DVD!Rome had its Gladiators, America has Town Halls
Congressman Jim Moran's Town Hall on Health Reform
Tuesday night, I attended the Reston Town Hall on Health Care Reform, hosted by my Congressman, Jim Moran, with special guest speaker, Dr. Howard Dean.
Me, in the Pink
This health reform issue is a hot button issue for me, especially, as a wellness advocate. As some of you can tell from my past blogs, I am not crazy about allopathic medicine and its heavy reliance on drug “fixes” for every problem.
When I was first out of college, and living in Baltimore, I found a wonderful book in a local bookstore. I wish I still had it today. It formed my conscience about health, and today, I am living out what that obscure book taught me, that allopathic medicine is limited to treating symptoms. It rarely, if ever deals with root causes.
The book opened my mind to the alternative medical approaches, which look to fundamental root causes as the way to ultimate healing.
People from All Walks of Life Came
When I first arrived, I was approached by a proponent of health reform, who wanted to talk. He could tell, I guess, from my Kill the Bill sign that I had problems supporting this bill. When he asked me why, I said, “I am not in favor of government run health care. I told him that I believe the pharmaceutical companies have bled our health care system dry, and now they are looking for deeper pockets to go after–and they are targeting the government coffers.”
Supporters of Health Care Bill
I also explained that I was a raw milk activist, and that the FDA is attempting an outright ban on raw milk, which is a medicinal food that could address many health problems. Another reason not to put health care in bureaucratic hands.
My other signs said, “Socialism Stinks” and “The Whole Foods CEO is Right.” Here is his opinion editorial on the types of reforms that are needed. My husband and I have the same type of health coverage that he offers his employees, high
Young Protesters at Reston Town Hall
deductible major medical plan combined with a health savings account. This health savings account enables us to bypass the allopathic medical program, and seek alternative care that medical oriented health insurance doesn’t cover.
We want to focus on wellness not sickness care.
Back to the circus.
We were there three hours early, before the doors opened, to make sure we could get in. I went with some other neighbors who are concerned about the issue. While we waited, there was quite a show.
Lyndon LaRouche followers set up a table, with a poster of Obama as Hilter, saying “He changed.” Their literature claimed that the health reform bill is eeriely similar to the Nazi health reforms.
Unions were out in force with Thank You signs, professionally printed in red, white and blue with the union shop insignia, of course.
Street Theatre by Randall Terry
Randall Terry, a pro-life activist had organized street theatre, to highlight his concerns about government run health care using our tax dollars for abortion and euthanasia.
A group of young men came clad in flag capes with machine guns (daring someone to come and take their gun).
Griff Jenkins of Fox News
The media was out in force, there were three (at least) satellite trucks and oodles of cameras.
It was unlike anything I have ever been to before, in the sense that there was high tension between the people. My conversation with the bill advocate was cordial, but all around us, while we waited for the doors to open, people were arguing.
Several times men got right up in each others faces, and were verbally and physically threatening each other. It was as though they came to the event “ready to rumble.”
And, of course, every heated argument had 3 or 4 video cameras surrounding it.
More Street Theater
Once 3000 people were inside, it became clear that the cons were out-numbered by the pros.
On every seat were George Washington’s Rules of Civility, which I read, and nobody seemed to follow.
Even though it was a town hall meeting, Jim Moran came with his vote cast in concrete, and citizens were not invited to speak, but only to ask questions. A great way of not listening. Act like you are there to listen, but make sure you are the only one with the opportunity to speak.
Which greatly disappointed me, as my speech was all written out!
Cameras on tripods lined the gymnasium. Crowd reactions were overheated. Opponents chanted, “We can’t afford it,” proponents chanted back a deafening “Yes, We Can.” We walked right into that one, since that was the campaign chant that helped our President win office.
A few of the opponents of the bill were obnoxious and heckled and jeered.
And, unfortunately, I was sitting next to the one guy who had to yell “Shut Up” (and I mean a loud shut up) every time a heckler hollered. I spent the better part of the night with my fingers in my ears!
This guy got in a verbal tussle during the meeting
It was really the only way to express dissent. But it was embarrassing, nonetheless.
Two thirds of the questions drawn from the three boxes were from positive or undecided voters. The other one third were questions from those against.
There are good, intellectual arguments against nationalizing health care. It is a shame very few of them were aired.
The best question came in the form of a reminder of how bankrupt Medicare is. “You say this plan will be just like medicare, and that medicare is run by experts. Medicare is bankrupt. Who are these experts?”
Good Question....
This post is part of Fight Back Fridays blog carnival on Kitchen Renegade blog. See more blogs on food and activism, here.
"Kimberly Hartke is the Guardian Angel of Small Farms and the Fund!"
