Perriello gets an earful at his 18th town hall
U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello
At yet another town hall meeting Thursday night in Albemarle County, U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello got an earful about health care reform.
“All I’m asking is: Let us have our choice,” implored Dave Flynn of Fluvanna County. “Let me keep [my health insurance coverage] and not have to pay for somebody else’s.”
Thursday’s town hall meeting at Walton Middle School was the 18th such forum that Perriello has held during the August congressional recess, apparently more than any other congressman in the country.
Perriello told the crowd — which was widely and vocally against the health care reform proposal before Congress — that he does not yet support themeasure, but he would if the final version holds the line on the federal deficit and reduces health insurance premiums.
“I’d really like to get to a yes on health care reform,” Perriello said. “I believe that the status quo is bankrupting us.”
On several of the proposal’s most controversial points, Perriello said he has not yet made up his mind.
One such point, he said, is the question of a health insurance mandate. Should employers be required to cover employees? Should individuals be required to purchase coverage for themselves? Should things stay the same?
“This is one of the big questions that I’ve, frankly, been on the fence about,” he said.
Higher premiums already?
The status quo, Perriello said, is “essentially universal health care” because everyone — particularly the middle class and small business owners — are paying for the health care of the uninsured via higher health insurance premiums.
“The strongest argument for an individual mandate,” he said, “is that we’re already stuck paying for other people’s insurance.”
Perriello added that he’s “not real crazy” about a mandate that requires businesses to cover employees.
The freshman Democrat also did not advocate strongly for a public health insurance option or the health care co-op idea currently being floated. Yet Perriello said that he likes the idea that an “exchange” where those who are currently uninsured can buy quality, affordable insurance has merit, as he believes it could increase competition and drive down premium costs.
“One of the biggest problems in the health care industry, I believe, is a lack of competition,” he said.
Several people told Perriello that they do not trust the government to run any form of health insurance. The idea, they said, is simply a plan by President Barack Obama to erode the health care system and eventually implement universal health care.
Jason Buyaki, a resident of Stony Point, said government has shown that it cannot effectively operate the U.S. Postal Service, Medicare and Social Security. Why, he asked, does anyone believe the federal government could manage handling health care?
“I have no faith in the government,” Buyaki said. “Now we’re going to have government run health care? I don’t think so.”
Call for more competition
Perriello said he does not support a government takeover of the private health insurance industry. He supports, rather, allowing private health insurance providers to compete to cover the uninsured.
“To me, this is not whether the government is trying to take over health care, though I know that’s a concern for some,” he said. “To me, it’s about whether we can fix some places where market failures have been.”
The crowd at Thursday’s forum was not entirely against the idea of a government-run public health insurance option.
Several people shouted out their support for a single-payer system that covers everyone.
As attendees entered Walton Middle’s auditorium, they had the opportunity to sign a large banner with messages to Perriello.
One supporter wrote: “I’m proud that we got you elected. Please support single payer legislation for health care. Please support a strong public option at the very least.”
An opponent wrote: “Tom — who wrote this Bill? Why are communists working in Our Gov’t? Please represent US not Washington.”
Another wrote: “You’re a Jerk!”
Forum gets raucous
Perriello thanked the crowd for coming out and said his plethora of town hall forums have been largely “intense, substantive and civil.”
“It’s been wonderful to see how engaged the public has been,” he said.
The crowd grew fairly raucous at times Thursday night. Opponents drowned out Perriello’s responses to questions at several points.
One man in the back shouted “Impeach Obama” a couple times.
When Perriello tried to answer a question about his support of the cap-and-trade legislation, he was drowned out by chants of “Drill, Drill, Drill!”
Several others angrily dressed Perriello down, saying that he is not representing their interests in Congress.
Floyd Artrip, an Albemarle County resident and owner of an electronic equipment manufacturing company, said Perriello received numerous letters, faxes and e-mails against what Artrip calls the “cap-and-tax” bill, but Perriello still voted in favor of the measure.
“I don’t refer to you as congressman or representative because you do not represent your constituents,” Artrip said. “My question is: What part of the word representative don’t you understand?”
