Latham favors health care tax credits
By BILL SHEA Messenger staff writerArticle Photos
Fort Dodge residents fearful that a health care reform effort will put Uncle Sam in charge of their visits to the doctor found out Monday that U.S. Rep. Tom Latham shares their concern.
During an hour-long town hall meeting, many in the crowd of some 170 people in Friendship Haven's Celebration Center took the microphone to denounce what they see as an attempt by the government to intrude in their lives.
Latham, R-Ames, said he would rather see the Congress pass tax credits which would help more people buy insurance.
He added that the ''looming disaster'' facing the country concerns the Social Security system, which he said will begin paying out more money than it takes in starting in 2012. Attacking that problem, he said, ought to be the top priority.
''We've got to decide as a country what our priorities are,'' Latham said.
The congressman raised the possibility of a health care reform stalemate in Congress. He said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has vowed that no health care bill will pass in her chamber without a public coverage option. But in the Senate, he said, there apparently aren't enough votes to pass a public option. Latham didn't speculate on how such a stalemate might be resolved.
Latham began his visit to Fort Dodge earlier Monday afternoon with a visit to the Silgan Containers Manufacturing Corp. plant at 3591 Maple Drive. There, he witnessed the highly automated process of turning aluminum and steel into cans and can lids. Silgan's products hold pet food, Campbell's soup and hundreds of other canned goods that line supermarket shelves.
''This is a plant that most people wouldn't believe is in this area,'' plant manager Bruce Whittier told Latham.
The congressman began his town hall meeting by saying that he hoped to do more listening than talking. Before it was over, he heard plenty of comments.
Ina Breeden, of Gowrie, gave a short speech in which she lashed out against health care reform, same sex marriage and President Barack Obama.
''This health care plan is to control you,'' she told the audience. ''Obama is not looking out for you.''
Janet Clark, of Fort Dodge, offered one of the few pleas for health care reform that includes a public option. She cited the example of an acquaintance stricken with brain cancer whose family has nowhere to turn for health insurance.
''I really want health care with a public option,'' she said.
Latham predicted that 114 million people who now have private health insurance would be pushed into a public program if one is created. Businesses, he said, would cancel their health insurance plans if a public program existed.
A board appointed by the president would determine what a public option insurance program would cover, according to Latham.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net
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Brotherbag
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08-25-09 11:22 PM
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First off the 47 million number of uninsured is misleading at best. Obama is being cute when he says nobody will be forced out of their plan if they like it. Well right in the bill, heck in the first 20 pages is says that if your private plan changes any benefits, or the cost changes, its no longer legal. Then if you don't sign up for any insurance, public or private, you have to pay a 2,500 dollar fine each year. Plus CBO has said cost is not deficit neutral, it will cost a couple hundred billion dollars, and there will still be 18 million uninsured.
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Barleycorn
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08-25-09 8:06 PM
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It really amazes me how ill informed so many people are. I keep hearing the same rhetoric. A bunch of parrots. Stop listening to others. Try to find information on your own, and not just information slanted to what you WANT to believe. And for Pete's sake, get rid of that old man Grassley. Stir up the people, but don't offer any viable solutions.
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justwords
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08-25-09 3:48 PM
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I would just be happy if the Gov. didn't tax the income that I spend on health care
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HUEVOSRANCHEROS
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08-25-09 3:05 PM
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¡Sure it needs work but, would you not agree that it's better than being flat out denied because you have a pre-existing condition that could hurt a private insurer's bottom line?
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Anderson
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08-25-09 2:45 PM
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Private insurers suffer from a myriad of problems Dems refuse to correct, including fragmentation & malpractice litigation that the latter directly and indirectly inflates medical bills some 15-20%, none of which Dems will correct. Then there are genetic predilections, diet and behavioral problems that cause usproblems other developed countries do not have. Still, we develop the innovative treatments and meds from which the whole world benefits, on the cheap. National health systems lead only to mediocrity. Sorry, Huevo, but at 65 I could not opt out of Medicare, and IT became my primary carrier. Believe me, Medicare does not pay all, especially at top providers (Mayos) that don't accept Medicare rates. Like most things gov'tal, Medicare has never performed up to its billing, care-wise or financially (now 10 times estimates), and it, too, is going broke - just like SS, ADC and other programs our vote-seeking politicians have ruined - and as the CBO predicts for Obamacare.
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AndyFritz
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08-25-09 1:35 PM
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I am glad this health care debate came up... it kind of took the heat off of the gay marriage debate. I wonder what will be next? Legalizing marijuana?
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ponders
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08-25-09 10:01 AM
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This is one of the most polarizing issues to come along since the occupation of Iraq. The biggest difficulty as I see it is a lack of information. What is truly being proposed? What are the ramifications of these proposals? Who will be effected? "Private" insurance industry is not working for many Americans. I hear many saying "don't mess with my insurance that I get free (or at a reduced cost) from my employer. If your employer wasn't spending that money on insurance, would be giving it to you. Too many people seem to live in fear of losing a job because of pre-existing health conditions that would make them uninsurable on their own. Another insurance option isn't "public health care". I don't however know the eventual effect on the current industry. We need more answers, less politics.
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MzNorml
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08-25-09 9:40 AM
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Well Jr, it's like this...I'm not here to fight with you but if that group of people who brought up nothing but mostly hate speech, is the group I belong to....I am seriously thinking about changing my affiliation. But then, that's my business, isn't it.
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jrnation
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08-25-09 8:40 AM
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Did you ever stop to think that maybe its not the older generation thats so misinformed,but maybe you are?
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1madvette
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08-25-09 7:55 AM
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Huevos, demorcracy has been dying for years. Obama is just trying to speed up the process. If you think our government can run anything right you are sadly mistaken. And as for them runniing health care? The following was taken from an article about the Canadian health care system. SASKATOON — The incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association says this country's health-care system is sick and doctors need to develop a plan to cure it. Dr. Anne Doig says patients are getting less than optimal care and she adds that physicians from across the country - who will gather in Saskatoon on Sunday for their annual meeting - recognize that changes must be made. "We all agree that the system is imploding, we all agree that things are more precarious than perhaps Canadians realize," Doing said in an interview with The Canadian Press. This did not come from any of your right-wingnut sources either. Just google the Canadian health care system.
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MzNorml
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08-25-09 6:29 AM
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I was at this meeting and am still shaking my heading in disbelief. I left embarrassed, I had no idea the older generation was so misformed.
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HUEVOSRANCHEROS
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08-25-09 2:01 AM
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¡Well, we better tell all these old people that they should give up their Medi-Care if they hate the idea of the government running their health care. You know, if the private sector is the answer, and that's the current structure that everyone is getting shafted by, when is the private sector going to up and fix their flaws? I guess this is how democracy dies.
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