consumers’ lives compared to billions in sales?
Until its recent crash our “free-enterprise” system squeezed productivity out of our workers as it denied them fair compensation, but wait! “Keep buying the junk we make,” these capitalists said, “because here are some more credit cards and you’d be a sucker not to tap into the equity of your house.”
What Western industrialized country insists that health care be a multi-billion dollar profit-making enterprise?
One political party is rabid bat-[bleep] crazy, beyond selfish, and unrepentently dishonest. The other listens to the siren call of greed, avarice, and power.
We voted in 2008 to blow up our filthy hovel on the hill. Yet we see in Congress, particularly with the crafting of health care legislation, just how emphatically we the people are simultaneously dismissed and controlled.
If Congress ultimately passes the stinker of a health care bill that Big Insurance and Pharma are perfuming and that we the majority with our emails, phone calls, and petitions have emphatically rejected, shouldn’t we -- like the Iranian people -- take to the streets?
Printed July 18, 2009, in the Siuslaw News
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I received in the morning a very complimentary phone call from Lucius Gent. He was concerned that I might be “disappeared” and offered [my wife] Janet help should that event happen.
I had wanted our organization, the Florence Area Democratic Club, to perform services for the community at various times during my tenure as chair. We had screened documentaries at the local library. We held a food collection drive at the local Safeway store to benefit Florence Food Share, which dispensed free supplies to the needy. The following announcement, printed in the local paper, referenced two previous club projects and the current one in which we urged the Florence populace to partake.
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Low-income families here in Florence and throughout the county find any unexpected out-of-pocket expense difficult to bear. My daughter-in-law, a hard-working single parent who drives an 8 year old car with the transmission going out, has that difficulty. You probably know somebody similar.
We seniors, secure in our retirement, and others -- hundreds, perhaps thousands – have helped our community’s less fortunate.
A warm clothing drive in February 2008 produced 587 articles of clothing for distribution to the needy. A used cell phone drive this past April generated 42 phones for use by battered women. I have participated in these events. You’ve participated in other events. We know that Florence is a generous community.
Here is another cause that we should champion.
Each school child in Oregon is expected to provide his/her own school supplies for the upcoming school year. The Democratic Party of Oregon is sponsoring back-to-school supplies drives throughout the state to help income-strapped families. Here is what we can do.
Our community drive will begin Aug. 16 and end Aug. 30. Fred Meyer, Safeway, and Rite Aid will have receptacles in their stores into which you may place the school supplies that you purchase. (Fred Meyer will end its collection drive Sept. 7) These donations will be taken to Boys and Girls Clubs of Western Lane County, located at 1601 15th Street. If you want, you may take your purchased supplies there rather than leave them at one of the stores.
If you have children attending Florence’s schools and cannot afford to purchase their school supplies, you may obtain what is available without charge at the Boys and Girls Clubs location no sooner than Aug. 18.
Thank you, stores, Boys and Girls Clubs, and all who participate.
Printed August 12, 2009, in the Siuslaw News
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I would soon witness Tea Party belligerency first-hand. Here is useful information provided by britannica.com about the beginnings of the Tea Party movement.
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The Tea Party movement [is a] conservative populist social and political movement that emerged in 2009 in the United States, generally opposing excessive taxation and government intervention in the private sector while supporting stronger immigration controls.
… The catalyst for what would become known as the Tea Party movement came on February 19, 2009, when Rick Santelli, a commentator on the business-news network CNBC, referenced the Boston Tea Party (1773) in his response to Pres. Barack Obama’s mortgage relief plan. Speaking from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Santelli heatedly stated that the bailout would “subsidize the losers’ mortgages” and proposed a Chicago Tea Party to protest government intervention in the housing market. The five-minute clip became an Internet sensation, and the “Tea Party” rallying cry struck a chord with those who had already seen billions of dollars flow toward sagging financial firms. Unlike previous populist movements, which were characterized by a distrust of business in general and bankers in particular, the Tea Party movement focused its ire at the federal government and extolled the virtues of free market principles.
Within weeks, Tea Party chapters began to appear around the United States, using social media sites such as Facebook to coordinate protest events. They were spurred on by conservative pundits, particularly by Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck. The generally libertarian character of the movement drew disaffected Republicans to the Tea Party banner, and its anti-government tone resonated with members of the paramilitary militia movement. Obama himself served as a powerful recruiting tool, as the Tea Party ranks were swelled by “Birthers”—individuals who claimed that Obama had been born outside the United States and was thus not eligible to serve as president (despite a statement by the director of the Hawaii State Department of Health attesting that she had seen Obama’s birth certificate and could confirm that he had been born in the state)—as well as by those who considered Obama a socialist and those who believed that Obama, who frequently discussed his Christianity publicly, was secretly a Muslim.