12 Comments
This is my comment on the Organic Consumers Association discussion board about their protest over the Whole Foods CEO’s op ed:
I am with the Whole Foods CEO. It is beyond gullible to think that the federal government, which is attempting to ban raw milk, which allows sewage sludge to be spread on food crops, which supports with subsidies the overproduction of soy, corn and other crops while paying others not to farm, would do a good job of delivering health care to our nation.
The only reason this bill has gotten this far, is that huge vested interests, now want it. Big Pharma, Health Insurance Companies and the AMA have spent millions to pave the way for nationalized health care. They want deeper pockets to go after. Obama’s campaign manager was a pharmaceutical company lobbyist.
Through Congress, they want to force us to use conventional medicine, or if we don’t, at least pay for others’ medical care.
As someone who aspires to be successful, I deeply resent the suggestion that once I make $250,000. a year that I will be paying for all this.
I have worked, struggled, skimped, saved, risked, gone into debt, my whole life to obtain the American dream. I do not want to be targeted by our government to foot the bill for a medical system I don’t even believe in.
I have a health savings account so that I can purchase alternative health care and avoid our drug addicted medical industry. I agree with the Whole Foods CEO, that I should be allowed to purchase this insurance with pre-tax dollars, just like a business can.
Whole Foods is a good company who is more supportive of the local foods movement than any other retailer. Shame on us for turning on them over their CEO taking his time to offer us food for thought on this issue.
Please OCA, don’t buy the lie that health care can be free. We will pay dearly, our freedoms, our choices, our money.
Kimberly
Kimberly, I share a lot of your views — concern for health freedom, protection of raw milk, etc. — but there are some things here I feel I need to comment on. I was a health-care industry and science editor at Bloomberg News for years and I have delved pretty deeply into this topic. I started from a totally free-market premise and went to many presentations from experts pushing that point of view and read Dr. David Gratzer’s book on that topic. But he has his own biases and doesn’t present the other side accurately.
A government run amuck can truly create hell on earth. That doesn’t mean the solution is to throw up our hands and dismiss the concept of government altogether. You want to live without government? Then I have a country for you — Afghanistan, or Somalia. The solution is to hold our government accountable and to make it better. It ain’t gonna be easy, that’s for sure, with corporate interests so entrenched and their propaganda so endemic that the very people being hurt by it are repeating it.
Big Pharma is *opposed* to health care reform, not supporting it! The insurance companies already stand between you and your doctor, which is why they fear a single-payer solution or even a “public option” that would supposedly be competition for them. If only that were so. The current proposals limit the number of people who could join the public option so that it would not in fact provide any competition for them. Competition between medical insurance companies hasn’t done us much good because they all follow similar practices. There is no brake on the industry. They exist to make money, and the more they pay out for patient care, the less they make. The only solution to that is they must either be forced to accept everyone, or they must be forced out. (In other words, a better system could take many different forms, but nothing will improve as long as the insurance companies can kick you out for being sick; nothing can fundamentally improve until everyone is included.)
No one seriously claims that health care is “free.” Single-payer would be paid by our taxes. We have found a trillion dollars to bail out Wall Street but we can’t afford $60 billion or so to expand Medicare for all?
Why do government services need to make money? What would be the point? They exist to provide certain essential services. People like to trash the Post Office but I think it’s amazing that for 44 cents I can send a missive cross-country in a very few days, and I live in a rural location.
If Medicare is “bankrupt” it’s because it has been underfunded. There is no reason to expect it to make money. Health care is or should be a public investment like education, fire and police protection, the courts, the highway system (or even better, public transportation). These institutions provide the framework for our other economic activities. There is a cost to living and taking care of our health. Why has everyone adopted a business, balance-sheet mindset that every human activity must directly earn more than it costs? The purpose of life is to live, not to make money. Being alive isn’t profitable. That sounds absurd to even think in those terms. But years of corporate propaganda have got people thinking that the most crucial issues should be thought of in terms of making money. Health care is not just another consumer good. Increasingly it divides the employed from the non-employable. The vast majority of people going bankrupt over health care costs are people who had health insurance, but who were denied coverage once they got sick.
I am concerned about giving drug companies more power. They have too much power now, second only to the insurance companies. That’s why a strong role by the government is necessary. It is possible, and my worst fear, that the unique political culture in the U.S., which has been so totally corrupted by corporate interests, makes it impossible to enact any real reform; we certainly will have no real reform unless the insurance companies’ stranglehold on the system is broken. They are right to fear single-payer, as it does threaten their unbridled profits, but it does not threaten us citizens and taxpayers. I used to be wary of single-payer until I saw Sicko, which gives a penetrating look into the U.S. system and also several other systems.
I urge you to see Sicko if you haven’t (available at Blockbuster and probably Netflix). You don’t have to like Michael Moore to appreciate the compelling stories he tells there. It is truly eye-opening, first-rate work. The right-wing media of course trashed it with their usual litany of lies, but don’t let that blind you to seeing it. Parts of it are hard to watch but parts are a delight. I’ll send you a copy if you promise to watch it.