Several people said they believe the health care system needs to be reformed, but do not support the proposal currently before Congress.
A few of these speakers called for tort reform, which they said could limit medical malpractice damages and reduce health care costs. They also called for deregulation of the health insurance industry in such a way that would allow providers to compete across state lines, thereby increasing competition and lowering prices.
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by the way, the Strike Force operations in Detroit, which just uncovered 50 million in fraud, are part of the Health Care Fraud Prevention & Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), a renewed effort announced in MAY 2009 between the Department of Justice and HHS to focus their joint efforts to prevent fraud and enforce current anti-fraud laws around the country. The HEAT taskforce, co-chaired by Deputy Attorney General David Ogden and Deputy Secretary Bill Corr, is made up of top-level law enforcement agents, prosecutors and staff from both Departments and their operating divisions. In the May 2009 announcement, Attorney General Holder and Secretary Sebelius announced the expansion of the Strike Force into Detroit and Houston to build upon existing partnerships between the agencies in a heightened effort to reduce fraud and recover taxpayer dollars.
so antiboyd, you ask for facts, and then just basically dismiss them and reply with joking conspiracy theory? I will admit the Bush administration did some things to combat medicare fraud, but I stand by my statement, backed up with facts, that so far Holder and the Obama administration are doing a good job at doing even more and deserve some credit:
Obama’s F.Y. 2010 budget proposal, released on May 10, included a $1.7 billion increase over five years to the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program. That program, under the joint direction of the Department of Justice and the Department of Health and Human Services, was established in 1996 by The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), under President Clinton.
On May 20, new Attorney General Eric Holder and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new interagency effort, the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), to combat Medicare fraud. HEAT will build on efforts begun with significant success under the Bush administration
Scottie,
You responded as I asked, with specifics. In the case of Peizer, examine the dates of this action, which go way back into the prior administration—for all I know, not having poured through the details, Holder cut a deal with Pfeizer so that he could announce a big settlement at the same time the Finance Committee was cutting its back dooor deal with Big Pharma. Maybe it was the best deal that could be had, and the timing is coincidental. (grin) I looked at the same web site, and quite honestly, when I cross checked with prior activity there is no noticble uptick in results—just a lot more “tarnsparency”, aka advertising (bragasaccio).
Baaah. Baaah.
Put your money where your mouth is, anti health care reformers who think charity is the way to pay for health care. Now is your chance to step forward and show that charity.
Pasted below is an email I received. Now let’s see you do your part.
From: Dave Cole and Larry Stopper
Ian McConkey is the son of a neighbor and friend who we both have known for over 30 years. (Michael McKonkey, the father, runs Edible Landscaping, a small local business here in Afton.)
Ian McKonkey has a serious brain tumor and no insurance. Both the medical and financial situations are dire.
As one of many fundraising efforts,
Mike’s and Ian’s friends will be throwing a benefit party at the RVCC.
Below is the invitation.
We are hoping to do all the publicity by viral e-mail. So we are looking to have this invitation circulated widely.
I am inviting you both to come join the fun, And to spread the word by forwarding this invitation along to your friends and neighbors as well.Thanks and hope to see you at the benefit.
Dave and Larry
Benefit Party for Ian McConkey
Saturday September 19, 2009
7:30 – 11:30 PM
Rockfish Valley Community Center
Music by:
Abbey Road
Jimbo & Kim Cary
Michael McConkey
bring finger foods to share
$20/ticket
Make checks payable to
Friends of Ian McConkey
For more information call:
Larry Stopper
434-361-1323
141 Heartwood Circle
Afton, VA 22920
Lstop@mindspring.com
Why won’t the democrats allow important elements like 1-tort reform, 2-interstate health insurance, 3-tax credits for the self-insured/small bus. to level the playing field and 4-pooling of insurance risk in groups outside of employers into the bills? After all of this national angst they should allow for things that work from both sides and pragmatic solutions that do not increase costs of the entire program.
These are simple but effective improvements. Doctors are refusing to do certain procedures, leaving the business, and shutting down rural offices b/c of malpractice costs. It is very shortsighted to discount this cost reducing measure b/c it might anger a few lawyers.
