Yet one more act of democracy to be held against me…

I attended the town hall meeting in Monticello, FL where Rep. Allen Boyd (D-FL). listened to comments and concerns about H.R.3200, America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. The doors opened at 4:00 p.m. and by 4:30 the doors were closed when the court room reached a capacity crowd. My count was roughly 165 people. I'm told that another hundred or so people were left outside. I do know those left outside were a rowdy bunch.

The crowd ran 12 to 1 against H.R. 3200. Some comments were very concise and well spoken. I think what struck me the most was the vast amount of misinformation on both sides of the debate. One man wanted to know if the congressman would be giving up his fully paid, no deductible health insurance. Rep. Boyd corrected him on that misconception. Another lady extolled the virtues of a single payer system and how it wouldn't really cost any more then what we are paying now. A man complained loudly about the non-existent part of the bill that requires euthanasia of older patients.

Rep. Boyd handled the comments and questions fairly well. I was impressed with his ability to listen and respond. Respond he did, but answer he did not. It is hard to explain how he did it, but he did it well.

He did affirmatively state that he could not support the bill as it is written. He said that he would vote for what was best for the country.

I hope the bill does not change to something he can support. And lately the leadership in Washington seem to have lost sight of what's best for America. At least the America we know now.

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"Americans haven't given up on the idea of a free press, but they don't think the press is unbiased. They see the press as valuable in tracking what government does and giving them information on some very basic and real issues like the war on terror. But large numbers of Americans wish they got a better news report. The public wants us to redouble our efforts to be fair and unbiased, or at least acknowledge bias."
- GENE POLICINSKI, acting director of the First Amendment Center.