Tonight, Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN01), was the guest speaker at a town hall style meeting in Chesterton, IN. The event was sponsored by The Democratic Alliance of Northwest Indiana, with the assistance of Democracy for America and MoveOn in getting the word out about the meeting.
Folks turned out in substantial numbers, which reflects how invested we are in making our voices heard. As a matter of fact, the limited space was quickly filled and many of us were left to raise our voices from outside the venue.
The following shots prove that we are serious in our demands for substantial reforms and we won't settle for anything less!
Judging from the conversations going on as we waited in line, the 'pro' Health Care group outnumbered our local self-styled 'Patriots' by at least 2 or 3 to 1. A little earlier research reveals that these 'Patriots' are nothing more than Teabaggers under a new name.
The signs and tee-shirts told the story:
OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM MAKES ME SICK
From the local retired steelworkers, were members of SOAR (Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees), who were kind enough to pose for a shot. One of these gentleman, an Army vet, got choked up when talking about how he hopes stem-cell research will help his daughter fight the cancer that is killing her. Another one mentioned the outrageous cost of his back surgery - which included six steel rods at $52,000 each!
SUPPORT SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE
47 MILLION UNINSURED IS RATIONING!
THE HOUSE BILL IS A GOOD BILL!
Of course, it wouldn't have been complete without the lunatic contingent making an appearance. We even had a 'Kill Granny' believer in the crowd (lady in the red sweater). Gee, I wonder where she got the inspiration for her sign:
EUTHANIZE OBAMACARE, NOT SENIORS
Since we were unable to actually attend the meeting in progress, we turned our attention to letting the folks inside know we weren't leaving.
Chants of "What do we want? HEALTH CARE! When do we want it? NOW!" left no doubt why we were there. We even managed to use the opposition's chant of "No to Obamacare" to our advantage. We had bigger mouths on our side, so we out-shouted the "No" with our "YES!" so that it sounded like they were chanting with us! HA!
Rep. Visclosky (and hopefully, Bayh & Lugar, too) will be having more meetings in the area, so I'm sure we'll have another opportunity to get inside at the next one. It's vitally important that we don't let our chance pass us by.
This fight needs every last one of us out there - in person - to get this job done properly. Like buhdydharma says:
YELL LOUDER !!!
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UPDATE:
One of our local papers, The Times, already has their story of the Town Hall meeting online. Good news.... he heard us!
At times, Visclosky's own words were difficult for participants to hear due to shouts from those outside the building. Still, Visclosky said the attendance was promising and the energy refreshing.
A couple quick excerpts seem to indicate Rep. Visclosky is with us on the issue:
Speaking to those in support and in opposition to President Barack Obama's health care plan, Visclosky discussed his thoughts on the legislation.
"The first observation I would make is that we can all agree there is a serious problem with health care and access to that health care," he said. "I'm also very concerned with the financial implications of our health system. In Indiana, half of all bankruptcies are because a person in the family became very sick. No one should be losing their home because someone got sick."
and this was especially encouraging:
Others questioned tort reform, the portability of the plan, choice, cost, privacy issues and bureaucracy.
"Some people think if the government is involved, therefore it is bad, and on that we will have a sharp difference of opinion," said Visclosky, pointing out that other government programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, also were once thought too big to pursue.
Thank you, Rep. Visclosky!
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