The Tea Party movement’s first major action was a nationwide series of rallies on April 15, 2009, that drew more than 250,000 people. April 15 is historically the deadline for filing individual income tax returns, and protesters claimed that “Tea” was an acronym for “Taxed Enough Already.” The movement gathered strength throughout the summer of 2009, with its members appearing at congressional town hall meetings to protest the proposed reforms to the American health care system.
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Below is a report that I emailed to the members of the Florence Area Democratic Club. It summarized my experience attending our Congressman Peter DeFazio’s August town hall in North Bend, Oregon, close by Coos Bay. The contents speak volumes. I make reference to HR3200 in my report. Wikipedia.com provides this information about the bill.
The proposed America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200) was an unsuccessful bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 14, 2009. The bill was introduced during the first session of the 111th Congress as part of an effort of the Democratic Party leadership to enact health care reform. The bill was not approved by the House, but was superseded by a similar bill, the proposed Affordable Health Care for America Act (HR 3962), which was passed by the House in November 2009, by a margin of 220-215 votes but later abandoned.
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Janet and I managed to find seats in the convention hall, she on one side of the center aisle (fourth row) and I an aisle seat on the right side (fifth row). The room was packed, many people standing along both side walls and five or six rows deep of standing people at the back. The newspaper reported that approximately 1,200 people attended.
While I waited for Rep. DeFazio to appear I took a sense of the crowd. One fellow standing along the left wall near the front was wearing a white wolf mask, for whatever reason. Farther back along the wall were Florence’s faithful Hwy 101/126 protesters, Don Norton, Jim Wellington, and David Dumas and two other fellows I didn’t recognize, all holding Stu Henderson signs. Immediately in front of me were 4 guys all in the senior-age category, clearly working-class people, that had the Republican look about them. One of them wore a veteran’s cap. Two were seated in front of the other two and they were talking to each other (couldn’t hear what they were saying), seemingly reinforcing their shared opinions. Not the sharpest knives in the drawer, was my impression.
Rep. Defazio entered the building from the right entrance. People applauded. Not everyone. Where I was seated hardly anyone applauded, including the four dull knives.
I had brought a 5 by 7 yellow pad with me to take notes, deciding not to audio-tape the meeting (I’m tired of doing synopses). I wish I had brought the recorder. My summary is not going to be what it could have been. This meeting was fascinating, and very disturbing. The World’s article about it was pretty much a whitewash. (Google “The World” to read it) Republican attitudes dominated the questioning and the audience responses. People said rude things, people far behind me shouted rude comments. Through it all, DeFazio handled himself well. Only once did anyone go after him rudely. A man several rows behind me and then, presumably his wife, exclaimed, “You didn’t answer my question!” and “Answer the question!”
Curiously, everyone entering the room had the opportunity to take two handouts. One was a brief summation of HR 3200 and a presentation of health care reform myths. The other was the July issue of “Advocate,” a monthly publication put out by the Coos County Democrats. The issue strongly endorsed single payer health care. My four dull knives hadn’t availed themselves of the handouts. Progressive information is wasted on Fox News addicts.
DeFazio opened with some brief comments before taking questions. He said that he had read HR 3200, all of it. This brought great applause, because one of the Right’s talking points is that the Left likes to ram through 1,000 page bills at light speed, not bothering meanwhile to know or care what’s in them. Defazio criticized the Medicare reimbursement formula used to determine how much money practitioners receive in different states for treated Medicare patients. Oregon’s rate is especially low. He is not in favor of a Medicare + 5% reimbursement rate. He wants, instead, more of an equalization of rates among all the states.
The first question was asked by a Doctor Craig. I thought, Great, we’re going to hear an authority calling for meaningful reform. But, no. Craig said that House legislation would set up a huge bureaucracy, would cause the patient to lose “autonomy,” and would phase out private insurance. Defazio’s answer was, That’s not going to happen.
Maybe the only liberal to ask a question/make a comment came next. He emphasized the need for getting money into public projects to create jobs. DeFazio declared that he had voted against the stimulus package (bringing great applause from the Republican crowd) because not enough money had been directed to do just that. He said it made the most sense to build infrastructure that would benefit future generations, that would be a lasting benefit. This part of his response didn’t receive much applause.
