Brian Baird

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Last night Clark County voters met in a Town Hall meeting with Brian Baird, our Congressman, about HR 3200, the Health Care bill. I was among the voters meeting at the Clark County Amphitheatre at the fair grounds. I would estimate that there were over a thousand people in attendance because the stadium was over three quarters full. I went to this forum for the reason that health care is important and I feel strongly about this bill. I wanted my voice to be heard and wanted to hear what other people were saying.

As we entered the stadium, we found protesters against the bill out front. We were handed flyers about combating this proposal or should I say proposals that are in the house. The gist of the argument was that we should not let the government take control of our health care system. I strongly feel that our freedom to act would likely be curbed if government were to take over, our taxes would increase, and the quality of our health care would diminish. I have a strong trust issue with having the government in my personal life. Some people feel that giving control to the government to solve their problems is the best way to solve the problem. However, giving another massive entity like the government control over an issue that could result in life or death is a highly questionable procedure in my thinking.

I was happy to say that the voters in Clark County overwhelmingly spoke against the rush to pass this bill. Some of the questions that were asked by the voters were valid. One man asked about sections of the bill in which the government would appoint people to come to our homes and tell us how to raise our children. Other people brought up the trust issue in that they do not trust the government to take responsibility for their health care. In the past the government has proven to be inefficient.

A good question that was asked was "Why are the tort laws not changed?" and Brian Baird said that he had a bill that he was introducing to address that issue on his website. When the statement that Nancy Pelosi called anyone against this bill a 'brown shirt' (meaning a Nazi) the crowd started to boo and hiss because they were offended that an elected official would talk about the people they represent in such a way. There were many there who felt the government was overspending and being irresponsible with the taxpayers money. The person said that they are feeding corporate America by giving them large amounts of money and it is not filtering down to the general American population who are footing the bill.

One man got up and told Brian Baird that elected officials should look at the people as people they represent and not as people they rule over. I agree with this stance because have found this true about Baird when I have written to him about issues and he has basically said that he will not listen to my point of view. My husband Kerry said that he was concerned over the fact that of the 300 amendments to the bill that the Republicans have tried to propose that not one of them has been adopted. This is NOT a bipartisan bill but is being ramroded down the throats of the American people.

One point that Baird tried to make throughout the forum was the fact that he stopped Congress and they read the thousand page bill and asked questions about it before voting on it. Another point that he made is that the American people should have several days to look at laws before they pass. This has been a concern of a lot of people who have watched legislation pass recently without having the ability to comment which has facilitated the opinion that the legislature is dictating to instead of representing the people. Another point that Baird tried to make was that we are going to pay the cost of health care for other people if this bill does not pass. I don't believe this is true.

I look at the Social Welfare states in Europe and other places and see that their systems do not run efficiently. In fact some of these states are in massive debt and their citizens suffer heavy taxes. One person brought out the fact that some countries in Europe pay over 60% of their income in taxes. I think that if a government taxes people in this manner that many people's freedoms are taken away. Christine said that her granddaughter who was born with a diaphramatic hernia would be dead under the French system (Christine was born in France) because she would not have been able to get health care.

Another proposal is that the rich should be taxed. California tried to do this and had 5000 of their very richest citizens leave the state and move. The rich won't put up with being taxed in this manner and find ways to get around being taxed. They are smart enough to put their money in untaxable trusts which the government can't touch. The idea of taxing the rich is really funny when the people that run these large insurance companies make billions a year. And another point made is that corporate leaders make obscene amounts of money. There is no competition between insurance companies. We all pay the same amount.

Under this plan small business owners would be required to offer health insurance to their employees. Some small business owners spoke out and said that they could not afford to do this even if the government were to require it. I can see that small businesses would have a difficult time complying to the regulations because the high cost of health care will not diminish.