Congress on Your Corner III

Waterbury, CT, 9/4/09

One more open air session with Connecticut Fifth District Congressmen Chris Murphy and constituents, back at Library Park in Waterbury this morning. This time I wanted to concentrate on the citizens who've come out to meet face to face with their representative and express their concerns about the pivotal issue of health care reform.

Health Care Town Hall

Washington, CT, 9/02/09

The Connecticut towns of Washington, Roxbury, and Bridgewater hosted a formal Town Hall at their regional Shepaug Valley High School auditorium, for 5th District Democratic Congressman Chris Murphy. The subject for discussion was national health care reform. Before the event, a small group of pro-reform activists displayed signs outside the auditorium entrance. There were no anti-reform people with signs, but plenty of the attendees engaged the pro-reform people in lively debate out in the lobby.



As people arrived they were asked to sign in, and then if they wanted to ask a question they could write their names on a slip of paper and place it in one of three boxes marked for, against, and undecided. The names would be picked at random and called on by the Congressman for questions.


By the scheduled starting time of 5:30 the auditorium was packed beyond capacity with people filling the aisles and spilling out into the lobby. The Washington First Selectman (that's small town New England for "mayor") introduced Mr. Murphy, who is in favor of health care reform, ending her introduction by stating that she opposes reform. To make things more interesting, the air conditioning was out of order and the room was already getting warm despite a bevy of fans rushed into place on the stage.


The three towns that make up this school district could be described as upscale rural. Country roads outnumber suburban subdivisions. A hundred miles north of New York City, there are many weekend and vacation homes. Even in the current depressed market, real estate listings under half a million dollars are the exception. It's likely that a higher than normal percentage of residents here enjoy the best that the current American health care system has to offer, with high-end employer-provided health insurance and private supplemental coverage on top of Medicare for many seniors. A preponderance of the questions asked tended toward, "Why rock the boat? Why make wholesale changes to a system we think works the way it is?"


Several questioners asserted that tort reform was the real answer to problems in the health care system. Pro-reform points were made as well, both by questioners and by the Congressman in his answers.


I had to leave after an hour and a half, but what I saw was a large group of people packed into tight and pretty uncomfortable quarters, having an intense but civil discussion of highly charged issues. It looked a lot like the way American democracy is supposed to work.

Congress on Your Corner II

Danbury, CT, 9/2/09

Another morning open meeting with constituents by Congressman Chris Murphy, this time in front of a canvas band shell at the CityCenter Danbury Green. The atmosphere was quite different from yesterday's event in Waterbury. The crowd was a little larger, as many as 100 people. The pro-reform and anti-reform forces appeared this time to be evenly split in numbers, though the anti-reform voices were much louder. There a couple disruptive individuals who insisted on shouting over the Congressman and other members of the public. But many substantive exchanges took place over the two hours that Murphy stayed, which was twice as long as had been planned.


You can click on any picture to see a larger view to understand the details better. Use your browser back button to return.

Congress on Your Corner

Waterbury, CT, 9/1/09

Democratic Congressman Chris Murphy, from Connecticut's Fifth Congressional District, is holding open-access meetings with constituents for an hour each morning this week, while Congress is in recess. I thought this might make for interesting pictures of democracy in action, and I wasn't disappointed. Today he was at Library Park in Waterbury. A crowd of about seventy-five came out.




It was clear that health care and related budget/deficit issues were the primary, nearly the only, things constituents wanted to talk about. It was also clear that in this group sentiments were running about two to one against reform, or against Obama administration policies in general. Murphy is a second term Congressman who won the Fifth District seat in 2006 in an upset, unseating long-time Republican Congresswoman Nancy Johnson. Pro-reform and anti-reform groups had signs and slogans, but the anti signs were bigger and more plentiful.




Feelings were running high and there was some shouting, but there were no incidents of screaming or shouting down as have happened at more formal Town Hall meetings held across the country. The format was wide-open "ask your Congressman." Some people were more interested in stating their position, or reading it from computer printouts, than in asking a question so the Congressman sometimes prompted them to get to the point and make it a question. A couple times he had to intervene to keep questioning directed to himself instead of letting it drift into crosstalk and shouting between pro and anti proponents. At one point two gentlemen standing in front of me repeatedly told each other, "shut up, I came here to listen to him, not you."



The questions were varied. Some repeated familiar talking points but others were very personal. One man said that his private health insurance, with an insurer that has about half of such policies in the state, had informed him it would not cover his 18 year old son when he left to attend college in another state. What could the Congressman do about situations like that? A woman said she had just adopted a special needs child, how would health care reform affect her family?