Great entry Kimberly!
Thanks, Jeanmarie. I will try to get Sicko sometime. I appreciate your sharing your thoughts on this very important subject. Hopefully, other readers will share what they think. Let’s talk about all the angles of this that aren’t being covered by the press!
I had a long talk with my mom tonight, who is desperate to get off her many “medications”. She is going to go to my Oriental medicine doctor to give him a whirl. She wishes her health insurance will pay for it.
I am going to look into a health savings account for her.
I swear it is the medications that are making her so unwell.
When I visit our local old folks home, I cringe to see how they are drugging all the elderly.
Jeanmarie, if you want to argue effectively against anti-statism, you need to come up with real arguments that aren’t straw men. As long as there is power to be wielded over others, some people will seek to control that power. Always remember that the only ultimate power you have is over yourself.
Hi Damaged Justice,
I sure would like to hear your arguments about the health reform bill. Tell us what you think and why!
Ive read your site everyday for the last 3 or 4 months and when I come here I am looking for informative commentary on food/big ag, not the the play by play of divisive politics of the healthcare debate. I know that your blog is a bit different that the other realfoodmedia bloggers but id prefer not to be subjected to your personal opinion on healthcare legislation. WAPF/no-GMO/and organic campaigns are great and I breathe them, but Mackey’s suggestion that folks just buy from his store is ludicrous, even for an elitist-food nazi like me.
I like my WAPF food bloggers to stick to the original issues that brought us all to this site and I dont know how WAPF feels about healthcare legislation, but it makes me wonder if all the posturing about the state of American food isnt done for selfish reasons instead of selfless ones, considering that you are one of the main faces of WAPF.
Footnote:
As a grad student of healthcare policy, I applaud Jeanmarie for bringing her credentials to this site.
Peace.
Nia–This blogger knows that people differ on this topic, and I wrote about it knowing full well that it would stir up controversy. But, I am open to everyone sharing in the comments your support, or non support for this bill.
I blog about Weston Price issues, but also this is a personal blog. I was not speaking as an official voice of the foundation, I went to that event as a member of the general public.
Thanks for voicing your opposition to my position. Maybe others will be stimulated to join a good natured debate on this subject.
But let’s not call people selfish for having a differing opinion. Seems to me someone could be considered selfish for expecting others to pick up the tab for their health care, as well. So I just prefer we debate the issue on its merits and not cast aspersions on people’s character.
Kimberly
First, I want be clear that I am not calling you selfish. I think that the movement on the right and from the far left commie LaRouche are selfishly uninformed. But, my actual problem is not really that you dont support healthcare legislation, its the fact that I have to be made aware of your political positions when I was under the impression that this blog was about food and food politics that we all pretty much agree on.
And although you may not sit on the board or be the public spokesperson for WAPF by name, your posts dominate their facebook page and Fallon herself credits you for being a big force behind bringing public light to the soy case, therefore you are a de-facto rep for WAPF in the eyes of the public/facebook sphere.
Im sure we can agree to disagree, but I thought you were a paid blogger for RFM, and gaining revenue from cultures for health, zukay, etc. If Im wrong, Im totally sorry.
Thanks, Nia.
I appreciate so much you visiting my blog daily, that is so awesome!
I have chosen to stop putting paid advertising on my blog, except for my family’s own businesses and the non-profits that RFM supports. This way I can be free to voice my opinions on food, nutrition natural healing, etc., because I am not profiting from it.
So I am blogging for love, not money…I also would prefer to blog about whatever I want, so I appreciate you giving me some grace here.
Thanks for sharing your honest feelings, it is actually nice to have someone disagree for a change!
You haven’t been with me since the beginning, but this summer I am using a new strategy for building my audience, that of adding many other voices to the blog. My goal is to help build a bigger movement, by giving many notables the opportunity to weigh in on these sustainable farm and food issues, or on natural cures or alternative health.
So, you and others may not agree with every voice, or like the subject matter, but I am trying to do good in this world, the best I know how.
Thanks again for your comments. No hard feelings, and it is ok to disagree. It makes the blog more exciting, I think!
How about the rest of you? Whaddaya Think about Health Reform?
Sweet! I feel informed now. And Im glad your blog is here, honestly…its ammo for me to preach to my family and friends
Kimberly – Dr. Michael Eades gets the same kind of flak on his Protein Power blog when he mentions anything other than food or how cute his grandkids are. That’s one of the reasons I don’t do politics! But the biggest reason comes from a line in WARGAMES: “The only way to win is not to play.” I take the opposite position of most people — if you agreed to play the game of politics, you agreed to be bound by the rules, and it’s silly to complain about the outcome no matter how much you dislike it.
An Anarchist Approach To Health Care is very much in line with my preferences. Stop pointing the gun of government at people who haven’t violated anyone’s rights; eliminate any trace of subsidy, privilege or license; leave people free to choose…and let a thousand flowers bloom.
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