Posted on 08/09/2009 6:06:55 PM PDT by new cruelty
On Saturday August 8, 2009 my wife, children, and I attended a town hall meeting held by US Congressman John Adler, DEMOCRAT, Representative for New Jersey 3rd District. We arrived shortly after the meeting began, signed in, and found seats in the back of the assembly room, which was roughly the size of a gym. Few seats remained empty and people lined the perimeter walls. Essentially it was standing room only.
Adler was speaking when we walked in and was touting what he saw as problems with the current health system. I heard him offer slight praise for health systems in other countries, at which point a chorus of booing erupted. Adler quickly noted that the United States still has the best health care system in the world and the booing turned to applause.
Several times throughout the meeting Adler made it clear that he was OPPOSED to the health care bill and would vote AGAINST it.
He stated that he was against offering health care to illegal immigrants.
He stated that he thinks the health care bill would bankrupt the United States.
He stated that he was opposed to TARP but was not around to vote against it and that he voted against additional funding earlier this year. He also stated that he thinks business should be allowed to fail.
At the end of his comments, which took about 20 minutes, the audience was asked to line up to ask him questions. Many people lined up to ask questions and Adler took time to give direct and complete answers. Only 1 hour was allotted for the meeting, and as a result, several people did not get to ask a question. One person expressed his displeasure by shouting at Adler and begging him to stay longer. When finally given an opportunity to speak at the microphone, this person noted that he would “gladly give a little more money if it meant health care would be provided to all Americans”, to which someone shouted, “No one is stopping you from giving more!”
Also in line was an elderly woman who said that she whatever is done, should be done in a slow, thoughtful and fiscally sound manner. Then she held up a book of COMMON SENSE and said that everyone in the room should read that book. Many people applauded.
There were just a few outbursts. A single police officer was present. The only time he moved around was to ask the person that was shouting for more time to settle down. One man appeared very distressed and repeatedly snapped out loud for all of those booing to shut up. A few of those who were booing within earshot turned and told him to shut up. Other than that it was an orderly meeting.
Someone in line proclaimed that he had read the entire bill and cited word for word from a section in the bill that would exclude people with special needs. Adler appeared stunned at what was read, stated he was not aware of that section, and then restated that he would vote AGAINST the bill.
Adler had another town hall meeting to attend in Riverside, NJ, but he stayed later than the appointed time and talked face to face to many people as he slowly made his way to the exit.
stunned because he obviously had not read the bill. Good for you for going. My congressman isn’t even doing one. He says he’s voting against it, but he is a very weak kneed individual.
Thanks for the report FRiend -
Do me a favor, if you can. Send a copy of this post to Manly at manlyrash.com.
He does a lot of stuff regarding New Jersey, and he may want to post this as good newsie-type stuff.
I never thought I would agree with Adler on anything except dessert.
Thanks for the information. He is not going to be high on the Pelosi reelection list — in fact he is probably near the bottom.
I’ll beleiev him when I see is NAY vote.
Rememeber, he’s a politician..they talk from both sides of their mouths.
The special needs part is a good section to wake up some of the Democrats..after all...isnt this the party that started Special Olympics???
Start driving that point home..How can a Kennedy propose such a thing!
I was surprised at a few of his comments regarding health care, support for small businesses, and the belief that government should allow businesses to fail or succeed on their own.
What was NOT asked at the meeting was “What would it take for you to vote in favor of the health care bill?”
My wife and I share a concern that he is simply holding out for some sort of payoff.
He is a democRAT. Period.
Who's to say that the dems haven't been coached to just say what it is we want to hear and when the bill comes up for a vote they will still vote for it.
All dems need to be removed from office as soon as possible.
It seems Mr. Alder would like to retain his job in 2010.
He better not have ANY skeletons in his closet and be up-to-date on his taxes.
Also.....he better buy a dog.
At various points during the meeting there was a lot of people talking, but I think I heard Adler say that he spoke with Pelosi to inform her that he was opposed to the bill. I did not hear him say how she responded.
Good report....great in fact. Thanks! Glad to hear there were so many in attendance!
And this is good news if true that he will vote against the HC bill....thank God there is at least one Democrat with good sense.
See How They Run!
This is exactly why we have to stop looking only at parties and start looking at the individual politicians.
Yes. I don't recall at any time hearing him claim to have read the bill in its entirety, though he attitude seemed to be that there was no need to read ALL of the bill since he was opposed to it.
The lib mis spoke, he meant he would gladly give more of your money.
I don’t have an exact count of the attendance, but the large majority (maybe as high as 80%) were opposed to the bill and most of them were vocal about it.
Very few applauded whenever someone made a comment supporting a single payer system.
Which reminds me- there was one person with a very small sign (around 5”x7” and looked to be held up by a popsicle stick) that read “SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM NOW”. This person stood in the back, one hand holding the sign up, the other hand holding up the hand that was holding the sign. He kept quiet the entire meeting.
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