Toward the end of the event, one woman went on at length and Murphy, to clarify, asked her if she meant she was against all government involvement in health care, to which she gave a resounding, "Yes!" So then he asked if she wanted to do away with Medicare, to which she said "Oh, no, I don't!" That brought a loud round of mixed guffaws and groans from pro-reform people in the group.

Scheduled to last from 8:00 to 9:00 AM, Murphy's aides finally pulled him away at 9:15 to head for his next appointment. The New Haven ABC news affiliate station had a reporter and videographer there and ran a short segment on their noontime broadcast. I didn't recognize any other press at the event.

"Medicare for All"

Litchfield, CT, 8/30/09

"Single Payer"

Litchfield, CT, 8/30/09

Pro-Reform Demonstration

Litchfield, CT

Sunday, 8/30/09. A small group gathered on the Litchfield village green to demonstrate in favor of health care reform. The passing cars and motorcycles had mostly positive reactions with at least half honking or waving and something like one in twenty showing a negative response.

Art Exhibition

Roxbury, Connecticut

Don't Panic, It's Organic

West Hartford, CT

Some people at the farmer's market were paying attention to food instead of national political issues.

Tea Party

Hartford, CT

A rally last Saturday afternoon on Main Street about half a mile south of the Connecticut capital's downtown. Local landmarks like the United Technologies Corporation "Gold Building," the Old State House, and the Traveler's Insurance Company Tower can be seen upper right. In the crop (click image for larger view) you can read the extensive list of things the group was protesting. As with other "Tea Party" events I've observed around the state, about one car in five that passed the demonstrators and their signs responded positively, blowing the horn, waving, or giving a thumbs-up.

Canvassing

West Hartford, CT

Yesterday members of CCAG (Connecticut Citizen Action Group) spread out around the Hartford area gathering signatures in favor of "three bedrock requirements for real health care reform." The canvassers who spent a couple hours at the West Hartford farmer's market had a better than 50% success rate getting signatures from people they approached. A few people waved them off, but some others read the principles and complained they didn't go far enough, that nothing short of a single-payer system stands any chance of fixing the health care mess. Recent polls have shown that three-quarters of Americans are in favor of health care reform, and this unscientific sampling lined up nicely with that ratio.

West Hartford, CT

Opening Night

Washington Depot, CT

Artist's Reception

Washington Depot, CT

Demonstrators and Signs III

Torrington, Connecticut

Torrington, Connecticut

Demonstrators and Signs II

Bristol, CT

Bristol, CT

For foreign readers who aren't familiar with the system here, all Americans 65 years of age and over are enrolled in Medicare. It's a government-run, single-payer health care system. While not immune to abuse, it works well and is more cost effective than the private insurance sector, despite dealing with the elderly population which by definition needs more health services than the general population under 65. It's easy to see why those who profit from for-profit health care are against reform, but it's unclear why those already benefiting from a better system are opposed to extending something like it to the rest of the population.

Opening Reception II

Washington Depot, CT

Opening Reception I

Washington Depot, CT

Young and Old

Bristol, CT

As always, click on the picture to see a larger, 800-pixel view—makes it easier to read the signs.

More Signs

Torrington, CT

Demonstrators and Signs, I

Torrington, CT

Witches?

Litchfield, CT

OK. Now I'm really interested to follow the different agenda points that fill out this matrix. (As always, click on the picture to get a bigger—800 pixel—view, then hit your browser's return button to come back).

Demonstrating

Litchfield, CT

People have been demonstrating every Sunday afternoon on the Litchfield Town Green for nearly a decade. There seems to be a lull at the moment with only a couple of participants, but the crowds have been large at times in this small town that happens to be a County seat.

The demonstrators have always been a varied group espousing several different issues. These included questioning the official accounts of the 911 attacks, opposition to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and general opposition to the previous national administration. These groups sometimes drew small counter-demonstrations (see my Working Pictures Blog posts of 11/19-23/07). Ron Paul supporters are also in the mix. Leftists and Libertarians don't necessarily make comfortable protest partners. Perhaps it's New England politics on the local activist level. It seems as though this mix is confusing, but one of the demonstrators told me that passing drivers who used to give her the finger now show a thumbs-up. "And that's got to be a good thing."

I've been told of other places where people are getting together for demonstrations and discovering that the agendas they promote are not necessarily in consonance. Sounds like something I want to photograph.

Jester IV

Washington Depot, CT

Being a jester is hard work.

Jester III

Washington Depot, CT

Washington Depot, CT

Jester II

Washington Depot, CT