Posted on 08/19/2009 11:43:11 AM PDT by markomalley
WINCHESTER, Tenn. — U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., told a raucous crowd of health care reform supporters and opponents Tuesday afternoon that a public option is likely “off the table.”
“I probably won’t support a public option,” he said, as some audience members applauded and others shouted, “Why?”
In response, Rep. Davis quickly said that the bills in Congress haven’t been finalized, and he’s not sure what’s going to be in them. A public option would allow people to buy insurance through the government rather than from a for-profit company.
An audience of several hundred crowded into a small, sauna-like room at the Franklin County Annex in Winchester for the first of seven town hall meetings Rep. Davis will hold in coming days. A number of attendees carried signs with slogans such as “Save grandma,” “Reform now,” “Yes to public option” and “Give me liberty, not debt.”
Rep. Davis listed several other provisions that, if included in a health care reform bill, would lead him to vote against it. He mentioned federal funding for abortions, health insurance for illegal immigrants and euthanasia.
The promise to vote against euthanasia led one audience member to shout out, “It’s not in there!”
That was met with “Be quiet!”
The response to that was “Be quiet yourself!”
Audience member Pat Wiser asked Rep. Davis to explain where illegal immigrants and abortions were mentioned in the bills being debated.
Rep. Davis didn’t confirm that those provisions were in any bill.
Duane Kenerva, an audience member standing along one of the walls, asked Rep. Davis to commit to voting against an employer mandate for health insurance, as well.
“Mandatory health insurance will shut my business down,” he said.
Rep. Davis said he wouldn’t support a bill that required all employers to provide coverage for workers.
When another person asked the congressman what he would support in a health insurance reform bill, Rep. Davis said nonprofit co-ops would help bring down costs.
“I will support any bill that will disallow insurance companies from determining that you have a pre-existing condition,” he said.
Rep. Davis later modified that statement, saying he wouldn’t want someone who lost health insurance to not be able to get it again because of an illness. He said he wouldn’t want people who have never been insured to suddenly jump into a plan when they get sick.
He faced resistance from almost the full audience during an impromptu debate over whether members of Congress get better health care than most other U.S. citizens.
“I don’t have anything special,” Rep. Davis told the crowd. “There’s not a special plan for Congress.”
He said he had a BlueCross BlueShield plan and Medicare, which led to some groans from the crowd.
One woman, Peggy Heyden, directly challenged Rep. Davis’ claim.
“You actually have lifetime benefits,” she said.
She said everyone in Congress should be under the same insurance plan that’s agreed to under any health care reform bill that becomes law.
Rep. Davis agreed to go under that plan, but he continued to argue that he gets no preferential treatment.
“What I would love someone to do is show how my health care coverage is different from anyone else’s in this room,” Rep. Davis said.
You have in the headline (R-Tenn), but the article lists him as a (D)?
Probably won't?
This entire mess needs to hit the shredder and these Democraps and their complicit Republicrat buddies must be made to understand this.
This guy is a slug. I guarantee you that most of us here in TN oppose this garbage. Davis is a Democrat
Oops.
Admin Mod: Can you please correct the title for me? Tnx
If nothing else, I hope this at least makes the congressmen realise that whatever they do, they will have to own it, because the people DO read and understand the bills. Congress needn’t fool themselves, at least this time, that they can get away with their usual chicanery because their constituents don’t know the difference anyway.
He is a democrat.
About the ONLY thing Davis has going for him is he is not bart gordon or jim cooper.
Well.
We're all ears.
The first line NOW reads "Hundreds of people gathered outside U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer's office in Jackson Thursday to speak for and against health care reform."
They have rewritten it. In the paper and online the original sentence was "Hundreds of angry Republicans gathered outside U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer's office in Jackson Thursday to speak for and against health care reform.
Schauer is too chicken to hold a town hall meeting. I called his office to tell them that WHOMEVER runs against him will get me staunch volunteer efforts as soon as he announces. Hopefully, Tim Walberg will get his seat back from the little weasel.
Roane TEA Party
Lincoln Davis Regional Town Hall Meeting is now scheduled to be held inside the Crossville, TN Palace Theatre on Thursday August 20th, at 5:00 PM C.S.T.
For anyone needing directions to the Palace Theatre from Roane County (and other points East):
Take I-40 West, to Crossville Peavine Road exit (#322). Turn left at end of ramp. Go ~0.4 miles, then turn right on Highway 70. Go ~2.5 miles, then turn right on Main Street (downtown Crossville). The Palace Theatre is located (~0.1 mile away) on the left corner of the second city block.
Palace Theatre address is 72 South Main Street (Hwy 127), Crossville, TN, 38555.
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Crossville&state=TN&address=72+S+Main+St&zipcode=38555
If you look at Lincoln Davis’ webpage, you can see that he is bending over backwards to NOT take any position at all on the health care bill. He is trying very hard to walk down the middle of the road. It appears that he believes that if he does takes any position, it would be lose-lose — many rural farmers have no health insurance, so he has to be for some kind of reform; on the other hand, a lot of people have read the bill, and will work against him if he votes for it.
On the other hand, his public face is ... Tom Hayden.
Lincoln Davis is a slimy two-faced snake in the grass. Even his name takes both sides of an issue.
When I talk to his constituents who say he’s a conservative Democrat, I always ask why he voted for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House.
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