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Boccieri Holds Backyard Economic Event
- Filed under: Boccieri / Schuring
- Date: Jul 28,2008
Congressional Candidate John Boccieri held an economic forum this past Saturday in a family's backyard in Massillon, OH. It was a chance for neighbors and friends to come together and ask a congressional candidate face-to-face what he would do to help get the economy of the 16th Congressional District back on track.
At one table were a group of older adults. One couple began by telling the story of how they have fallen behind in this economy. Speaking for her husband, a woman told the story of how he lost his factory job in the Canton area of twenty-five plus years when a two week notice out of the blue was given to all employees. The couple lost their main source of income, but more importantly lost their health insurance. She is on 12 different medications and the wait to get on Medicare is over a year. They have both tried to go back to work, but the physical demands for the factory jobs available (like the amount of weight they need to lift) are too much for them to work. He was able to find work, but for much less pay and without benefits. They have tried to purchase private health insurance, but the premiums for her prior conditions make the rates unaffordable. As they spoke, you could hear the exhaustion and frustration in their voices as they described their situation to a group of strangers and a candidate.
Boccieri responded by stressing the need to get our spending priorities of a country back on track and to stop sending so much money to Iraq. He stated that if our country would just make it a priority that we could make sure that quality health care is available and affordable to all Americans. He also stressed the need for medical decisions to be made by doctors and not accountants at insurance companies. It was a powerful exchange and there were a lot of nodding heads under that tent. Other questions included student loan debt, caring for our veterans, and reforming education. The Q&A lasted for about an hour and had a nice flow.
These kind of events are missing from our politics. People need the chance to sit down and ask questions. Candidates need to put themselves out there and prove that they can think on their feet. Boccieri gets it. He listened to the voters' concerns and answered their questions with thoughtful and complete answers. He was serious, gave a few laugh lines, and respectfully asked for their votes. It was a great event that made more confident in Boccieri's prospects for November.
Final thought: If there are any DCCC consultants reading this post, I'd like to know why Boccieri is still the #2 targeted race in the country and hasn't been bumped up to #1?
5 Responses for "Boccieri Holds Backyard Economic Event"
He stated that if our country would just make it a priority that we could make sure that quality health care is available and affordable to all Americans. He also stressed the need for medical decisions to be made by doctors and not accountants at insurance companies.
That's some pretty profound stuff!! This guy is clearly a deep thinker, did he say anything else besides the typical liberal talking points???
national health care—what a liberal scam. Within 5 years of implementing national health care people will begin dying while waiting for the necessary tests and prodcedures. Take a look at Canada, England etc.
Angry, not all Democrats want mandatory national health care. That was a key difference between Obama and Clinton in the primary. We Democrats want to put the decisions for medical procedures in the hands of doctors and not the insurance companies or government bureaucrats. We need to be properly funding programs like SCHIP and Veteran's Affairs to start to provide a minimum level of care to those in need.
Thank you for the correction Kyle. Are you saying the problem with SCHIP and the Veteran's Affairs is lack of funding not systemic? Or will money somehow correct the inefiencies and other problems with the Veteran's healthcare?
Angry, there are definite systemic problems and inefficiencies, but extending the coverage offered through more funding would definitely help. I'd say we need to do both in order to improve the level of care for those who served.
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