Kenny Marchant, US Representative of Texas District No. 24, held a Town Hall Meeting in Farmers Branch, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas, at the request of the Metrocrest Republican Club. The focus was on the proposed Health Insurance Reform Bill, also known as “Obama-care”. Right from the beginning, the Congressman started fielding and answering questions from the crowd of more than 400 people, which was exactly what everyone had come to see and hear. The Congressman and the crowd got down to business.
Congressman Marchant was in his usual relaxed, tell-all, hold nothing back form - classic Kenny. You could tell that most of the people there were his supporters, but the questions got tougher as the night wore on. And, as with any good Town Hall Meeting, there were naysayers. Congressman Marchant is not just about form. He brought the substance, for which people came to hear, told in a way that was clear to everyone, whether they liked what they heard or not. The congressman does not and did not pull any punches about his being against the plan, the constitutional challenge of the plan, the lack of tort reform, government waste, government misdirection, corruption in the Republican Party, the future of the health care reform bill, what we have to do to defeat it, abortion, medicare, medicaid, AARP, euthanasia, insurance portability and on-and-on.
Along with everything else, Kenny focused on what should be the focal point of any reform bill. The focal point should be getting help to a specific 40 million people without disturbing the remaining 260 million Americans; and, within the 40 million there should be given priority to just 15 million to get started. 15 million, not 300 million! With the ”pooling” of this 15 million Americans, we could take care of them at a bargain cost to taxpayers compared to the $1+ Trillion predicted by the Congressional Budget Office for the present plan as written. What a deal.
Kenny remained steadfast in his understanding of the bill and what really needs to happen because he and his staff have studied the issue. Believe it or not, Kenny has read the entire bill - 1000+ pages! Has any other Congressman? Has Barack Obama read it?
On Wednesday, August 12, 2009, in Farmers Branch, Texas, we witnessed a part of democracy at its best. Citizens were exchanging ideas with their congressional representative, spicing it with laughter, clapping, hollering, booing, crying, and anger over congressional misdirections to the “left”, better known as socialism.
The proposed health plan is not popular in Congressman Marchant’s Texas Congressional District No. 24, to say the least. The best part is that Congressman Marchant is also against it and will vote against it, as it is written now or anything close. How is that for listening to his constituents? It’s not common these days to see a Congressman actually listen to the people who sent him or her to Washington. On August 12, 2009, Kenny Marchant showed his constituents the “right stuff”.
You can view the first 10 minutes of the meeting below, or see all 12 unedited segments on YouTube.