Well, we agree on one thing welfare reform. Welfare is important for people and families that are very down on their luck and is an important temporary safety net but it should be limited and eventually move people into jobs or charity work.
I am not saying you are like Charlie Rangel, no one is that bad, just the use of taxes as “ours” reminds me of him and might have been written differently. It sounds like you pay your taxes and then some. One day I hope to be wealthy and will certainly give back to charity and help others. I just don’t like the gov’t telling me to do it and how to do everything, particularly when it comes to my healthcare (any more than they already do). I am not a republican although I have moved to that side on many issues with the frustrations of this administration dashing to the far left. They have managed to take Tom Perriello there too without regard for his constituents or his political future just what he can do for them during this brief period of overwhelming majorities in house/senate and exec control of gov’t. Most of all the ridiculous spending, disguised as stimulus. While it really has nothing to do with stimulus since I think only 11% has been spent. Don’t steal from me and then lie about it?
oh, p.s.
I agree with you that there are some really horrible welfare mom’s out there. I think that they should be provided childcare (which republicans probably wouldn’t like) and forced to work. If they cannot find a job, they should be force to move dirt from one pile to another for eight hours six days a week. Yes, i am a liberal and I said it. However, I do know a lot of people who have hit hard times (laid off, etc) and wouldn’t have made it without some help. Social programs need constant reform and watching, and there will always be people who take advantage. It is better then the alternative…countries without social welfare programs are third world countries.
“that is similar to the Charlie Rangel attitude, tax ‘em and use all of the money before anyone sees it but don’t ever pay any taxes. “...
Carney,
You know very well this is NOT the attitude I am promoting, as i stated I pay a lot of taxes and am willing to pay more.
anytime someone with an opposing view makes a good point, you start talking about how people on the left are lazy, don’t pay taxes etc. Maybe you did not say it about me personally, but you use it as a way to discredit my argument because I guess you have no other response.
There are corrupt politicians on the left and the right that we both can both point out till the cows come home. What you did not address, however, was my actual point:
I make lots of money (way more then I need) and will be just fine paying a little bit more taxes so that 14,000 people don’t die every year because they don’t have insurance (not to mention the bankruptcies and foreclosures that are bad for these people AND the economy). People who make millions of dollars a day should be asked to chip in a little extra too, and so should the uninsured. EVERYONE. Lets ALL chip in. Lets cover the uninsured and protect those with pre-existing conditions! We end up paying their bills anyway, we may as well do it in a way that makes sense: make them contribute something (now they pay nothing), give them preventative care and not expensive ER care, and keep them from going bankrupt and loosing homes etc. We can do this!
I repeated that you said tax cuts cost us, implying it was your/our money. This is similar to the Charlie Rangel attitude, tax ‘em and use all of the money before anyone sees it but don’t ever pay any taxes. I must say I like the feistiness even if it is from an opposing point of view. I think that is great that you are successful and you probably also appreciate you more wealthy friends making lots of money and supporting jobs directly or indirectly for others. I never said you were lazy, I said people should be more self-sustaining and that the attitude of living off of others promotes a lazy and unproductive mindset. It is like when I was in South Carolina and a 16 or so year old girl said to her friend, “oh yeh, I can’t wait to have another (baby) so I can get another check (from the gov’t) each month.” That is the culture of weakness that becomes a cycle and is passed on from generation to generation. These kids grow up never working and it seems normal, and becomes endlessly repeated as it is the only thing they know.
I don’t think Bush started the Afghanistan war, as you remember 3,000 innocents died on 9/11. We could rehash the whole Iraq thing for hours, which was strongly supported by Clinton, Kerry, Kofi Annan, Blair, Jacques Chirac, Schroder, Joe Biden etc. As far as taxes go, maybe there should be a revenue drop the government was living high on the hog just like everyone else. Obama needs to learn how to employ spending cuts. That is the only cure for what ails him. He has already said he is happy sticking to the far left and being a one term president, despite his campaign promise of a moderate bipartisan style for the executive branch. I agree that the programs should provide responsibility for the insured, maybe higher deductibles or something for additional coverage at the higher end. Also some sort of coverage for the 10-20mm that are legitimately uninsured and not by choice.
