Tom Carper Emerges to Speak
The News Journal reports that Senator Tom Carper will be available for a live video chat about Health Insurance reform on the delawareonline.com site TODAY at 5pm.
No idea how this would work (they include no directions) or even if the NJ has even done this before, but given the state of their website I gotta say I’m not so hopeful. I imagine that you’ll be able to ask questions via their website directly. I won’t be able to sit in on this, but if you do come back and tell us how it went.
Tom Carper is hiding from his constitutents. Blogs, on the air radio are not town halls proving Carper is scared to death of the truth about him coming out. His campaign coffers filled up with insurance company, credit card, banksters…should be enough for any REAL democrat to realize this man is truly a republican. Thinks like one, votes like, is one.
If the News Journal does it right, it should be like a video chat site, where you have Carper on a live video feed on one side of the screen and a chat board where people can ask questions on the other side of the screen.
I figure the News Journal will be protecting Carper by not opening up for comments until 5pm sharp… so type them up in advance for quick submission.
I wonder how they will keep Carper from getting the tough questions; you know they will.
Please NJ, use Twitter and Facebook to take questions, too. It worked really well at Netroots Nation.
I also wonder about how questions get selected or screened — if Carper or his people get to say what they answer or if the NJ picks the questions.
Which may be the same thing.
If it’s a “video chat” there should be a live chat room running.
There should be, but it is the NJ so the technological expectations are not high.
I had phoned Tom Carper’s office a hour ago and his staffer had no idea what I was talking about. I told her where to find the link at delawareonline and she couldn’t find it. Then I told her to look on DE Way for the link to the site.
Carper isn’t even telling his own staff what he is doing.
I think that since he has been echoing his buddy Kent Conrad for months now, Carper hasn’t been following health care. I think he traded his vote with Conrad (or whomever) for his pet project: 50 billion in nuclear power stimulus -in part to his pals at his son’s school (MIT). (Carper had a presser with MIT profs some months back demanding that the nuke industry be further pumped and primed).
At any rate, Carper hasn’t said more than that he wants a bipartisan bill and that he likes the idea of a co-op.
Can someone ask Carper if the rumors are true that he is planning on retiring and ‘giving’ his senate seat to Chris Coons? 🙂
Yawn…. it’s on now. Carper is sitting at a table talking Republican with John Sweeney. Meanwhile a chat window full of teabagger comments is running in a side panel. Occasionally Sweeney will pick up one of the comments and riff off it.
I got most of the chat log. Now the screen says it is offline, and the “rebroadcast” will begin momentarily. I got most of the chat log I think:
Sen. Carper on health care
4:54
Sen. Tom Carper is here and we’re about to get started. Post you questions and comments.
5:00
[Comment From Teresa Young ]
The American People appreciate our freedoms and constitution. We do not want government run health care. Social security is broken medicare is broken the country is in incredible debt. Government spending is out of control. Keep the government away from the private health care industry.
5:01
[Comment From Teresa Young]
Senator Carper – You need to hold meetings with your constituents at town halls not only online. We are all frustrated. You can fix helath care with tort reform allowing HSA’s and allowing cross state insurance purchases.
5:02
[Comment From Lammot Copeland]
How will ObamaCare effect Health Savings Plans?
5:02
[Comment From Kathy Wright]
Is the government looking at all aspects of health care reform? Does this reform include stricter regulations on insurance companies, the pharmacuetical industry and driving down the cost of health care?
5:05
[Comment From Don Buckland]
How does the illegal alien fit into the proposed health care plan under consideration ?
5:05
[Comment From Elisabeth Clarke]
Are you willing to leave your senate health care plan and have your family subscribe to this plan?
5:07
[Comment From Sherrill Rigney]
Specific illnesses or disease requires a Medical specialist how will this be handled
5:07
[Comment From Chris Shirey]
Senator Carper, What are your suggestions to reform healthcare? Is there any proposed legislation that you strongly support? Thank you
5:07
[Comment From W. Gore]
Sen Carper Did you read HR 3200 in it’s entirety?
5:08
[Comment From Anna C Hamilton]
If there is not going to be a “public”plan option – what will actually be different from what we have now? Also, where can I get a copy of HR 3200 in its entirety?
5:08
[Comment From Guest]
Why would you ask us to support something that you in the Senate and the House have expressly exempted yourself from on day one?
5:09
[Comment From David Engelhardt]
If the doughnut hole and $5,000 threshold in Medicare Part D are reached quickly through inflated drug prices, doesn’t this cost consumers and the federal government more than if drug companies were not allowed to give end-of-year rebates to the insurers?
5:09
[Comment From james hennessy]
Since the most important aspect of any health care reform plan must be TORT REFORM, will you introduce such legidlation and agree not to vote for any plan that does not include it?
5:09
[Comment From Mike]
Why do you think that Government can run insurance better than private business? Can you list any Government program that has driven costs down over time?
5:09
[Comment From W. Gore]
Will you vote to require members of Congress to be included on any bill dealing with health care? yes or no
5:11
[Comment From Peggy Henry]
Why can’t you simply enlarge the pool that have the federal health benefit plan. With more people you should get even better prices.
5:12
[Comment From Jim Broomall]
Why do these different versions of the bill do not address Tort reform. That is neede in any legitimate refrom.
5:13
[Comment From Linda White]
The Insurance industry is no more equipped to run our health system than is our government. They have profited mightily without doing anything about costs. We must have a public insurance option, funded by the government, similar to the Fed. Employee benefit plan. Your comments, please.
