It is not surprising that emotions are running high at community gatherings across the nation to discuss health-care legislation; the truth is, no one knows exactly what we’re talking about. Yet we’re being asked to form opinions on it and to rally for or against it.
There is great confusion about what is even in the legislation. And, there is not just one bill on which to focus, there are several – as many as five or six with others possible. CongressDaily said last week that there are actual negotiations going on in the Senate Finance Committee between Democrats and Republicans on a bill.
That’s good news and bad news: A bill on which Republicans and Democrats can agree gives the public something we can focus on, which is good; the bad news is it shows we really don’t know yet what to be in favor of or against: it’s all in flux.
What is likely to come out of the Congress – if anything – is some combination of the various bills plus changes based on what members have been hearing from constituents.
Yet, we are discussing it, sometimes angrily, sometimes quietly based on what’s in the current versions of the bill and the haste in which the administration has tried to rush this through.
The ugliness of the politics in Washington is being carried home to local communities throughout the nation.
Members of our community will get their chance to discuss it from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall for a town-hall meeting on health-care reform moderated by Tallahassee Democrat Editorial Page Editor Mary Ann Lindley. Let’s send a message with the forum in Tallahassee; let’s show the nation we can debate even the most divisive issues with civility, not rancor.
Dot Inman, executive director of the Capital Area Community Action Agency, the lead sponsor of the event, said the purpose of the event is educational, not political.
“We took on this event as a community service to provide a means for the many people without health care to learn what is being proposed in Congress and how it might impact their current circumstances; and in doing so, clear up some of the misinformation, which only serves to confuse the public.”
The City Hall chamber holds 240 people, and some are expressing concern it won’t be large enough to accommodate everyone who wants to get in. Tallahassee.com will offer live-streaming video so you can watch the meeting in front of your computer.
Co-hosts of the forum include the Chamber of Commerce, Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition, Bond Health Center, United Partners for Human Services, FAMU Institute of Public Health and College of Pharmacy, the Council of Neighborhood Associations, Leon County Health Department, NAACP, Capital Medical Society, Children’s Campaign, AFSCME, Capital Alliance for Retired Americans, Physicians for a National Health Program, SCLC, AFL-CIO, Northwest Florida Federation of Labor, Florida Public Interest Research Group and Neighborhood Health Services.
Panelists for the forum include U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Monticello, and local experts. There will be a question-and-answer session after the panel discussion.
Other groups plan rallies and discussions outside the building.
One group is promoting its rally on Facebook, calling its event the “Hands Off My Health Care Rally: Learn what Obama-care really means to you and your family!” The group plans to gather at 5 p.m. outside of City Hall.
The group calls the event inside City Hall a meeting of Boyd and “radical-left wing organizations,” which is not a phrase that is usually used in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce and the Capital Medical Society, just as examples. On its page, the group says: “We're going to rally outside before his meeting and send Boyd a message!”
The politics of this thing – as with most things these days – have become more important than the outcome of the proposals. Each side has become so intent on smearing the other – to win points toward the next election – that no one cares about collateral damage to either individuals or organizations.
In an e-mail to the Democrat, one organizer of the “Hands Off” rally is urging anyone who doesn’t get into City Hall to meet at Muller Park “so they can be heard in a polite and civil manner.”
Let’s hope they can accomplish that, that we can strongly disagree and still respect each other’s right to be heard.
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