Congressman Joe Wilson attacks Democrats’ health care plan, praises Republican alternative : Beaufort Tribune.com

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Congressman Joe Wilson attacks Democrats’ health care plan, praises Republican alternative

Locals ask health care questions, get pointed answers

100_0146-1 The health care reform debate came to Beaufort in the form of a Town Hall meeting held by U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson (R-2) and S.C. State Senator Tom Davis (R-46) at the Beaufort High School Gymnasium on Lady’s Island yesterday to a packed crowd of over 1,000 concerned voters.

Wilson attacked specifics of the Democrat-sponsored health care proposal currently in committee in Congress, HR 3200, and waved a copy of a Republican-sponsored alternative, HR 3400.

The deputy district director to Joe Wilson, Earl Brown, opened the meeting with a moving invocation giving thanks for allowing the people to gather and air their concerns on these legislative matters.

Joe Wilson, who recently returned from visiting our troops including the Marines in Afghanistan, took the podium to address the crowd. Wilson has a son currently serving in the Marines, as well as one son each who served in the Army and Navy.

Earlier in the week Wilson held a Town Hall meeting in Columbia, the state capital, where more than 1,700 people attended, making it the largest in South Carolina history. Today, he spoke to 1,000 people, a record number in the lowcountry to date. Wilson applauded the turnout saying that they are part of making history. Immediately after the Beaufort Town Hall meeting concluded he headed to Hilton Head High school with Tom Davis for another Town Hall meeting there which drew another crowd of about 1,000 people.

Before his comments and answers to the crowd’s questions, Wilson introduced Jameson Taylor, director of research for the South Carolina Policy Council, a non-profit, non-partisan independent think tank for limited government that works closely with the Heritage Foundation. Dr. Taylor’s specialty is constitutional law and bio-ethics.

Taylor focused on several core questions, the first being “Will you be able to keep the health insurance you currently have?”. Dr. Taylor told the assembly that the system, as proposed under the Democrat-sponsored House Bill 3200, will cause employers to drop coverage and force people into the government plans. They will also lose their health care savings accounts, he said, and their Medicare Advantage plans, and they will see a cut in benefits to Medicare recipients. Taylor stressed that the majority of people currently insured will be forced to change plans and that 75% of Americans will be placed into Medicare.

Another issue Dr. Taylor addressed was “What will it cost and what will be the quality of care?”. He answered “Trillion is the new billion, so the dollar is the new dime,” referring to the level of monetary inflation feared to result from the proposal. The Senate Budget Committee has estimated that the costs of HR 3200 are ten times higher than the White House’s projection, totaling $20 trillion and it will be added to the current Medicare liability of $37 trillion, to total $57 trillion.

Taylor estimated that South Carolinians will be paying a 54% income tax to subsidize the health care reform and that the cost to the nation will be 5.5 million jobs. Dr. Taylor compared the quality of care under HR 3200 to Canada, where the average waiting period to see a primary care physician is four months. He quoted a recent Canadian Supreme Court ruling that determined that the Canadian Health Care system is failing the people and not delivering the promised quality care.

The Health Care Reform Act, HR 3200, was introduced on July 14 this year and contains 1017 pages. Congressman Wilson told the crowd that as soon as he had the bill on his desk, he began to read it. The following day, July 15, it went to committee for debate. The session lasted 20 hours, with Joe Wilson present, which he described as, “The intent of what the other side tried to do, was wear us out. But, the good news is, I believe, … we wore them out.”

There are 14 Republicans and Blue Dog Democrat members of Congress who are physicians assisting Wilson in the committee debate and interpretation of HR 3200. He said he was succussful under this bill in submitting an amendment to preserve Tri-Care, an insurance for military personal active, retired and their dependents. Additionally, he introduced an amendment to make members of Congress and the Federal Government subject to the same health care under HR 3200 as the public.

Wilson’s amendment mirrors an initiative submitted by Congressman John Fleming (R-LA), who said “If it is good enough for the people, it’s good enough for Congress.” Fleming called the bill, “A government intrusion in your lives.” When Joe Wilson recently appeared on FOX News, he was asked, “Should the President read the bill?”, to which he simply responded, “Yes.”

Wilson derided the Health Care Commissioner in HR 3200 as an impossible job, calling the position a “Czar” with responsibilities impossible for one person. He added that the bill creates 53 new bureaucracies in government, referring to the “Organization Chart” that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blocked from distribution.

Wilson predicted that the plan will cause 100 million people to lose their current health care coverage and cause an increased debt that will devalue the dollar on the market. “The Public Option is really the Government Option.” Joe Wilson declared, adding “At least 1 million small businesses will go out of business.” Adding to the potential crisis, he explained that we do not have enough doctors, especially with the growing older population.

Currently there are two other health care bills in the House. One is HR 3400, titled, Empowering Patients First, introduced by Congressman Tom Price (R-GA), a mere 62 pages. At the podium, Congressman Joe Wilson held the 1017 page HR 3200 and placed on top was the slightly smaller Senate version, comprising 615 pages, of which he said 300 current pages were yet to be added.

With both tomes displayed, Wilson waved the much lighter HR 3400. This bill, he explained, puts patients first, allowing more choice and no layers between the patient and their doctor. Additionally, it promotes association health plans where organizations can band together to purchase health plans at a lower cost, Wilson said. Wilson is a supporter of purchasing insurance across state lines opening up competition and lowering costs. He stated, “I do not want food police to help select what I eat.” stressing nutritional education and exercise are key components to any proposed health care plan.

The Town Hall was originally scheduled for only one hour but was extended for another 30 minutes to allow more questions to be answered. Off the bat the first question was “If the bill passes how hard will it be to undo?”. Wilson stated “It would be very difficult to set back” and stressed the need for the people to speak out and make a difference now. He added that “No elected official should be so powerful that he should determine if you should live or die!”

Although the majority of the crowd were obviously against HR 3200, everyone present who spoke expressed a wish for some form of health care reform. The representation of anti-HR 3200 to pro HR 3200 was approximately 10-1 with both sides holding a sense of respect and decorum toward each other.

There was some minor cat calling and shouting, but no major disruptions occurred. Some, not many, signs were displayed such as “Hands Off” and other anti- HR 3200 displays and a splattering of “Public Option Now” and a few other pro- HR 3200 signs.

Questions submitted were randomly picked and read by State Senator Tom Davis to Congressman Wilson. Most were against HR 3200 with some for government health care. After answering questions, Wilson indicated that there were an additional 300 unanswered questions left and he would answer them directly to the writers in full.

After the question and answer session, both Congressman Joe Wilson and State Senator Tom Davis remained another half hour to speak one on one with the remaining crowd before departing for Hilton Head Island.

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