The Hickory 9/12 Project Town Hall Last Night with Congressman McHenry - November 10. 2009

The following are links to the Town Hall meeting last night that was held at Lenoir-Rhyne's P.E. Monroe Auditorium. There were between over 150 people that attended this meeting which featured Congressman Patrick McHenry as the keynote speaker. below are the links, questions, answers and comments that were posed. Each Segment is linked to a downloadable recording.

Segment 1 - Reggie Saddler led the invocation and then the leaders of the local chapter of the 9-12 project had comments. Billy Pitman the Chairman of Lenoir-Rhyne's Young Republicans made a short speech.

Segment 2 - Reggie Saddler - This guy was great and his message was very relevant to what we are seeing in our lives today. He leads a Gospel group called the Reggie Saddler Family. He starts around the 6 minute mark of this segment. I was truly motivated and inspired by what he had to say. He was awesome. He talked about not doing anything rash and about getting involved.

Segment 3 - Congressman McHenry starts at around the 2 minute mark and made his opening comments. His opening remarks last around 13 minutes.

Segment 4 - The first question involved medical interventions going against the separation of Church and State. The second question was what do people do who disagree with the House of Representatives Health Care Bill. The third question was about whether the Congressman has had enough time to read the 2,000 page healthcare bill. The fourth question was about how the new law will effect doctors and nurses. The fifth question was about about sponsoring a bill that would make the Congress utilize the same insurance that they create for the public.

Segment 5 - The first question of this segment was about the National Debt, the GDP, Foreign Debt ownership, and defaulting on the Debt. The second question was about Seniors getting a Cost of Living increase based on inflation and is loading the healthcare bill based upon trying to get it through the Senate.

Segment 6 - The first question of this segment was about the defunding of ACORN; was it only for the month? The next question came from a student from L-R who wanted to talk about our system versus the European system and why don't we worry about our system and quit trying to push a European system. The third question was "How will this bill effect people who get their healthcare from their job?" The fourth question was about hurting future geneartions with our national debt - "It seems like we have hit the accelerator on Big Government."

Segment 7 - The first question of this segment was about whether you would need any special qualifications to be a nurse under this bill. The next part was more of a rant than a question where the gentleman talked about being disenfranchised and how what the government is doing is hurting his family. The next question was from a young lady who asked about what would happen to her and future generations if we spend all of this money. The fourth person in this segment talked about Tri-Care and how it is supposed to be an example of great healthcare and he uses it and it isn't good. He says the Democrats are trying to overwhelm the system and he doesn't understand why the Republicans don't do the same thing. The Congressman stated that their are 53 Republican healthcare bills that have currently been proposed and people think that none have been forwarded. The next question was about mythical problem versus the real problems we face, such as Global Warming.

Segment 8 - The next segment started with a lady from Europe who stated that Europeans look at Healthcare as a flaw in the American system. She asked about private healthcare companies denying people coverage and what is good about that. The next statements and questions pertained to who wrote this current healthcare legislation. The lady talked about how confusing this bill is. She then asked how they expect the average doctor's office to understand this bill. The lady then asked if the congress doesn't understand that we don't have any more money. The next lady asked, pertaining to the Fort hood incident last week, what Congress was going to do about issues of Political Correctness in our military. The next question came from a young man who asked about Czars and how we can change what is happening.

Segment 9 - The first question came from an older gentleman who asked about abortion and the conflicts of laws that deal with when life begins. Then the same gentleman asked about term limits. The next man stated that he was in Washington on 9/12/2009 and he wanted to know if the people in Congress "heard them." The next gentleman of the night talked about how campaign Finance reform has done nothing to fix the syste. The last gentleman of the night talked about how the National Healthcare program is insidious because it make people budget items. He also stated how upset he was that no mention of Ronald Reagan was during the ceremony of the tearing down of the Berlin wall. He also wanted to talk about "what a crock the global warming issue is." The Congressman said people should look up Marsha Blackburn and how she questioned Al Gore during his testimonial before her committee.

The Hound thinks that these town halls are when democracy functions at its best. There were only 150 to 200 people that showed up at this Town Hall meeting, but it was open to the public and it wasn't about political affiliation. I guess since it wasn't a FOX moment that the minions didn't get riled up enough to attend. Personally, I wonder if the people around here get it. No matter their affiliation, people were presented with an opportunity to participate in a civic process. I guess since 15 minutes of fame weren't at stake, and the TV wasn't talking about it, that they didn't feel like being bothered.

I truly worry about the direction we are heading in. The questions I reflect on are because of current policies. When the dollar finally succumbs, how are people going to react. Do you think it will be calm and rational. Think of Roosevelt's bank holiday in the 1930s, how would people react to that today? How would people react if grocery stores were closed or if electricity became spotty in Winter's cold or Summer's heat? What if they couldn't get gas for their cars?

I certainly hope that we, as a nation, get it together; because right now it is more than obvious that we are obsessed with Pop Culture instead of real issues. The issues we face could become perilous, if not dealt with very soon. As individuals or as a nation, we cannot spend our way to prosperity. We have traded the viability of our future for comfort now.

No one can guarantee you your health. They are taking away your liberty. Do you think you will be able to keep on with your vises and have someone else paying for your healthcare? They are going to tell you what you can do and when you can do it. What if you are an alcoholic? They might decide to arrest you, if you don't stop drinking. If you smoke pot, lawmakers might decide that the government can drug test you during mandatory physicals or even perform random drug testing on you. Heck, they might even decide whether you can carry a baby to term or not. You want the right to choose? OK, as long as Big Brother agrees with your decision.

You think you are going to get something for nothing? Nothing is free, especially your freedom!!!