Notes from the Health Care Field

I’m back from vacation, in time for the president’s address on health care. I couldn’t watch it live because I was in a Bremerton City Council meeting, in which they discussed new incentives for employees to leave.

In the e-mail inbox upon my return were a few references, direct and indirect, to the town halls.

One was a Daily Kos recap of the Norm Dicks event. The coolest part was the fact that the writer’s brother-in-law gets to play bass for Steppenwolf. Enjoy that magic carpet ride, and the veal!

Additionally there was some criticism of our coverage of the Poulsbo event. I judged the audience to be pretty evenly mixed. I did a walk-through before the event started and then judged based on the different eruptions and applauses throughout. An e-mailer suggested I way overcounted the opponents of health care reform, saying there were more supporters there. The writer may be correct. A colleague of mine who attended also judged the supporters outnumbering the opponents based on the number of people standing during different ovations. When I went to the Norm Dicks event, however, I judged my initial speculation about Poulsbo to be about right. Another entry on Kos (I’m having trouble finding it.) suggested we intentionally oversold the impact of the opponents. All I can say to defend myself is that I wrote what I thought to be correct.

The video after the jump shows Keli Carender, who is with the King County Young Republicans. Some raised the “astroturfer” claim when that was revealed. She is, however, a registered voter in Kitsap County, confirmed by the county elections office. The King County group, she told me by e-mail, is the strongest Young Republicans group in the state and has members from Pierce and Snohomish counties as well. She has an apartment in Seattle, but her permanent residence is here.

I also received two e-mails from someone who wrote to the Kitsap Sun at first, then a second note that also went to Keith Olbermann. I’ll include the text of both of those after the video, which is after the jump. Bottom line is the writer believes we’re socialists or worse.

Last night I did finally get to see the speech as it was being rebroadcast on BET. I’ve yet to see the Republican response, which I’ll get to today. Before I saw the speech, however, I heard Michael Medved. The conservative commentator is against the move to have the government involved in health care, (I’m shorthanding his stance, but I think that’s accurate.) but said Obama did a good job. He said most of the points were those no one could argue with.

On facebook some of my “friends” were heaping praise on Obama. Another didn’t criticize the speech, but questioned the constitutionality of the health care move. Another asked whether so much of the speech should have relied on the emotional punch provided by the segment dealing with the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

As always, feel free to leave your thoughts.

The two letters, the second of which was signed by “Bob.”

My family has lived in Kitsap County for twenty years.

During this time I have watched the County, State and National governments increasingly infringe on citizens rights: income, property rights, right to bare arms and more.

Never in the history of the world has the promise of greater security/prosperity in exchange for giving up freedom rights, paid off.

Never in the history of the world has a nation been able to tax its way to prosperity.

Never in the history of the United States has limiting the Rights granted in the Constitution and Bill of Rights provided more prosperity.

Never in the history of the United States has Government been able to successfully manage Trust money taken (taxed) for social services.

Never in the history of the United States has increasing taxes generated more tax revenue than lowering taxes.

So why now, should any taxpayer trust the Government to run the Obama health care system in the U.S.?

Obama has lied to the voters about his true agenda for the U.S.

Obama has lied about: Transparency, Taxation, Health Care, Energy, Lobbyists, Special Interest Influence, Stimulus Funding, Acorn, His Past Affiliations, Race Relations, and more.

Obama has hired Communists, Marxists, Socialists and Race Radicals as policy/administrator Czars.

The mainstream Press in the United States including the Kitsap Sun, have avoided any critical examination of the above FACTS.

As a family head, publisher and citizen, I deplore the Sun’s complicit role in the selling-out of America to the Socialists visa vie Obama Health Care, Cap & Tax, “Stimulus” Redistribution of Wealth, Gun “Control”, and the like.

I will do everything within the law to see that the Sun, the Socialist Democrats are defeated.

Letter Two:

Hi Guys,
I think I know some of the reasons your ratings are low:
You rant rather than report.
You push propagandas rather than facts.
Your reporters always have a smug silly smirk on their face.
Your comments have no basis in fact.
You are Socialists or worse.
You are uninformed.
You are anti-Constitution and civil liberty.
You do not embrace honest dissent.
You censor free speech.
You ridicule what you do not believe or understand.
You are uneducated in the matters of democracy.
You are elitists.

So, now you know SOME your problems.