5:13
[Comment From Lee R]
Senator Carper the Administration believes that approximately $600B of savings exists in Medicare and Medicaid that can be used to fund a new health care entitlement. Do you agree with that projection? If you agree that savings can be achieved would it not be better to allow those savings to accrue to Medicare and Medicaid since they are almost bankrupt.
5:13
[Comment From sonia sloan]
Do you support the public option proposed by President Obama?
5:14
[Comment From Lee R]
Senator Carper HR#3200 starting at page 910 would create Public Health Workforce Corp. This legislation includes forming a military style organization with commissioned Regular and Reserve Officers. Do you agree this program is necessary and if so would it be populated with volunteers or would it require a draft?
5:14
[Comment From Bill Burgess]
Meaningful reduction in health care costs should start with tort reform so that doctors and hospitals don’t pay so much for malpractice insurance. What will you do to enact meaningful tort reform to reduce health care costs?
5:15
[Comment From Lee R]
Senator Carper would you please provide an analysis of the “50 million” uninsured and a projection of how many of those could be covered with out re-engineering the entire health care system.
5:15
[Comment From vanbrady]
How do you cover 50 million more people without more doctors? Without more doctors won’t you will necessarily have rationing?
5:15
[Comment From M.Hacker]
Senator Carper: I ask not just did you read HR3200 but did you also understand all of the bill and all of it’s implications on your constituents? Why does a bill need to be 1,000 pages?
5:15
[Comment From Lee R]
Senator Carper would you support legislation that doesn’t contain specific language to protect healthcare providers that refuse to perform abortions?
5:16
[Comment From c l james]
medicare may not be the best but it is l lot better than nothing . we need universal health care and a gov option.
5:16
[Comment From Lee R]
Senator Carper would you support legislation that doesn’t reform medical malpractice coverage to limit awards which is a major contributor to increased health care cost?
5:16
[Comment From W. Gore]
If the ObamaCare health care bill isn’t good for the members of Congress, then it is not good for the general public. Members of Congress should live under the same laws as the general public. What is your position?
5:16
[Comment From Susan Flook]
I believe that a “public option” is an essential part of health care reform. Do you support a public option? Why or why not? Please give specific reasons. Thanks.
5:17
[Comment From Guest]
Unlike Social Security where the Government uses the money elsewhere, would you propose an amendment where health care tax could not be touched by the Government but only to provide health benefits to American Citizens and what is left over is refunded to Americans?
5:17
[Comment From Peggy Henry]
What will be the government involvement in the proposed health cooperatives?
5:19
[Comment From Joe Kolinka]
Can you address the cost-sharing portion of the bill. Premiums, copay and deductibles. I understand there is a $5000 for single persons and a $10,000 deductible for married persons
5:22
[Comment From Suzanne Cavanaugh]
The best thing would be for government to stay out of health care.Pass legislation for tort reform,remove laws that prevent people from shopping across state lines for insurance.Any kind of government run health care would put a huge debt on our children & grandchildren.As for health care cooperatives,sounds too much like sounds too much like something out of the former USSR.
5:22
[Comment From Steve Buckanavage]
Senator Carper, Why is the legislation now being cast as insurance reform and how does increasing the size the federal government and involvement in the private sector address the issues of access to affordable healthcare at competitive rates?
I called Sen. Carper’s office at 4:45 this afternoon and spoke with a woman who said it was her first day on the job. She said the senator had no town halls scheduled, which didn’t really answer my question. I wanted to know why. She read the party line about some of them being disruptive and not conducive to healthy debate.
I asked where I could meet with Sen. Carper this week to discuss health care. She said I could email or phone questions in and get a response, but she didn’t seem very eager for anyone to actually speak to him in a public setting. After several minutes of hemming and hawing, she said Wednesday was New Castle Day, whatever the hell that is, and Carper would be visiting the Middletown Walmart during the day.
That’s great, but I live in Claymont and it would take me my entire lunch break just to drive there and back. Apparently, there are no scheduled appearances in Brandywine Hundred. Of course not. And she didn’t seem thrilled with the prospect of anyone talking to the senator in person, taking notes and posting them online.
When I asked specifically when the last time Carper held a town hall, open to the public and not intended for a specific audience (senior citizens, business owners, donors), she put me on hold for a few minutes, then told me he held one in April. Where, I asked. Didn’t see anything either before or after online or in the paper. She couldn’t answer.
She kept pushing the telephone town hall and offered to tell me how to participate, but I told her it wasn’t the same as face to face. I was disappointed, but not surprised at the tone and results of this phone call.
Kaufman’s office, on the other hand, seemed downright offended that I suggested he was hiding from voters. I asked whether he was trying not to embarrass Carper by not holding a town hall. Thought the lady on the other end was going to poke my eyes out through the phone Moe Howard style. He has no public appaearances, let alone a town hall, scheduled before Congress reconvenes.
Carper announces new chickenshit “telephone town hall” on his website. You have to sign up in advance:
“I want to have a productive discussion on health care reform, and I want everyone who is interested to be able to participate. Therefore, I will hold a telephone town hall on August 25 at 7:00 pm. Constituents who would like to participate must sign up by providing my office with their phone number. “
Pity when a politician is afraid to meet his constituents. This is not “democracy “ at work . But then he has every reaon to worry having acted like a Republican on every issue.
A productive discussion anon ? with Carper? You have to be kidding. He can not even write a coherrent letter. I know, I still have that box full of them.
What a dweeb! This gutles corporate whore wont take phone calls as they come in, nothing like hiding behind a microphone to screen out all those “he knows” will be asking any tuff question. Throw this bum out of office! Tom Carper a carpetbagger, militarist, republican with no redeeming qualities.
…with no redeeming qualities… none what so ever !!!