A person asked why there was such a hurry for a health care bill to be voted on. Why, the stimulus bill had been passed “in the middle of the night.” DeFazio answered, “There is no rush.” That brought an immediate angry, crowd response, almost a growl. The Fox News people weren’t having that. Several in the crowd, not liking the crowd’s reaction, shouted back. DeFazio said, “Let’s act like Oregonians.” He then defused the moment by saying in essence, that the public votes Congresspeople to take their time to do their job right. He had voted against the cap-and-trade bill (causing much applause) because of deals that had been made at the last minute that had made it a bad bill. (Funny that the action he takes is more important to these people than the reasons he had for doing so). He said that he does not approve of the legislative practice of passing something quick with the promise of fixing what is wrong later because “later never comes.” That comment the know-nothings in the crowd liked.
One of my dull knives, the one wearing the veteran’s hat, was next. He was against “frivolous lawsuits.” (Again, enthusiastic applause) He wanted to know if DeFazio supported tort reform. Now we on the Left know that a lot of the expense in health care is the result of doctors ordering probably unnecessary medical testing and procedures in order to protect themselves from possible law suits, so this is a legitimate issue for discussion. DeFazio wants to put a reasonable cap on normal damages, but he also would want that cap waived when negligence is extreme. He cited as an example a surgeon making a surgical mistake while talking on his cell phone.
Up to the microphone came a woman wearing surgical scrubs. Okay, maybe we’ll get some balance here, I hoped. But, no. I am a single mother that has worked hard, got a bachelor’s degree, she said, got to where I am today through my own hard efforts; so why aren’t we looking for other options for health care reform. Why are we going to be helping people “who don’t get off their butts?” DeFazio clearly didn’t like the question. He answered back that the working poor have serious problems and many can’t get on the Oregon Health Plan. Many people can’t afford premiums and as a result get sicker as a result. People’s houses are taken away because they can’t pay medical expenses. “There are big holes in the system.”
A woman with a long ponytail took the microphone. “I have good health care,” she said. She supported the bill. (An angry murmur went through the crowd) Hearing it, she said that she was a Republican. Someone in back shouted, “No, you’re not!” I shouted back, “Shut up!” She went on to say that she had grown up in poverty, a member of a family of 16 people. That information didn’t seem to make a dent in the pervasive disapproval that she was receiving. DeFazio said that his number one priority was to fix the Medicare system and to make sure that people were not discriminated against.
The next person brought up the subject of “mandatory counseling.” Oh brother, I said to myself. DeFazio explained about advanced directives and that physicians would be compensated every 5 years for offering voluntary counseling to terminally ill patients and/or their relatives.
The next person began with the declaration, “Doctors are going to tell people about living wills!” DeFazio was clearly irked. He explained how his mother had sought out advice about having a living will and how it had been a good thing.
Someone declared that the House bill was going to fund abortion. DeFazio – No, there is a specific provision in the bill that says it won’t.
A man rather full of himself declared, “There are no political parties here. We’re all Americans.” Okay, I thought, let’s see what this fool has to say. It was, Considering what the 10th Amendment says, what gave Congress the right to meddle with health insurance? DeFazio – A decision by the Supreme Court.
The next person, citing the history of insurance company practices, asked, How much do we have to pay insurance companies to play fair in accepting proposed restrictions like accepting people with pre-existing conditions? Good question, I thought. He’s somebody not married to Fox News. DeFazio answered that insurance companies would profit because a lot more people would now be covered.
Someone was afraid that doing away with subsidies paid to insurance companies that offer Medicare Plus plans would cause people to have to pay more for Medicare. DeFazio’s answer – No.
A person was concerned about the public plan. Where are the checks and balances to prevent abuses? DeFazio’s opinion: First, pass anti-trust legislation that takes the exemption away from insurance companies. If that doesn’t happen, then have a public plan to try to check private insurance abuses.
What about illegal aliens being covered? the next person asked. DeFazio – They aren’t eligible. To be eligible they would have to file a legal tax form and a social security number to get into an insurance pool. Well, what about their getting treated in emergency rooms? DeFazio – Hospitals do not turn them away.
The next person didn’t want socialized medicine. Didn’t want the terrible thing that Canada has. Seething, I missed DeFazio’s response.
A man objected to the fact that the House bill wording was vague. (He said that he, too, had read the bill) The bill said nothing definitive. He was sure that Obama’s “Marxist administration” would twist provisions to their own purposes. DeFazio – Making the wording more precise would make the bill longer.
The next person cited how California Medicaid was taking money back. Wouldn’t the federal government, running up debt, be forced to do the same? DeFazio – The health care plan would have to be paid for. If necessary, that would mean we would end up paying higher premiums.
