Cross-posted from Thinking Out Loud in Texas
If you missed "Taliban Pete" Sessions' townhall meeting in Richardson last night, you'll get another chance to question him before Congress reconvenes.
The next Sessions town hall will be Aug. 19 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Irving City Hall (presumably the city council chamber), 825 W. Irving Blvd., Irving, TX.
It'll be a chance to confront "Taliban Pete" with his opposition to efforts to achieve real health care reform-- something that can be done civilly and rationally, not with the threats and intimidation hurled at Democratic lawmakers by right-wing bullies egged on by extremist talk show hosts and the fraud of a "news channel" called Fox.
More below.
For those who don't know where "Taliban Pete" stands on healthcare reform, here it is:
"Today, House Democrats released their prescription for Americans’ health care: a government takeover resulting in higher costs, more taxes, fewer choices, and intervention in the patient-doctor relationship.
"During a deep recession and historic 9.5 percent unemployment, unaffordable health care only deepens the financial and personal crises many American families are facing today. Yet the Majority has produced a job-killing, government-mandated health care plan financed on the backs of every American family, senior citizen, small business and employer. With a price tag of over $1 Trillion dollars, the Democrats’ plan would cut Medicare options for seniors and raise taxes on any employer or individual who does not embrace a government-run health care program. The result: an additional 4.7 million Americans could lose their jobs.
"More than 100 million Americans will lose their current private health insurance under a government-run health care system. Unsurprisingly, when the government competes with the private sector, patients lose and the government wins. By diminishing patient-choice, government-run health care empowers Washington to decide the access and care patients receive from their doctors.
"This is not change that Americans families and small businesses can afford.
"My Republican colleagues and I are committed to a common-sense, bipartisan solution to our nation’s current health care problems. Instead of increasing taxes and killing jobs, we support patient-centered reforms that make health care more affordable, reduce the number of uninsured and increase quality at a price all Americans can afford. We promote prevention and wellness while preserving patient choice and the right of patients and their doctors — not Washington bureaucrats — to make personal health care decisions.
"I strongly oppose Washington-run and government-mandated health care for American families. I call on Democrats in Congress to work with Republicans in promoting real reform that provides every American access to affordable, patient-centered, and quality health care of their choice."
To learn more about House Republicans’ patient-centered health care priorities, visit the GOP Health Care Solutions Group Plan.
What Sessions leaves out in his rant is that there's already government-run health care in our country, and that's two things:
- Medicare for senior citizens.
- The care provided for our military veterans by the Veterans Administration.
Since "Taliban Pete" is so much against "government-run" health care, can he explain his opposition to those who may or may not be in his audience who already have government-run health care?
As for his claim that the government would take over all healthcare, has he ever heard of FedEx or UPS? Those are both private entities who enjoy large shares of the package delivery market even with competition from the U.S. Postal Service.
Did it ever occur to "Taliban Pete" and his apologists that if a private insurance company offered a quality product that delivered excellent care and adequately compensated providers, they could do very well even against a public entity. It sure works that way in the world of package delivery.
That's just one question one could fairly hurl at "Taliban Pete." The big question is how he'll answer the question if he allows it to be asked.