Health Care Townhall...ALMOST

(the line snaked all around the parking lot, up that hill and to the right to the school...I estimate there were at least 4000 people there)

So, as some of you may or may not have seen on the news, there was a health care townhall given by my Congressional Representative Jim Moran (D). He also was able to book Howard Dean to attend and address the townhall audience. As soon as I found out about it, I knew I wanted to attend. I even read the first 100 pages of H.R 3200 until I almost died (maybe that was their intention? ;-)) of boredom and then realized within a few days I shouldn't bother since so much was getting changed in the Senate anyway. I emailed my girlfriends, but they were all going to be either out of town or getting ready to leave for out of town and Tanner had a Young Men's meeting that night so I hit the townhall solo mio. When I arrived, there were a ton of people already there in line. I was an hour and a half early. There were some crazies on both sides going up and down the line asking people questions or handing out fliers or signs to hold. I stood quietly in line and listened to the people around me. We live in a predominately Democratic district. Everyone around me was talking about how great the health care bill is and pretty much patting each other on the back for the great discussion they were having. It's alright, we all do it when we are around people who agree with us. I am not a confrontational person by nature, I like it when everyone gets along, and it scares me when I can't somewhat predict a person's reaction from something I have said...but after about a half hour, I just couldn't listen to it anymore without putting my two cents in. We were all very cordial and even though it was definitely a debate, we weren't screaming at each other or anything. I think the best response I got was when I said "well, I think we just have a fundamental ideological difference...I don't believe that health insurance is a right, I believe it is a privilege and the responsibility of individuals and families to pay for it, not the government or the taxpayers." They all looked at me like I had just called them all an expletive. Do I think we need changes to our system? Definitely. I just don't think this bill addresses very many of the problems that need to be solved. But it was cool...we understood each other...we just didn't agree.

At one point we were all wondering if we were going to get in. The gym of the high school held 2500 people and we were in the middle of the line. I joked that we would get right up to the doors and they would shut them right in front of us. As we got closer to the front, the energy really picked up. There were a lot of people near the front with signs and they were chanting, but it wasn't crazy or anything. I just looked around and thought "this is democracy personified". I loved it.

We finally got up to the front doors, and just as I was about to step into the school, a cop came out the front door with a sign that said MAX CAPACITY REACHED. She looked at me and said "Sorry Ma'am, we have to close the doors now." I couldn't BELIEVE IT!!! I actually said to her "are you kidding me?" (that's about as lippy as I am willing to get with a cop). I turned around to my now friendly foes and said "I JINXED US!!!" We started laughing, but we were all totally bummed. I was so sad. To be THAT close and not get in was just ridiculous. I was the next person, the VERY NEXT PERSON!!! It turned out to be the difference between turning right or turning left when I went to look for a spot to park. If I had turned left, I would have gotten in, but I turned right first, and it doomed me...if only I was more left thinking. ;-).

Anyway, I watched the news coverage later and it looked to be quite the spectacle inside...from Moran personally demanding to see someone's ID before allowing them to ask their question to Howard Dean admitting they didn't include Tort reform in the bill because they didn't want to take on the lawyers in addition to everyone else (hey, at least he was honest?) it would have been a blast to have been there, but oh well, I tried. I encourage everyone if you haven't already done so to email your congressional representatives and your senators about how you feel about the health care bill. The biggest lesson I got out of the experience is just how powerful the public voice REALLY is when we all actually care. Go here to find your representatives and to contact them.