This is my first diary. I am a longtime lurker. Knew I had to write about the meeting I just came from. It is wonderful to live in a small state and know that whenever your Senator comes to town you get an invite to meet with him at a get-together. We are very small monetary contributers but we give alot of our time
Tester was introduced by our former congressman Pat Williams. We would love for him to still be our congressman but he has health issues. His wife Carol is the first woman to be the Majority Leader in the Montana Senate. We are very lucky to have her there.
Tester talked about Health Care. About how we have to pass health reform and to keep the insurance companies honest we have to have a public option. I was very glad to hear him speak so forcefully about the public option. Then he introduced Senator Durbin. Senator Durbin talked about health care. He talked like he was also one of the Senators in the room with Reed, Dodd, & Baucus. I forgot to ask him about that. He also talked like the 60 votes were there. Now I also wished I'd asked him about that. Durbin told a great Montana story about Ted Kennedy. Durbin praised Baucus for trying to include Republicans in the discussion, even though it didn't work out. Of course some of us don't agree. They were asked about the Afghanistan war and both said they didn't think there would be an increase and they were glad that Obama was looking into all aspects of the war and asking lots of questions. I asked Durbin about having people buy into Medicare now. He said he was looking into this and thought this had a good chance of being included. I sure hope so for my sake. They were also asked about the use of contractors and the need to make them accountable and to cut back on our dependence on them in all areas. Durbin had praise for Franken and his bill. Also there are more bills in the works. The need for more regulation and oversight on Wall Street was another question. They agreed and said it is being worked on. I also asked about need for Campaign Reform and how I was worried about the Supreme Court ruling coming out this year(?). Durbin said that maybe if the ruling says money is free speech that it might spur the Congress to do something about it. I sure hope so. Of course we didn't get alot of details on any of the answers but I was happy with meeting.
They ended with the words to keep us contacting the White House and all the Senators and Congressman. They do hear our voices. I do plan to keep contacting Baucus and Tester's offices. However calling my Congressman Denny Rehberg is another story.
Update
Thanks for all the kind words and for getting on the rec list. Just sending good vibes from God's Country.