Congressman Paul Tonko's Health Care Town Hall Delmar August 25th 2009

[anigoza]

WSJ 10/31 - A report issued by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says only six million Americans would enroll in the public plan proposed in the 1,990-page health bill by House Democrats and the public plan would have premiums higher than the average premiums for the private plans offered alongside it. That suggests the bill could fall short of one of its major goals -- lowering insurance costs. So no 40 million covered and $1.1 trilion to cover 6 million. Excellent, Mr. Tonko.

[anigoza]

Fact: Nearly nine out of 10 Americans say they have coverage—and large majorities of them are happy with it. Of the 46 million uninsured, 9.7 million are not U.S. citizens; 17.6 million have annual incomes of more than $50,000; and 14 million already qualify for Medicaid or other programs. That leaves less than five million people truly uncovered out of a population of 307 million. This so-called "reform" nothing more than an attempt to nationalize a fifth of the US economy to grow government.

[anigoza]

Paul Tonko proved that he is nothing but an organ grinder's monkey for Obama. Unemployment is almost 10%, men are dying in Afghanistan, and all Tonko can do is spend our money. He says he's for "pay go" but his actions?.. $8 billion in stimulus pork, $1 trillion for socialized medicine, corporate jets for Pelosi, tax breaks for GE (Immelt is in bed with the Obama administration). Hey Tonko, how about a tax break for NY small businesses. Moron.

[TimmyHaag]

NOW you decide to care about men and women dying over seas ?

I'm curious .... what were your thoughts when someone like me was fighting in Iraq in 2004 under your main man Bush ?

Hey ... genius, way to pick and choose when you decide to talk about 'big' government spending.

[anigoza]

Tim, as I've said, I never voted for Bush and I thought the Iraq war was a bad mistake. I don't know why you "profile" me as you do. The spending by Congress and Bush was disgusting. I thought President Obama and people like Mr. Tonko would learn and stop it. They haven't. Therefore, I think he should lose his seat before he causes more problems like we're in. Where's the question?

[anigoza]

And being as you bring up the war. Note this: Mr. Tonko's official congressional website has no mention of US solidiers or war. The words "defense", "war", or "soldiers" are not tags on the main page of his website. Nor did we get any results when you search on "Afghanistan" or "war" or "soldier".

[anigoza]

This administration does not want the two wars that are going on to "distract" from the entitlement programs they're trying to push through. The documented WH line is that members of Congress should avoid talking about the war at any cost. I think it shows tremendous disrespect for our servicemen and women to avoid talking about them so we can get health care done. Its really pathetic.

[anigoza]

Under Obama, four U.S. service members have been killed in Afghanistan in the last 24 hours. Three Americans died Sunday in southern Afghanistan, two after a bomb attack and a third in a separate firefight, while a fourth service member died after a bomb exploded in east Afghanistan on Monday. So far, 15 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan during the month of November. Last month 58 Americans died in Afghanistan, making it the deadliest month for U.S. troops to date in the eight-year war.