SANTA CLARITA, CA – Following this morning’s health care town hall meeting at College of the Canyons – Main Gym, Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) released the following statement:
“Today’s town hall meeting that was focused on health care offered me invaluable and immediate feedback as to what the people in my district are thinking and feeling about the national health care reform proposal. The feelings are raw and the majority of Californians in my district have serious concerns about the direction the Majority is headed with health care reform. They are afraid of losing their current plans, being strapped with additional and higher taxes, facing a reduction in Medicare benefits, and watching a slow government take-over of the entire system.
“A recent Gallup poll found that 57% of Americans feel the government is doing too much, and yet, the current Democrat proposal only injects more government into another industry and raises the cost of health care on individuals. The federal government has its hands in the financial services industry, the insurance industry, the auto industry, and now wants to get its hands on the medical industry.
“The Majority needs to rethink the attempt to cram a bill through Congress. We need to listen to the people of America, of our states, and our communities. We should take their ideas, needs, and requirements to Washington, D.C. and incorporate them in any legislation. This goes even further than being bipartisan. The Majority is making health care reform about ‘them against the people’, and that’s not how this country was founded.
“Republicans have been listening to the people and have proposals that satisfy the need for reform, while also allowing individual decision making, cost savings, and affordable, improved access to care. Our reform alternatives have gone widely ignored and American families, small businesses, and Seniors deserve better.”
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