While Rep. Mike Thompson is not planning on attending the local Tea Party Patriots Town Hall, he is hosting his own. Sources at his office confirm he’ll be taking questions on health insurance reform on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at Redwood Acres.
The official 4-W’s press release is finally in:
ADVISORY: Congressman Thompson to Host Town Hall
Congressman Thompson will host an in-person town hall meeting on health care reform Wednesday, September 2, 2009, from 5:30 – 6:30 pm. The forum will be held at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds, Home Economics Building, 3750 Harris Street, in Eureka. All constituents are invited to attend, seating will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
“I am interested in hearing ideas from our community on how to improve health care in our country and how to make it more accessible for everyone,” said Congressman Mike Thompson.
WHO: Congressman Mike Thompson
WHAT: Town Hall Meeting
WHEN: 5:30-6:30pm; Wednesday, September 2, 2009
WHERE: Redwood Acres Fairgrounds
Home Economics Building
3750 Harris Street, Eureka
For those who’d like to brush up on Rep. Mike’s views, there’s a FAQ about Health Care section on his site.
For those on the go, here’s a compressed version:
Has Congressman Thompson read the bill?
He has read and was involved in drafting the bill he voted on.
Will health reform force all Americans out of their private insurance plans and into a one-size-fits-all government plan?
No.
Does page 16 of the bill require me to join the public plan if I lose my private insurance coverage?
No one will be required to join the public plan.
Are Members of Congress exempt from changes that are being proposed for the rest of the country?
No.
Will proposed legislation provide free healthcare to illegal immigrants?
No.
Will all small businesses be forced to provide coverage to their employees?
This bill exempts small businesses with a payroll of less than $250,000…
What does this bill do to stop fraud and abuse in Medicare?
This bill strengthens existing compliance and enforcement tools for Medicare…
Can our nation afford healthcare reform?
We can’t afford not to….
How much will this bill cost?
The CBO’s latest estimate puts the price tag at $1.042 trillion over 10 years…
Will this plan lead to rationing of healthcare? Will Congress be legislating what care my doctor can or must give me?
No.
Why is this bill being “rushed” through Congress?
This bill is not being rushed – it is long overdue.
This article appears in Know When To Kill Them.
Let’s hope that the teabaggers are all hoarse by Wednesday.
The fact remains – they (Congress) DID try to ram it through without discussion. They have been FORCED to have the debate and to take time to go over the points in the bills (there are 5 on the table). The have been forced by the people they represent, whether they like it or not. Whether they characterize them as Nazis or not. Now they try to say that the people who forced them to have the debate are trying to squash the debate. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The fact remains that Congressman Thompson would not be coming here to have this discussion if it were not for those people your first commenter seeks to degrade.
And the fact remains that he, like others, voted on the "Stimulus" Bill without reading it.
? Democratic Health Care Bill Divulges IRS Tax Data cbsnews
*Section 431(a) of the bill says that the IRS must divulge taxpayer identity information, including the filing status, the modified adjusted gross income, the number of dependents, and "other information as is prescribed by" regulation. That information will be provided to the new Health Choices Commissioner and state health programs and used to determine who qualifies for "affordability credits."
Section 245(b)(2)(A) says the IRS must divulge tax return details — there’s no specified limit on what’s available or unavailable — to the Health Choices Commissioner. The purpose, again, is to verify "affordability credits."
Section 1801(a) says that the Social Security Administration can obtain tax return data on anyone who may be eligible for a "low-income prescription drug subsidy" but has not applied for it.
Over at the Institute for Policy Innovation (a free-market think tank and presumably no fan of Obamacare), Tom Giovanetti argues that: "How many thousands of federal employees will have access to your records? The privacy of your health records will be only as good as the most nosy, most dishonest and most malcontented federal employee…. So say good-bye to privacy from the federal government. It was fun while it lasted for 233 years."
…If we’re going to have such significant additional government intrusion into our health care system, we will have to draw the privacy line somewhere. Maybe the House Democrats’ current bill gets it right. Maybe it doesn’t. But this vignette should be reason to be skeptical of claims that a massive and complex bill must be enacted as rapidly as its backers would have you believe. *
Might wanna ask Mike about this.
Why can’t we just get rid of the private option?