This has gone way off course, as has Obama in almost everything but particularly with his cornerstone issue healthcare. He needs to get some bipartisan support and take on sustentative issues like tort reform and insurance across state lines rather than creating some monstrosity of bureaucracy that is unsustainable. If he can do a 180 an begin to appease the other half of the country and independents then he may get somewhere but digging in with the extremists like Pelosi spells disaster for Perriello and the dems for a long time to come.
Scottie: You said that the tax cuts �cost us�, you are implying that the
taxpayer�s money is your money. That is the problem with your whole point
of view. It is not your money to waste and abuse, it is the taxpayer�s
money and there is nothing wrong with giving them their money back. Frankly
there should be more of that, more self-sustenance in our society, rather
than depending on some very small faction of the country “0.05%“ to pay
our bills, not a viable or reliable long-term strategy. The x-gen, couch
potato generations have converted our society into a lazy and uncompetitive
mindset,
——————————
carney, again i have to ask, how old are you?
Before you go shooting off at the mouth about how I am lazy and want to take other people’s money, you should know that my husband and I are 28 and 30, own and run two businesses, and make nearly 200 k per year. We pay plenty of taxes, but can certainly afford to pay a little extra to fix the health care crisis in this country.
The Bush tax cuts costs the united states government 1.6 trillion. Yes, taxpayer money comes from people, but when you cut taxes you need to plan for the decreased revenue. Bush’s cuts for the super-wealthy caused a revenue drop that was significantly more than health care is projected to cost. It was totally irresponsible to start 2 wars, hugely increase Medicare entitlements, and instead of planning or paying for it, cutting taxes. I believe Bush is the only president in history to cut taxes while starting a war. Nobody likes paying taxes, but that math just didn’t work.
There are people in this country that make really obscene amounts of money, and they are able to do so in part because of policies that have been harmful to others in society. Many of my clients own over ten homes and make millions of dollars every day. I am not a socialist, these people are some of my best friends, and I don’t care how many houses or cars they can accumulate—but it is certainly not too much to ask those people to contribute a little bit so that 14,000 people don’t die every year for lack of health insurance. I don’t think the super-rich should pay for everything, that is why I support an individual mandate. People who are currently uninsured should be required to pay into the system as well, since they will end up getting free treatment at the ER if they aren’t covered.
Anti: it is not hyperbole to say that out of control entitlement programs have been growing beyond budgets for almost a century. Obama makes more hollow promises to control costs, yet NO president has been able to control entitlement costs and keep them within any sort of budget constraints. This has been going on for 74 years, or nearly a century and now through some miracle, Obama comes in and says he can control Obamacare costs. He has absolutely no credibility on the issue. That is the problem with entitlement programs they cannot be stopped once they take over and create a burden to the state. The gov’t healthcare program in Tennessee grew to over 1/3 of the state’s budget before it was stopped, similar situation in Hawaii. It is also happening in Mass. The program is called by it’s name: Obamacare b/c he will ultimately be the one responsible for the disaster, although I’m sure he’ll find a way to blame it on Bush. Why wouldn’t he want his name attached to it, if it is such a great bill? It is more likely that Senators will use a little common sense and cut it off, or pull it up by the roots like an out of control weed.
Scottie: You said that the tax cuts “cost us”, you are implying that the taxpayer’s money is your money. That is the problem with your whole point of view. It is not your money to waste and abuse, it is the taxpayer’s money and there is nothing wrong with giving them their money back. Frankly there should be more of that, more self-sustenance in our society, rather than depending on some very small faction of the country “0.05%“ to pay our bills, not a viable or reliable long-term strategy. The x-gen, couch potato generations have converted our society into a lazy and uncompetitive mindset, whereas people really struggled in the 40s and 50s to make it and respected their country. Most everyone served in the military in WWI & II out of pride. Our country has become soft and people expect a hand out now rather than making something of themselves from hard work. Future generations will certainly not be able to maintain this soft attitude and survive the record and historic debt and deficits that Obama is laying on their heads.
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