Rothman Didn’t Listen
Well, after 10 town hall meetings in August, I think it’s safe to say the verdict is in: Steve Rothman didn’t listen.
Rothman appeared on Lou Dobbs Tonight, along with our favorite Congressman Scott Garrett, on September 10th to debate healthcare - and among other things, had this to say:
REP. STEVE ROTHMAN (D), NEW JERSEY: Well I think my colleague, Scott Garrett and I, the Democrats and Republicans in general in the House agree on about 80 percent of what’s already in H.R. 3200. I did 10 town haul(sp) meetings over the summer and we learned a lot about what language needs to be tightened up, what things concern people and those suggestions are going to be incorporated in the bill, but basically if you have insurance, we’re going to make sure it’s more affordable, bend the cost curve…
Honestly, I don’t know how Rothman could make the case that Republicans agree with 80% of what’s in the bill. But more importantly, the fact that he thinks the message from the town hall meetings was simply to ‘tighten up the language’ and ‘incorporate our concerns’ is insulting to everyone who went to those meetings to protest the Democrat’s proposal. The message of those meetings was clear as could be: We do not want this. Go back to Washington and start over!
Unfortunately, like Dear Leader, Rothman doesn’t really care what the American people had to say to him. After all, they think they know best.
The video of the segment can be seen here. The transcript here.
Mike,
You should not be so judgmental of Congressman Rothman. I am fairly certain the the 80% that is is referring to are the consonants. With 26 letters in the English language, there are five vowels and 21 consonants. That means that about 80% of our alphabet is made up of consonants.
Of course, there are no words in English that contain no vowels. Therefore, the lack of agreement on any of the vowels makes H.R. 3200 incomprehensible for the American people which must be the real lesson he learned from the townhall meetings.
September 12th, 2009 at 6:08 pmThe towen hallswere not about listening to the people. They were about trying to find a plausible rationalization to ram this legislation home with as few Democratic casualties in 2010 as they can. That is why in the end I expect them to go the Reconciliation route, so that 10 more Democratic Senators can vote No with cover.
September 13th, 2009 at 12:29 pmIf they use reconciliation, there will be a revolt in this country. Heck, there might be a revolt anyway if they do this. But if they go nuclear to get it done, it will be worse.
September 13th, 2009 at 12:49 pmMike,
I don’t think most people understand Reconciliation enough to be outraged by it…except for people like us, who have no voice in government right now anyhow. Bush passed his tax cuts through the Reconciliation process and people yawned. I don’t expect much different if/when Obama does it.
Procedural issues never draw that much passion - only the underlying issue can. (And yes, I r4alize that there is a lot of passion for the underlying issue).
September 13th, 2009 at 6:42 pm[...] Back in August, when town hall meetings were at a fever pitch, I attended three of Rothman’s ‘listening sessions.’ While Rothman deserved credit for taking the heat at that time, it was evident that he had no intention of ever changing his mind and voting the will of his constituents despite his rhetoric to the contrary. I said as much here. [...]
November 8th, 2009 at 1:15 pm