LOIS CAPPS' VISIT TO ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION - SANTA BARBARA 8/6th
Lois Capps, our 23rd district congresswoman, made a stealth appearance on Thursday August 6th at the local Arthritis Foundation. This was a significant visit, not just because she was visiting an organization which receives a great deal of money & support from Congresswoman Capps, but also because she was promoting the government's proposal to expand its tentacles into the healthcare industry. To her credit, she did go into more detail about the government's proposal for a healthcare plan than most media outlets choose to do. Some of the details she talked about included: doctors making the sacrifice of lower salaries to make the system affordable, placing health centers on high school campuses for preventative treatment measures to lower long term costs, having government oversight to conduct studies on various treatments and force doctors to use those practices the government deems best available (i.e. cost effective), and placing an emphasis on preventative medicine as the wave of the future. However, some of her statements raised more questions than answers. When it came time for Q&A, Lois fielded 3 questions at most. The third question was very direct & passionate in regards to the government council that is the ultimate decision making authority in deciding who receives treatment & who is denied. It was from a registered nurse & wife of a doctor, who had done her homework by reading the entire bill. The gist of her question was asking why this council will have literally no medical professional representation other than the Surgeon General, while the rest will be bureaucrats. Our congresswoman became agitated and aggressive in her response. It turned into a heated exchange with both women cutting each other off as the other tried to speak. With that, our congresswoman shut down the forum citing time constraints, but more so to silence her critics. Another doctor interjected as Lois tried to skate out and save face, asking how private health insurance will stay around with the increased taxes private insurance doctors will be facing to fund the government's plan. Another spectator also commented on the unnecessary creation of a bureaucratic nightmare in the form of an agency for health care workforce diversity and how that doesn't seem to address actual care at all. People were heated. People were passionate. People didn't let Lois go without some more questioning. Her aids tried to weather the storm and approach the displeased audience and take contact information, referring them to some website that supposedly addressed the concerns in regards to this bill. This did not satisfy the audience and a sizeable group continued to question congresswoman on more details of the bill. At least three people had copies of the actual bill and questioned specific details, like the 8% tax on payroll for doctors providing care to the privately insured and how that will put them out of business. Mrs. Capps was in prime form, snapping back that the people voted for change and that if we didn't like it; vote again in the next election. It was possibly the most arrogant, entitled and condescending attack I have ever witnessed in my life. She was basically telling the people that bankroll her paycheck and all of these costly bills that their opinion is irrelevant. Here was an elected representative telling well educated & concerned citizens that their voice no longer matters after an election and we must be silenced until the next vote. Everyone matters in a democracy. The government and our elected officials keep trying to pass things through by silencing any criticism from gaining traction in the media or amongst the general population. So, Congresswoman Capps left me with more questions than answers. Why should the government position health centers on high school campuses and force students to go through their preventative health & wellness programs? Representative Capps acknowledged that we do in fact have the best healthcare in the world. Part of the reason for that is because doctors are able to be rewarded for being the best, competing, & being innovative to provide the most cutting edge medicine. Won't limiting doctors' salaries deter the best & brightest from going into medicine? What exactly did congresswoman Capps mean by preventative health & wellness? Does she mean that the government is going to run mandatory tests on our children, keep our health records documented, & force preventative measures on us such as no eating candy or drinking sodas? At what point does providing people with all they need become controlling our every action? The only way to add close to 50 million people under the blanket of government run healthcare is to control costs, and from the sound of it, that means controlling our personal health decisions through preventative measures and making cost based decisions. My most important concern though is why our elected officials want to silence any critics to pass a bill that will absolutely change the face of America.
Lois Capps, our 23rd district congresswoman, made a stealth appearance on Thursday August 6th at the local Arthritis Foundation. This was a significant visit, not just because she was visiting an organization which receives a great deal of money & support from Congresswoman Capps, but also because she was promoting the government's proposal to expand its tentacles into the healthcare industry. To her credit, she did go into more detail about the government's proposal for a healthcare plan than most media outlets choose to do. Some of the details she talked about included: doctors making the sacrifice of lower salaries to make the system affordable, placing health centers on high school campuses for preventative treatment measures to lower long term costs, having government oversight to conduct studies on various treatments and force doctors to use those practices the government deems best available (i.e. cost effective), and placing an emphasis on preventative medicine as the wave of the future. However, some of her statements raised more questions than answers. When it came time for Q&A, Lois fielded 3 questions at most. The third question was very direct & passionate in regards to the government council that is the ultimate decision making authority in deciding who receives treatment & who is denied. It was from a registered nurse & wife of a doctor, who had done her homework by reading the entire bill. The gist of her question was asking why this council will have literally no medical professional representation other than the Surgeon General, while the rest will be bureaucrats. Our congresswoman became agitated and aggressive in her response. It turned into a heated exchange with both women cutting each other off as the other tried to speak. With that, our congresswoman shut down the forum citing time constraints, but more so to silence her critics. Another doctor interjected as Lois tried to skate out and save face, asking how private health insurance will stay around with the increased taxes private insurance doctors will be facing to fund the government's plan. Another spectator also commented on the unnecessary creation of a bureaucratic nightmare in the form of an agency for health care workforce diversity and how that doesn't seem to address actual care at all. People were heated. People were passionate. People didn't let Lois go without some more questioning. Her aids tried to weather the storm and approach the displeased audience and take contact information, referring them to some website that supposedly addressed the concerns in regards to this bill. This did not satisfy the audience and a sizeable group continued to question congresswoman on more details of the bill. At least three people had copies of the actual bill and questioned specific details, like the 8% tax on payroll for doctors providing care to the privately insured and how that will put them out of business. Mrs. Capps was in prime form, snapping back that the people voted for change and that if we didn't like it; vote again in the next election. It was possibly the most arrogant, entitled and condescending attack I have ever witnessed in my life. She was basically telling the people that bankroll her paycheck and all of these costly bills that their opinion is irrelevant. Here was an elected representative telling well educated & concerned citizens that their voice no longer matters after an election and we must be silenced until the next vote. Everyone matters in a democracy. The government and our elected officials keep trying to pass things through by silencing any criticism from gaining traction in the media or amongst the general population. So, Congresswoman Capps left me with more questions than answers. Why should the government position health centers on high school campuses and force students to go through their preventative health & wellness programs? Representative Capps acknowledged that we do in fact have the best healthcare in the world. Part of the reason for that is because doctors are able to be rewarded for being the best, competing, & being innovative to provide the most cutting edge medicine. Won't limiting doctors' salaries deter the best & brightest from going into medicine? What exactly did congresswoman Capps mean by preventative health & wellness? Does she mean that the government is going to run mandatory tests on our children, keep our health records documented, & force preventative measures on us such as no eating candy or drinking sodas? At what point does providing people with all they need become controlling our every action? The only way to add close to 50 million people under the blanket of government run healthcare is to control costs, and from the sound of it, that means controlling our personal health decisions through preventative measures and making cost based decisions. My most important concern though is why our elected officials want to silence any critics to pass a bill that will absolutely change the face of America.
FREEDOM VS. GOVERNMENT CONTROL
JUSTIN TEVIS
SANTA BARBARA CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE
&
CONGRESSWOMAN LOIS CAPPS
23RD DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE
JUSTIN TEVIS
SANTA BARBARA CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE
&
CONGRESSWOMAN LOIS CAPPS
23RD DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE