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Friday, August 21
Congressman Tom Latham Feeds Fear, Perpetuates Falsehoods at Town Hall Meeting
by
Trish Nelson
on Fri 21 Aug 2009 08:59 PM CDT
Congressman Tom Latham Feeds Fear, Perpetuates Falsehoods at Town Hall Meeting
 BFIA contributor Jerry DePew attended Congressman Latham's Town Hall Meeting Friday in Emmetsburg. Here is his first-hand report.
by Jerry DePew
A few wingnuts knocked at the door of Tom Latham’s town meeting in Emmetsburg today, but Latham did not come out to play. One woman in a Patriot Party
t-shirt greeted arriving voters with a handout listing ways to
stockpile food for the coming disaster. It did not say what disaster
she was expecting. One man wondered how long before the government
starts implanting computer chips into our bodies. Another wondered if
the Congressman could go to the floor of the House and read the
Constitution aloud to his colleagues. Of course there were the usual
sneers at Speaker Pelosi and Senator Kennedy, but I don’t think the name Obama was mentioned by anyone. Latham deflected all these ideas and insults without offending the people who injected them.
The audience of about sixty people – mostly senior citizens – asked more than twenty questions. Nearly all were about health care legislation.
One working woman cried while saying she could not afford her health
insurance which had skyrocketed to be 150% as much as her mortgage
payment. But generally the talk was about dispassionate details of
Medicare re-imbursement rates, government boards, the public option,
the various bills, interstate insurance competition, pre-existing conditions, malpractice lawsuits and the number of uninsured today. There were no questions about Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy, immigration, Wall Street reform, torture, falling farm prices, or the flu scare.
Congressman Latham
said the concern about the health bills was really a generalized fear
of too much change and too much government activism. He cited the Wall
Street bailout, the stimulus bill, the supplemental spending bill, and the climate change
bill, as all responsible for the fear. He added that bills come up
without members getting to read them, that no amendments are allowed
sometimes and that conference committees may completely rewrite bills anyway. He did not say that these practices were largely developed by former Republican Majority Leader Tom
(the Hammer) DeLay. So he essentially helped feed the fear that he
says is motivating voters. Luckily, his listless style undercuts his
fear-mongering about losing our future and our freedom, leaving his
audience to feel disempowered.
He characterized the various health bills as a complete takeover of the entire health care system,
a falsehood. Doctors won’t be employed by the government under any of
the bills, for example. And he claimed that the 47 million uninsured
included any person who went without insurance for even one day while
changing jobs, an argument debunked just today on NPR.
Latham
indicated support for people who could not afford their insurance or
had pre-existing conditions that could not be insured, as well as the
need to prevent bankruptcies when insurance runs out. All these ideas
would appear to drive up government spending which Latham usually
opposes. His only ideas on how to reduce costs were to curb
malpractice lawsuits and to allow small businesses to band together to
shop for policies.
The Congressman said his own federal employees health insurance costs
him $356/month and offers him considerable choices. It is a Blue
Cross/Blue Shield policy “like everybody else has,” he said, thus
inadvertently noting that BC/BS has a near monopoly in Iowa. He did not say if his policy covers any dependents or has any co-payments or deductibles.
Latham’s unflappable style makes him a master of town meetings. He said today’s event was his 489th since taking office in 1995. He said we should not ignore our health care problems
and asserted that they could be fixed in a flash if Democrats just
consulted with Republicans about the few minor changes that are
needed. He did not say why Republicans failed to make those changes
during the 12 years they controlled Congress.
Overall, it was
another dull town meeting in the 4th district. Mostly Latham fans
turned out, as is usually the case. It did not appear that anyone had
organized the attendees to combat health care reform, but opponents were the most vocal group.
