"Use me as Your instrument -- but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all."

( Image by Michael Ramirez)

The town hall was INCREDIBLE. Despite the bus-load of teamsters brought in specifically to protest, or the manufactured signs and pins and shirts....the crowd (which numbered close to 1,000 when you consider those 200+ people who were turned away due to the capacity issues) seemed to consist of at least 3/4 or more of the people in total opposition to the bill. How proud!

I made it into the line of those who wanted to speak, with dozens upon dozens of people waiting behind me. I was praying the whole time that God would give me the strength and the words to say. I listened to other people ahead of me make their statements, and the cheers from the crown encouraged me as my turn drew closer and closer. One man in particular caught my attention- he had brought a copy of the constitution, and brought to the crowd's attention the tenth ammendment, which reads:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

The man pointed out that carrying out what this bill plans to do is in direct violation of the Constitution. Walz curtly responded by saying that along those lines of logic, we would have to get ride of Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, VA benefits, etc. Had I had the mic at that point, my response would have been: Why, YES! We should! Those should have been delegated to the states to BEGIN WITH. Simply because we have programs in operation at the moment that go against the constitution DOES NOT mean we aught to keep doing just that! I felt that Walz rather painted himself into a corner with that one.

A few minutes after that, it was my turn to step up to the mic. Of course, I had had to whittle my statement down QUITE a bit. I had many things that I had wanted to point out, when I was under the assumption that I would have several minutes to make a statement. I've read about other town halls that gave people up to 5 minutes. As mentioned, I was told I had 1 minute. Anyway, I had to revise it while waiting to get into the townhall about an hour prior to my making the statement. With the help of a pen, my father's words and advice via a cell phone, and a some continuous prayer, and this is what I ended up saying:

"My name is Mary Ramirez, and I am a student at Bethany Lutheran College. I have spent most of my summer trying to read through this bill. Let me preface this by saying that it is not that I want to do nothing; I do feel that some changes need to be made to the system, and I will get to that in a moment. However, I stand before you today in total opposition to H.R. 3200. I want to share with you just a few of my concerns.
The president continues to say that we can keep our coverage if we like it, but, sections 122, 313, and 401 clearly outline how that will simply not be possible, as individuals and employers will be taxed if their plans are deemed unacceptable by the Health Services Advisory Committee. Let us not forget section 102 as well, which poses limits on new enrollment into private insurance.
These points represent only a fraction of the "more government control" details that are contained in this bill. H.R. 3200 is riddled with massive new government regulations and restrictions on personal freedom. This bill should be scrapped completely, as it is neither about health nore care, but is about taxation, government control, and the loss of liberty. I feel that allowing all health insurance companies to compete nationwide with limited government interference and regulation, along with tort reform, and an agressive program to catch fraud and health care abuse will do far more to bring costs down, make health care affordable for all, and maintain the freedoms that make America what it was founded to be. H.R. 3200 will do just the opposite. With that in mind, I would like to pose a question:
Can you say with certainty that the sections of the bill to which I referred previously contain "misinformation?" The president and many others continue to tell us that we are misinformed; however, I'm getting these concerns straight from the bill itself.

After that the crowd just went wild...I'd say 3/4 of the people there were in opposition to the bill. He didn't have a direct answer to my statements, except to say that individuals and companies would only be taxed if their insurance didn't meet minimum standards; however, as I was trying to point out, those standards will be determined by a committee that comes out a bill that also creates a government option; that committee can create, change, alter...however you want to view it...the standards by which private coverage is measured. The point I was trying to make is that it is simply more government control; it totally negates the president's claim that we will be left untouched if we like our plans and want to keep them. Apparently we can only keep them if the government likes it too.
Anyway, Walz hadn't addressed all of my concerns when the moderator (former Republican Senator Durenberger) took the mic and just started moving on to the next question. The whole crowd just errupted and started yelling at him to go back to my comment....and Walz made him apologize to me. Then Walz started addressing my concerns and basically talking about how my suggestions for reform wouldn't work....and specifically he addressed how allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines would fail, as it would not increase competition. I started to say something from my seat ( I was almost in the front row) about it being just simple business logic that more companies competing for people would obviously lower prices, and then was again allowed to go up to the mic. I made the point (and I think this is what ended up on news on KEYC TV) that by having a government option thrown into the mix to help create competition was plagued by the fact that the government as a "competitor" doesn't have to show a profit; it can tax, regulate...etc. etc. The crowd got really excited again.

After the town hall it was such on odd feeling to have people coming up to me and shaking my hand or wanting to talk to me....the VP of BlueCross/Blue Shield came up to me and was like..."Thank you for your comments, they were right on." And then after that was the interview with FreePress. I'm still so suprised that they even wanted to interview me at all (seeing as how liberal they tend to lean) as I had caused some of the loudest uproar of the night! The reporter interviewed me for about 15 minutes...and while I wanted to get two specific points across; that I totally oppose this bill and fear that it will harm generations to come, and that I thought Rep. Walz handled the meeting very well (in comparison to some of the other rather rude experiences constituents have had with their representatives); I thought that the way he quoted me made it sound like I thought Walz had come totally prepared, and/or had read the bill. I'm referring to this passage in the article: “He knew what we were talking about. ... " What I meant to get across was that he seemed to understand where both sides were coming from, while obviously supporting this bill 100%. I certainly don't feel that he has read the entire bill. I felt, however, that he came somewhat more prepared than some of the other reps. and senators that have held town halls. . . he had the head of the Mankato Area Chamber of Commerce; the VP of BlueCross/BlueShield Minnesota, and a doctor from the Mayo clinic. He seemed to also have brought documentation along from the bill.

It was definitely an amazing experience to finally get to do something in this whole political debate. I've been reading the bill and blogging about it for quite some time...along with all the other fun stuff this administration is trying to (or already did) shove down our throats...Cap and Trade, Cash for Clunkers, the stimulus package, the fairness doctrine...the list goes on. My whole reason for doing all this is simply that if the government get a foot in the door in this big of a way....what is to hold them back from eventually regulating more and more aspects of our lives...specifically, our freedom to openly practice our faith!

Praise God for helping me that night- as Luther says in his sacristy prayer:

"Use me as Your instrument -- but do not forsake me, for if ever I should be on my own, I would easily wreck it all."