By Rusty Nixon
Correspondent
PLYMOUTH – Congressman Joe Donnelly was in Plymouth to speak to the “Breakfast Club” at Pilgrim Manor on health care issues, and so far he isn’t in need of any medical assistance himself.
“I was talking with my friend and fellow Congressman Fred Upton (R – Michigan) the other day and he said, ‘I heard you had a town hall meeting with 250 people at it the other day,’” Donnelly told the crowd. “’If you don’t mind me asking are you still intact?’ I told him yes and he asked my secret. I told him to make sure you go to Church the day before.”
While there were no angry placards or overly harsh words, Donnelly did address concerned questions from those in attendance about current health care legislation before Congress. His main theme – be careful what you believe.
“A lot of the things you’re reading on the internet are not the way things are,” said Donnelly. “I had a woman at a meeting the other day tell me that she watched cable news before she went to bed and it made her so upset that she couldn’t sleep and asked my advice. I told her that I would turn off the TV and listen to a Frank Sinatra record. A lot of the things you are seeing on the news have no relationship to what we are actually working on.”
Donnelly spent much of his time urging his audience to “…have trust that there is some common sense left…” and outlining in detail the choices before Congress on the matter of health care. First of which is the fact that there isn’t just one bill up for consideration, but five different approaches.
“No bill has been voted on and this is a discussion with the American people,” said Donnelly. “The simple fact is that in 15-20 years our current health care system is not financially sustainable. We have to fix it.”
Donnelly stated that as a “Blue Dog” Democrat, he favored an approach that would have no cost, or such considerable cost savings that would make if fiscally responsible. He said that Senator’s Ron Wyden of Oregon and Bob Bennett of Utah have introduced such a plan.
“Some people just want to create controversy,” said Donnelly. “It’s hard to restore confidence to the American people when there are those out there talking about ‘Death Panels’. There are no such thing. A man at a meeting in Logansport who had a son with Down’s Syndrome that he called the ‘light of his life’ asked me why we would cut health care for people with Down’s Syndrome. He’d read it on the computer. Totally untrue. Why would anybody deny care to people who need it?”
He also outlined what he would like to see in any plan.
“I want to see competition,” said Donnelly. “I don’t want just one company bidding on your health care. I want four or five different companies competing for it as well. I want to keep the government out of it as much as possible, but we have to have a competitive system.”
