ZOMBIE CONTENTIONS

Despite the record heat- this is officially the hottest summer ever recorded here in Austin- and the extreme drought conditions, this summer has been a very interesting one for lovers of politics. Our congressman, Lloyd Doggett, made national news as the very first representative to hold a townhall and get his comeuppance at the hands of angry constituents mobs rioters. But, I have to give Dawg some credit: he isn’t cowering in his office too much. He did a tele-townhall last night and at least two of my friends “attended.” One sent me an exhaustive account of what he said:

Last night at around 8:00 p.m., I received a computerized phone call from Doggett’s office. Doggett was have “live” telephone town hall meeting and if I wanted to participate and ask a question I could press *3. Well no one ever came on the phone after I pressed *3, but I did stay on the line and listen to supposed questions for an hour. A synopsis of some of the answer that he gave included:

“No veteran’s benefits will be touched”

“No person who entered this country illegally will get benefits from this bill”**

“Let me restate that any person who entered this country illegally cannot get on Medicare, Medicaid or Chips. Your tax dollars are protected. No tax dollars will be spent on them.”**

“Death panels do no exist in this plan. It will only pay for an elderly person to talk with their personal physician about alternatives”

“I do not claim a monopoly on truth. This healthcare bill is not a cure all. This is not the Bill that I would have written by myself.”

“No co-pay on preventative care”

He kept bringing up “doughnut hole” whereby too many meds are taken by one person and they are not covered. He also stated that 1 in4 people have no insurance. He mentioned the “riot” at the Randall’s store in Austin. He blamed it on the cable channels. He stated “Republican cameras were rolling and it was put on You Tube before I even got home”. He kept blaming the insurance and pharmaceutical companies on the problems with our healthcare system. He also kept harping on “pre-existing conditions” and how they will be covered under this new healthcare reform bill whereas now a person with pre-existing conditions are not covered under private care. He was asked about how the violence seemed to be coming from union representatives, etc. and not from the average person. His answer was “I don’t know anything about that”.

He will be on KVET 98.1 FM on Wednesday (26th) at 8:00 a.m. and will have a “town hall meeting in support of healthcare reform”(as he stated) on Saturday, Aug. 29th at 3:00 p.m. at 11th & Lavaca (First Methodist). Send this around to everyone you know to get them to either call into the radio show or attend the “town hall” meeting.

As one of my friends pointed out, he’s holding the townhall indoors and undoubted intending to pack the smallish venue and leave the “anti’s” out in the record heat at the worst time of day.  Well, I’ve got a hat and a big ol’ water bottle: I think I’ll be there. Early.

**This very point is addressed today by the Congressional Research Service (h/t Mark Krikorian), who apparently looked into the question at the behest of Lamar Smith, whose district is adjacent to Doggett’s (Smith was my rep for one brief, shining moment before a judge decided that the boundaries needed to be redrawn and I and a whole lot of other conservatives got stuck in the Statist Gulag.)  CRS’s conclusion is that HR 3200 contains no language that prevents illegal immigrants, or indeed any non-citizens from participating in the public option.  Drive a truck through this: there’s no requirement to show proof of citizenship or immigration status for any services.