Bob McCarty Writes

It was no accident that, less than six hours before President Barack Obama was scheduled to arrive at St. Charles (Mo.) High School and make a push for government-run health care, more than 2,200 people turned out at the St. Charles Convention Center for a health care town hall meeting hosted by U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) of Missouri’s 2nd Congressional District.

Hosted via teleconference from Washington, D.C., this marked the second time Congressman Akin has hosted a town hall.  The first, he said, took place soon after Sept. 11, 2001.  This one was held to discuss the threats posed by a government-run takeover of the nation’s health care system.

U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.)

Borrowing from the title of a Tom Clancy novel, he described the legislation now pending at the federal level as a “clear and present danger to America.”

“We have the best health care system in the world,” Akin explained to the capacity crowd in his Republican-dominated district before noting that what’s broken is the “how-do-we-pay-for it piece.

“The bill we’re talking about is the worst bill I’ve ever seen in Congress,” he said, adding that it will “destroy health care in America.”

Akin went on to point out that the bill is unconstitutional and will create a framework that has failed everywhere its been tried — places like England, Canada and Tennessee — and brought a colleague of his in the House to attest to how something called “TennCare” worked in Tennessee.

U.S. Rep. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-Tenn.)

A physician who practiced 31 years before being elected to the House, U.S. Rep. (Dr.) Phil Roe (R-Tenn.) said not one member of the House Physicians Caucus — a group of doctors with more than 300 years combined experience — was consulted by either the White House or Democrat Party leaders in Congress when the current health care legislation was crafted.

The state of Tennessee launched TennCare, he said, in 1993 with $2.6 billion being spent on the program.  Ten years later, it cost some $8 billion and costs of the plan were “shifted to the private sector” as a “hidden tax.”

“(It’s) the mother of all unfunded mandates,” Congressman Roe said before relaying a comment one of his constituents made during a conversation about the plan.

“You fix your cat,” he said.  “You kill this bill!

“(The people of Tennessee) would tell you ‘Don’t go near it,’” he concluded.

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.)

Answering a question from an audience member about what individuals can do “to support Republican efforts to provide real health care reform,” U.S. Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) said, “I think the most important thing is to say that we can’t fix the Senate bill.

“You can’t fix this bill,” Pence explained.  “The reconciliation bill that they’re talking about will be subject to all kinds of procedural barriers.

“Anyone who believes that you can fix this bill through something called reconciliation has either misled themselves or is misleading you.”

Other House Republicans participating in the meeting were Reps. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) and John Shadegg (R-Ariz.).

Also in attendance was Missouri’s Republican Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder as well as several state legislators, including State Sens. Scott Rupp, Jane Cunningham and Eric Schmitt and State Reps. Allen Icet and Cynthia Davis.

Jamie Allman of FM Newstalk 97.1 emceed the event.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Check back later in the day to see videos and other posts about the event.

SEE ALSO: To read other BMW posts and watch a pair of BMW videos from the health care town hall meeting, click here.

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