When Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi's second congressional district hosted a town hall meeting on health-care reform Monday in Jackson, there were no angry mobs, protesters with guns or yelling matches such as those we've all watched on TV of late. With 300 people crowded into the humid M.W. Stringer Grand Lodge for several hours, and the media perched on the sidelines hungry for action, conditions were right for an outburst that would have dominated news coverage.
But while the occasional boos and cheers rang out in the audience, the town-hall meeting proved to be a chance for citizens to engage and debate in a civil manner. Many attendees spoke out against misinformation from network news and agenda-driven politicians. They seemed determined to understand the massive piece of legislation that is H.R. 3200.
The hardest part for most is sorting through the political jargon and the additional proposed amendments. Across the country, many lawmakers are losing credibility when they deflect answers or skew information to push their agendas. Just because small gaggles of angry people are hungry for red-meat rhetoric, it doesn't mean it sits well with most people. As was evidenced at the lodge Monday night, most people just want good, solid information.
In contrast, during a town-hall meeting Saturday—sponsored by Rep. Gregg Harper of Mississippi's third congressional district and the highly partisan Mississippi Tea Party—Harper told the Republican-heavy audience that Obama would appoint a group of "communists" to run a national health board. He told the crowd that these "communists" were all supporters of the late George Tiller, a Kansas doctor who performed late-term abortions and was murdered at his church in May by an opponent of legal abortion. In rhetoric reminiscent of Sarah Palin's death-panels trick, Harper warned that government funds would go to kill unborn children if the current bill passed.
Bennie Thompson, on the other hand, led a forum where people spilled into the streets respectfully debating the issues. He also punted, though, on providing facts. When asked about abortion, he would only say that it is "nowhere mentioned in the bill."
According to http://www.factcheck.org, while the main bill does not mention abortions, the Caps Amendment adopted July 30 states that some abortions "shall" be covered by the public option plan. This amendment is modeled after the Hyde Amendment under Medicaid in which the government pays for some abortions in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of a mother.
Elected officials should tamp down rhetoric, hold respectful forums and give us the complete information we need to make intelligent decisions.
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