[UPDATE: New video added, with a lame excuse for avoiding tort reform. It seems they cannot afford to upset trial lawyers. Really.]
Last night, Congressman James Moran (D-VA) had a town meeting for health care reform. I wouldn't care much, except that he's my congressman, even though I'd just as soon he wasn't. Nevertheless, I had a chance to go with a buddy of mine, but it would have meant leaving work early, going to the outskirts of town, and waiting in line to end up not getting in. There were also rumors that illegals were going to be paid $250 to carry signs supporting the reform. I wouldn't put it past that bunch of left-wing yahoos, after some of the stunts they've pulled lately.
Jim Geraghty of the National Review provided continual tweets from his BlackBerry, which was the next best thing to being there, if you don't count watching it on C-SPAN. (The first two messages were sent from a desktop or laptop.) The doors opened at 6, and the whole shindig lasted from 7 to 9. And so, without permission or shame, here's what Jim recorded as having gone down, as of about 10pm last night:
50. Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., says her constituents tell her they prefer telephone town halls. http://tinyurl.com/nx3278
about 7 hours ago from TweetDeck
49. Boy, Obama officials love that "keep the government out of my Medicare" anecdote. Ha ha ha, let's all laugh at that confused old person.
about 6 hours ago from TweetDeck
48. Temperatures in the 90s, long lines and buzzing flies: formula for a happy crowd at tonight's Howard Dean/Jim Moran forum.
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
47. Heard on line at town hall: "What if there's another shorter line on the other side of the building?"
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
46. Crowd turning ugly as rumors of a secret, shorter, second line persist.
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
45. If anybody's care is gonna get cut, I say we start with the guys who bring personal loudspeakers to town hall lines.
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
44. Overheard on line: an insistence that any effort on tort reform will lead to doctors amputating the wrong limb without consequence.
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
43. Now the debate is whether the VA is terrible or whether it is a role model.
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
42. See that, folks? The LaRouchies have the Obama-Hitler posters, not the Republicans. The LaRouchies, the LaRouchies!
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
41. Moran's folks will be checking IDs to make sure you're a constituent. Hey, can we try that on Election Day, too?
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
40. Well, I'll say this for the LaRouchies: they don't give off that well-heeled Brooks Brothers phony vibe.
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
39. Brilliant: Guy behind me citing Scientology in argument with LaRouchie.
about 4 hours ago from TwitterBerry
38. @leonwolf Oh, rest assured, I'm wearing Brooks Brothers to the town hall in silent protest.
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
37. Overheard insight on town hall line: "Whatever the situation is now, it's not good, and it has to be made better."
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
36. Our first shouted "that's so much bu******!" between guy walking to back of line and guy on line.
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
35. No injuries to Gadsden flag bearer yet.
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
34. The Marleyians are here. I understand they have questions about medical marijuana.
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
33. My favorite sign so far: "Death panels create jobs for America."
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
32. In the basketball arena, the crowd offers dueling chants, yet the problem with the bill has very little to do with volume.
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
31. I feel like I've got the cheap seats for a basketball game between "HEALTH CARE" and "FREEDOM!"
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
30. New favorite sign: "Don't kill Betty White." Can't we unify around anything in this country?
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
29. [Judas] H. [Priest], people, don't heckle the Rabbi.
about 3 hours ago from TwitterBerry
28. I'm told the doors are closed. Arena holds 2500, Moran estimated 500 more standing...
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
27. Moran: "We spent four hours listening to an explanation of the bill's technical language." Crowd: "AWWWWW!" Wow. Mass sarcasm.
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
26. Can we get a three second rule for heckling? I want succinct expressions of skepticism.
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
25. Now Moran's in trouble with the lefties for talking no coverage of costs less than 2.5 percent of your income...
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
24. What? I'm stuck listening to Moran go on about doughnut holes while mkhammer gets to cover a fight outside?
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
23. We're forty-five minutes in, and special guest Howard Dean has yet to speak a word.
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
22. Moran declares that the idea that government bureaucrats will determine coverage is "nonsense."
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
21. Moran blurs "end of life counseling" with panel that would review which medical procedures are cost-effective.
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
20. Moran insists end-of-life counseling is "completely optional." Yes, but under the bill, doctors get paid for one option, and not for other.
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
19. @TeresaKopec So you trust those infamous tonsil profiteers to not nudge their patients towards end-of-counseling?
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
18. Moran: "There is no rationing of care under this bill." Boy, good thing we don't have a shortage of primary care physicians.
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
17. Moran pretty much does the, "you're not paying for abortions, you're paying for a private plan that may pay for abortions" tap dance.
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
16. One hour in, and Howard Dean still hasn't spoken. I'm too far away to see if he looks bored.
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
15. Is it just me, or has Howard Dean lost a lot of weight? He looks almost lanky, and I thought he was stocky...
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
14. Randall Terry is now disrupting. Awaiting the taser.
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
13. Moran offers Terry the first question. Weak, Congressman. You're knuckling under to a heckler. Crowd chants, "kick him out!"
about 2 hours ago from TwitterBerry
12. "IN-CO-HER-ENT SHOUTING NOW! IN-CO-HER-ENT SHOUTING NOW!"
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
11. First Q: My brother had a great experience in France's system. Why are Americans afraid of such a wonderful thing?
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
10. Moran says co-ops are not an acceptable compromise; "it's no substitute for a public option."
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
9. Someone is impersonating questioner "Chris Appleton"! First sign of Moran's temper in his response.
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
8. Moran: "85 percent of people will experience no change under the legislation." Crowd, recalling the earlier "overhaul" talk, is skeptical.
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
7. Some folks have had all of the health care townhall excitement they can handle, and are heading to the doors...
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
6. Q: Medicare is run by experts; it's 39b in the red. Dean asks who wants to get rid of it. Moran says medicare is "not actually" in the red.
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
5. Q: Where's tort reform? Dean: The more you put in the bill, the more enemies you make. That's lame enough to get even me jeering.
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
4. Dean says adding tort reform wouldn't add a single vote of support to the bill.
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
3. Moran: "If the bill included tort reform, it would have had to go through the Judiciary Committee." Crowd, in mock sympathy: "AWWWWW!"
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
2. Ah, finally, the questioner who wants to give Moran, Dean, and the whole Democratic Party a stategy [sic] lesson. This is our time well spent.
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
1. And it winds down... Good night, folks.
about 1 hour ago from TwitterBerry
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