Headlines and television newscasts this past week have been dominated by angry shout-outs at health care town hall meetings, obscuring an important point.
Americans are having a robust debate on hugely transformational legislation. And while we deplore the physical confrontations, and the agitators who make it impossible to have the needed debate, much of the discussion happening at town halls, coffee shops and kitchen tables across the country is helpful and informative.
The need for rational health care reform merits a reasonable debate.
Not so long ago, as we lamented at the time, health care reform had been placed on a recklessly short timetable.
President Obama, who will visit Grand Junction on Saturday for a town hall meeting, originally wanted to have a reform package passed by the congressional recess. It appeared as if, once again, major legislation would be rushed to a vote before lawmakers even had time to review the plan’s numerous provisions.
We hope Obama’s visit will add to the discussion, and while those who attend should be respectful of the president — he should not be shouted down — we also hope the president’s handlers allow for significant discussion, and not just hand-pick questioners who lob softballs.
Obama has a keen and nimble mind and doesn’t need to shy from dissent.
While he has taken a few tough questions at town halls, the public’s many and fevered concerns need much greater discussion.
Hopefully, Obama’s visit also can help alleviate some of the misconceptions surrounding the reform bills.
The anger and actions from both the left and the right sides of the political spectrum have been baffling and dispiriting.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi utterly failed to calm the mood this week with her co-authored USA Today op-ed, suggesting that some of those at the rallies were simply “un-American.” And conservative radio personality Rush Limbaugh went off the rails by likening Obama’s tactics to those of Adolf Hitler. (The first person to compare the other side to Nazis generally loses the debate, in our opinion.)
Health care always becomes personal. And Democrats’ handling of proposed reforms has been clumsy and, at times, arrogant. During the mad dash to pass something, there was a sense that party leaders knew best and Americans should fall in line.
Obama has the chance to alter the perception, and can start in Grand Junction with a thought-provoking, no-holds-barred town hall.
We’ve been granted a pause from the congressional fast track; let’s use it to take on the issue.
