Tom Carper Surprise Townhall Call

Filed in Delaware by on April 12, 2010

I am currently on a Tom Carper virtual townhall meeting.  I’ll try to liveblog it.

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  1. liberalgeek says:

    A guy named Ryan from M’town asked if Carper had his resume ready, since they were going to vote him out. hahahahaha!

    A guy from Newark just asked about why Carper dislikes the public option. Carper is spinning about how he loves the public option. He wants to open the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan to all.

  2. liberalgeek says:

    Michael Kessler(?) wants to know if States can opt out of the plan.

    Carper: States can set up their own exchanges.

    Michael must have something crappy like magic jack.

  3. liberalgeek says:

    He asked a poll question, which honestly was a bogus one (all of the above).

    Bonnie from Wilmington called him Governor Carper… “Is there a date set for when our Medicare benefits will be decreased?”

  4. jason330 says:

    The Ryan guy must have lied to the screener about his question. Either that or Carper is worse at stage managing this bullshit than Castle is.

  5. Carper’s not up for election again until 2012. What an odd statement from Ryan. How did Carper answer the Medicare question?

  6. liberalgeek says:

    Carper explained that she is likely to see more benefits, rather than less.

    Elizabeth from Newark thanks Carper for passing HCR. Now asking about increased age limit for her son in college and whether the child must be a dependent in order to qualify for it.

    Carper says that the son won’t have to be a dependent.

  7. anon says:

    Ask him if he is going to campaign for Coons.

  8. liberalgeek says:

    Guy from Ocean View asking about Medicare prescription coverage… and whether or not it is compulsory. It isn’t.

    Bruce Headd is asking about the cost drivers in healthcare and how this law will impact them. Bruce called him “Tom”. Carper is explaining cost shifting.

    Carper is also discussing Kaiser-Permanente’s system of coordination of care…

  9. liberalgeek says:

    Steve from Ocean View is asking about cost savings from reducing waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare.

    Carper is describing an enforcement effort in 3 states to hunt down and recover money paid fraudulently.

    Meanwhile, my kids school has tried to interrupt me 3 times with an auto-call…

  10. anon says:

    Good question about the public option. Carper thinks he is covered on the public option, because one time he voted for a version of it in committee when he knew it wouldn’t pass. Too bad there aren’t follow-up questions like in a real town hall.

  11. liberalgeek says:

    Aimee from Wilmington is asking why Congress is excluded from the program. Carper is explaining that they are not. They must all buy from the exchanges, once they are set up.

  12. Joanne Christian says:

    Are you in line for a question geek? It’s over at 7;30

  13. liberalgeek says:

    Funny thing is that Aimee didn’t even really ask her question, Carper read the question and you could hear Aimee squawking at the beginning of the answer…

  14. liberalgeek says:

    Now answering a question about preventative care and lifestyle changes. Talking about fast food calorie count part of the law.

    No, JC, I’m not in the queue… I know how these work.

  15. liberalgeek says:

    I keep getting interrupted… Arghh.

  16. Joanne Christian says:

    No one is asking about my nursing home bed–Craftmatic w/ TV:)

  17. liberalgeek says:

    Call from Linda Harris in Lewes. The second Jersey transplant. Talking about being out of COBRA coverage and her pre-existing condition. Does she have to be uninsured for 6 months to get coverage for her pre-existing condition to get in the high-risk pool.

    Carper asks her to call his office and he will find out.

  18. That is a really great question about the high risk pools. A lot of people don’t want to be uninsured for 6 months to get into them if they’ve got a pre-existing condition.

  19. liberalgeek says:

    Den? (not Matt) is asking about the CBO score being BS. He is offering to sell swampland if Carper believes the estimate. Dog barking in the background lends some credence that Den has some swampland to sell.

    Carper says that the CBO score is non-partisan and done by really smart people. Explains how excise tax will help with the costs of the law.

  20. Joanne Christian says:

    UI are you on???!!! It was a GREAT question….a Catch 22 for some folks w/ high exposure.

    Uh oh–somebody better fill him in–Delmarva Rural Ministries services have been greatly reduced, and some discontinued.

  21. liberalgeek says:

    Last question – Diane is asking about how the bill addresses people that show up at the ER without insurance.

    Carper is dancing around it by explaining how affordable it will be… Also discussing the funding of community health centers.

  22. No, I didn’t get invited to this one. I’m relying on you and lg to keep me updated.

  23. liberalgeek says:

    7261 people on the call. Wow.

  24. Joanne Christian says:

    Good night Chet.