Jerry Depew is a farmer in Pocahontas county. Check out his blog, IowaVoters.org
Dx: Fear Rx: The Facts about Health Care Reform - Uninsured Immigrants
by
Alta Price
on Fri 21 Aug 2009 01:00 PM CDT
 Dx: Fear Rx: The Facts about Health Care Reform - Uninsured Immigrants
by Alta Price, M.D.
(cross posted at Quadsville.com in Dr Dx's Blog)It is bad for the country to have one of our major political parties marginalize itself to the point no one can take it seriously. We need Republicans to represent the interests of wealthy corporations and individuals (nothing wrong with success) as much as we need Democrats to champion workers and the disadvantaged. Lack of balance leads to poor public policy.
As if being the Party of “no” isn’t enough to overcome, leadership of the Republican Party has been abdicated to the unhinged fringe, terrified of Obama (e.g., “death panel” Sarah and the “birthers”), nuts over ACORN, and hostile to anyone who isn’t straight, white, Christian, and male. Most of the “illegal immigrants will get free health care” nonsense spread around about HR 3200 is a craven attempt to exploit this hostility to immigrants and racial minorities.
Not all of the concerns about undocumented workers are unreasonable. We do need comprehensive immigration reform. And one common, and I believe honest, misunderstanding is the impression that most of the uninsured are immigrants.
When looking for information on this topic, I found this August 2008 letter from the AMA to CNN’s Lou Dobbs, estimating that 15 to 22% of the 47 million uninsured in this country are immigrants, not the 40% reported by Lou Dobbs.
(Wait a minute! The AMA could be considered a “community” of physicians, right? Maybe they are really...ACORN!!! Eek!!!)
Dr Dx
**************************************
Here are some of the false claims regarding immigrants made about the House bill, HR 3200 (you can read the full text of the bill here). The Truth comes from Health Care for America Now, one of the lead coalition groups fighting for health care reform.
"Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services."
TRUTH: Pages 50-51 contain a provision stating that discrimination will not be allowed in the provision of health care services. Nowhere does the bill state that non-US citizens will be provided free health care services. The bill prohibits federal dollars from being used for undocumented immigrants. Here is the relevant section:
House Bill: "No Federal Payment for Undocumented Aliens." According to America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009, Page 143, Line 3, Section 246: "No Federal Payment for Undocumented Aliens. Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."
"Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens"
TRUTH: Some American citizens are more comfortable speaking a language other than English, especially in a sensitive situation like a consultation with their doctor. This provision in no way opens the door for coverage of undocumented workers.
"Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them)."
TRUTH: Non-resident aliens do not have to pay the penalty for not having health insurance, nor will they receive federal assistance, because they are not required to purchase health insurance. They are not exempted from individual taxes generally.
Find Dr Dx right here at Blog for Iowa every afternoon this week.
Iowa Congressman Tom Latham Hosts Town Hall Meetings Today
by
Trish Nelson
on Fri 21 Aug 2009 07:12 AM CDT
Iowa Congressman Tom Latham Hosts Town Hall Meetings Today
Mason City - 9:00-10:00 am - North Iowa Area Community College Muse Norris Center, 500 College Dr.
Emmetsburg - 1:30 pm - Iowa Lakes Community College Auditorium, 3200 College Drive
Iowa Congressman Tom Latham will host town hall meetings in Mason City and Emmetsburg on Friday, Aug. 21 to listen to the opinions and concerns of Iowans and to answer their questions directly.
“Iowans are understandably frustrated with the federal government right now,” Congressman Latham said. “As bad economic news piles up and the debate to reform our health care system unfolds, it’s becoming more and more common for lawmakers to turn a deaf ear to the citizens who elected them. I want Iowans to know that I’m listening and doing everything I can to make sure their voices are heard in Congress.”
Congressman Latham has held nearly 500 town hall meetings during his tenure in Congress, opening lines of communication with all of his constituents in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District. He encourages all of his constituents to attend the meeting and offer their input.
Check back here for a live report on the Emmetsburg meeting by Blog for Iowa contributor, Jerry Depew.
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