Friday, August 14, 2009

This article notes some important points, but I'll argue with two

of them. First this one:
Frank Kratovil and Tom Perriello, who as freshmen congressmen would be expected to back the party leadership, both say proposals for expanding coverage to the uninsured are un­acceptable in their current form and should focus more on cost savings.
No, they should not be 'expected to back party leadership'; they're supposed to go by what the people who elected them say. That so many 'expect' them to back the party leadership- the implication is 'no matter what'- is one of the damn problems in DC.

Second,
Billed as a chance to sell healthcare reform to the American people in small meetings across the country, the town hall debates have seen protesters screaming at their elected representatives.

In spite of hopes by proponents of reform that voters would be turned off by the sometimes ugly scenes, a poll yesterday from USA Today gave an indication that the debates were having the opposite effect.

Some 34 per cent of respondents said the demonstrations had made them more sympathetic to the protesters, while 21 per cent said they were less sympathetic. In the all-important independents grouping, 35 per cent against 16 per cent said they were now more sympathetic to the protesters – a margin of more than two to one
.
The 'sometimes ugly scenes' are generally occasioned by elected representatives treating their constituents- you know, the voters who elect them?- like an annoyance; and then acting shocked and getting mad when their bosses don't do what they're being told to, when they won't like what the 'party leadership' tells them to like. And, thanks to this here internet, a lot more people are getting the facts about this than would have in the past. This news story basically says 'nasty people are yelling and mistreating their noble representatives in Congress' with no note of why people are 'mistreating' the clowns.

A misunderstanding of what congressmen are supposed to to, and an incomplete story; but at least some of the story is getting out there, even in major media.

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