Cong. Spencer Bachus (R-6th District) is holding a town hall meeting tonight at the Cahaba Grand Conference Center. Doors open at 6:30, but I recommend arriving early. As a card-carrying member of the Over the Mountain Democrats (well, I don’t actually carry a card), I know there are plenty of progressives who live in Spencer’s district.
Here’s Spencer’s statement on health reform:
It’s a collection of Republican talking points — rationing, blah, blah, more rationing, blah, blah, the end of employer-provided health coverage, blah, blah, too much spending, etc. He gripes about government-run health coverage, even though he benefits from it as a member of Congress and will continue to do so once he reaches Medicare age. He ignores the rationing that is going on right now for people who don’t have coverage and even those who do, when they hit their lifetime limits or their insurers find loopholes to avoid paying for treatment. He bemoans the deficit, complains about “borrying” from the Chinese, and spends some time trashing the stimulus plan, forgetting, of course, that he voted for the bank bailout (and, last October, said the public needed to give it time to work, as it would take six months to a year for the economy to turn around) – not to mention all the “borrying” and off-budget war spending that sneaked through Congress without a peep of protest during the Bush administration.
And, after all that, he offers no alternative proposals. He wants health care to be affordable and accessible, he doesn’t want the government to “get between you and your doctor”, and he doesn’t want any rationing of care, but he has no ideas of his own.
The invitation says the public can ask questions tonight or submit them in advance to BachusTownHall@mail.house.gov. Send in your questions, come to the town hall, be polite, but don’t let him get away with his distortions. He needs to hear from all of his constituents, not just the ones whose knees jerk every time he opens his mouth (which, btw, is rare, but usually something stupid comes out).