A man wanted a mechanism put in place to remove past, ineffective legislative regulations. DeFazio said he would favor a 2-year cycle budgetary system with the second year used to review what had been budgeted to get rid of or fix what wasn’t working.
A man complained that he was receiving VA health care and couldn’t get assigned a primary health provider. He was being treated like a “second-class citizen.” DeFazio said he wanted the VA to have a mandatory budget that politicians couldn’t fiddle with. The VA care should be funded first.
Finally, a man wanted the Federal Reserve audited. DeFazio favored the idea.
Because my wife and I had been seated near the front, it took us awhile to get to the back of the room and the rear exit after the meeting had concluded. Near the back I ran into Kathy Verger Muscat, [State] Senator Verger’s daughter. I asked her, incredulously, “Was this an accurate representation of voters down here?” She nodded. “That’s why we like to come to Florence.” Nick Batz, Arnie Roblan’s former campaign manager, appeared. He commented that we were seeing the effect of Fox News. [Our State Representative] Arnie Roblan appeared. I asked him the same question I had asked Kathy, adding that Coos Bay has a local radio station that carried progressive talkers. He intimated, Now you know what it’s like.
We all know how the Republican Party adroitly utilizes working class anger and frustration, bigotry, paranoia about “government,” and selfishness for its corporate purposes. What this meeting drove home to me was how pervasive the Right’s successful manipulation actually is. I have two conservative friends in town that are excellent people. Both of them would have felt right at home at this meeting. They have exactly the same prejudices and diminished, skewed knowledge of national and international conditions and events as this crowd displayed. I believe it no stretch to believe that these people would have been supportive citizens in Germany during Hitler’s ascension and maintenance of power prior to WWII.
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I felt compelled to write letters to The World and the Siuslaw News to relate what I had seen and heard.
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Never have I witnessed so many disciples of Fox News and conservative talk radio congregated in one place as I did at Rep. Peter DeFazio’s North Bend town hall meeting.
Ignorant of fact, allegiant to distortion and rank falsehood, one questioner after another revealed the hard right’s mastery in utilizing working class anger and frustration, bigotry, paranoia about “government,” and selfish pride to serve the Republican Party’s and corporate America’s selfish interests.
We heard how HR 3200 would cause patients to “lose their autonomy.” Private insurance companies would be driven out of business. One person asked, Why the rush? Stop trying to pass bills in the “middle of the night.” A woman wearing surgical scrubs proudly proclaimed she had worked hard to get where she was and she didn’t want to pay health care for people “who don’t get off their butts.” A woman with a long ponytail – years ago a child of a family of 16 -- declared that she supported HR 3200. Reacting to the angry crowd murmur, she declared that she was a Republican. Someone in the very back of the room shouted, “No, you’re not!”
We heard about how HR 3200 required “mandatory counseling,” i.e. end of life information, hospice, advance directives; that HR 3200 covered abortion; that it covered illegal aliens. One man thought that the 10th Amendment made Congressional legislation of health care illegal. A woman stated that we were headed toward socialized medicine and that, heaven forbid, we would end up with a Canadian system. A man said that the wording of HR 3200 was vague. Obama’s “Marxist administration” would twist its wording to nefarious advantage.
How much did Rep. DeFazio’s forthright, accurate responses resonate? I had the impression that the majority attending were impervious to fact. That is because Fox News and hate-talk radio, they have been told, tell it straight!
Printed August 20, 2009, in The World
August 22, 2009, in the Siuslaw News
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Of course, a true believer of all things Republican had to respond.
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I would like to answer the “Town Hall Untruths” letter (Aug. 22). First of all, one only need read the bill to understand its intentions; obviously this person [I, Harold Titus] does not care enough to read the bill. [I hadn’t, not feeling the need]
It is alright to hypothesize that the Republicans are being led around by various talk show hosts, but it is another thing to listen to what is being said as well as the ramifications this bill would cause for current and future generations.
Apparently enough Democrats on the “hill” have finally read the bill and now are arguing with each other over its measures.
The President’s rating is now 30 percent. He has fallen from grace and his party members are jumping ship. Again this fact is being discussed by the Democrats who are now in a real quagmire as to what to do.
Never before in modern times have citizens taken to the streets in this degree to protest a bill. This country (even the Democrats) prefer liberty and freedom over socialism, which not only will dictate their health care but will be involved in their bank accounts.
If there is any doubt about this, read the bill. It does not need an interpreter to understand what is being said. It does not need anyone to distort what this bill states.
Dr. Susan Berman
Printed August 26, 2009, in the Siuslaw News
