Senator Landrieu Closes Office: Constituents Turned Away at the Door, Callers Reach Only Busy Signals
by JP Duffy
December 22, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 22, 2009
CONTACT: J.P. Duffy, (866) FRC-NEWS
Senator Landrieu Closes Office: Constituents Turned Away at the Door, Callers Reach Only Busy Signals
FRC’s Tony Perkins Calls Closure the “Height of Arrogance”
Baton Rouge, LA – This afternoon, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins attempted to deliver a letter to Senator Mary Landrieu’s Baton Rouge office only to be told by a federal marshal that her offices were “closed for the holidays.” Over 150 concerned citizens joined Perkins at a rally in front of Senator Landrieu’s office to urge the Senator to oppose the government takeover of health care.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins made the following comments:
“We were stunned to learn why so many phone calls have been unanswered and met with continuous busy signals: As the Senate debates one of the most far reaching pieces of legislation in history, Senator Mary Landrieu has closed her office and her ears to Louisianans.
“Senator Landrieu sent press aides to offer the Senator’s spin on the health care bill but she did not make a staffer available to receive letters or answer phone calls. Senator Landrieu knows that almost two-thirds of Louisiana voters oppose the health care overhaul. However, refusing to take their phone calls is insulting and the height of arrogance. Americans are outraged at the conduct of the Majority in the United States Senate and they should be.
“If Senator Landrieu’s office had been open, she would have heard a clear message that Louisianans want her to stop this abominable health care bill that will force every American to support Planned Parenthood in the killing of unborn children, saddle families with higher insurance premiums, raise our taxes and deny our parents and grandparents the essential health care they need.”
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Comments
American Medical Association Endorsement of Health Insurance Reform
The AMA said the Senate bill would make it easier for Americans to buy affordable health insurance, prevent insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, and provide doctors and patients with information about which treatments work best.
“This bill advances many of our priority issues for achieving the vision of a health system that works for patients and physicians,” AMA President-Elect Cecil Wilson said.
The AMA does not represent American physicians. The AMA memberships have dropped by the thousands just since the announcment of their support for this idiotic bill. Go to just about any physicians office and they will tell you that health care reform is needed, but not the type of reform that is being voted on Dec 24th. I would be willing to bet over 85% of American physicians oppose the bill as it stands right now. This bill will NOT generate better health outcomes. Who do you believe more, the physicians in America or the lawyers in Washington? I don’t tell a lawyer how to defend a client and lawyers shouldn’t tell me how to practice medicine because they have no idea how to medically treat a patient.
Please, get a grip. If she hadn’t closed her office, you’d be going ballistic about some alleged anti-Jesus war on Christmas conspiracy. As Rev Newt above mentioned, do the already born not deserve affordable health care?
Dr Joseph,
Do you also believe that the health insurance CEOs have the health and well being of people as a key performance indicator to do you suppose they are focused on increasing share holder value (keeping costs low) which just coincidentally lines their own pockets? Don’t you think incentives influence they way people behave? Is your title of doctor refer to a PhD or a medical degree? If the latter, you should be familiar with US birthweight statistics an infant mortality — many counties in the US are comparable to third world countries; many health statistics are below the OECD averages. Why do you think being third-rate in health care is okay for the USA?
I believe direct observations having lived substantial amounts of time outside of the US in Canada, Europe, and Australia. The US can do better than it is currently with health care.
We can always do better in health care which is why reform is needed. The bill that was passed will not improve health care in the areas that many people think it will. Yes, in some cases it will help prevent certain diseases but in situations like cancer patients and heart disease unfortunately the patient will not get the treatment until it is to late in many cases. Why do you think so many patients in Canada come to the US to be treated for serious conditions? Because they can’t get the treatment in a realistic time period and they are not getting the best treatment for their disease. For uncomplicated diseases Canada does fine, not for serious life threatening diseases. Yes I am a medical Doctor and to say that MANY counties in the US are comparable to 3rd would countries is incorrect. Very FEW areas could even be considered comparable to 3rd world countries. First, you have to look at the entire US, not just isolated places. Of course some areas which are under served by physicians will have increased mortality and morbidity. This is because of not being well educated in their disease process and not having physicians available to them. How is You talked about Canada. Ask physicians in Canada what they think of their health care system. Just in the small town I practice in we have two Canadian physicians who have moved to the US to practice medicine because they are fed up with not being able to treat their patients with proper medicine.
Dr Joseph,
What is the basis for saying that “…in situations like cancer patients and heart disease unfortunately the patient will not get the treatment until it is to late in many cases.” ?
My middle-aged friend Walter collapsed during a visit with a co-author in Vancouver in late April 2007. He was rushed to an emergency room and that is when scans revealed a large brain tumour. He had surgery in early May in his home city of Montreal and went immediately on aggressive radiation and chemo therapy. Once he was well enough to travel, he flew to Australia to visit my husband and me at our current home That was in September 2007. Walter looked great. Obviously depressed because with glial cell cancer his life expectancy was really low. He just visited again in late 2009. His great health care has kept him alive and remarkably there are no more tumours. Realistically, he is not going to live to an old age (the chemo can’t continue without damaging his bone marrow and liver and once the chemo is curtailed more tumours will grow) but the space of years rather than months has meant he has been able to further his research, work on books, travel, enjoy life. Without health insurance, he would be dead. The Canadian system saved his life.
The real isssue in this blog is that FRC is trying to kill ANY health insurance reform to undermine the current administration. The favorite abortion card is being played again because it is effective emotionally in galvanizing voters. I think that if they fear-mongering of abortion and “death panels” (the later a distorted reference to counselling) had been kept out of the debate, law-makers would have been better able to focus on constructively reforming a flawed system.
FRC has deliberately take a destructive approach for political, not medical reasons.
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By: Rev Newt | December 22, 2009 at 7:08 pm
What about the already born who die from preventable causes do to lack of health insurance? What about the families who cannot buy health insurance at any price because of “pre-existing” conditions. Why would you condem innocent Amercians to suffering and death when we know (from analysis and international comparisons) that a better health insurance system would reduce costs and generate better health outcomes. It won’t be a very merry Christmas for people with the bad luck of incurring bad health without adequate insurance…