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Health Care Reform Protesters Press Edwards For Face-To-Face Meeting
Protesters held rallies Friday at all three district offices of Central Texas Congressman Chet Edwards, demanding face-to-face meetings instead of a telephone town hall on the increasingly divisive issue of health care reform.
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14 Comments 
WACO (August 14, 2009)--Protesters held rallies Friday at district offices of Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, in Waco, Bryan and Granbury, demanding face-to-face meetings instead of a telephone town hall on the increasingly divisive issue of health care reform.
Edwards, who has been meeting privately with healthcare providers, business leaders and district residents, plans a telephone town hall meeting next week, details of which have not yet been announced.
But the protesters want more than that.
"We want to have a face-to-face discussion with Rep. Edwards,” said Randy Shelton organizer of the Granbury Tea Party.
"We will continue to pressure Edwards to speak with us directly and truthfully and encourage him to vote against government-controlled healthcare,” he said.
"Americans are facing an unprecedented event in our history," Shelton said.
"Never before has the private industry that has made America so great been so threatened by a growing government. Nowhere has a government take-over of a private industry worked out well for the private sector. Nowhere has it been successful,” he said.
Edwards spokesman Josh Taylor, however, in a statement issued Friday afternoon, said, “the behavior of some of the protestors clearly demonstrate that their real agenda is to disrupt, not encourage, a public discussion on health care.”
“Sadly, some protestors have been leaving profane messages and signs at our district offices and elsewhere that clearly demonstrate that their real agenda is to disrupt, not encourage, a public discussion on health care,” the statement said.
“Unfortunately, when one of the protest leaders was asked last week if his group would respect Congressman Edwards’ request to honor the rights of all citizens to be heard by agreeing not to disrupt a town hall, he said, ‘If you’re invoking rage like Arlen Specter did the other day, he (Chet Edwards) deserves to be shouted down,’” the statement said.
Waco businessman Rob Curnock, who lost a close race with Edwards in November 2008, announced earlier this week he’s holding town hall meetings in Waco, Burleson and Bryan later this month on healthcare and other issues important to the residents of the district.
“The cornerstone of our representative system is the relationship between elected officials and their constituents, and regular opportunities for open dialogue is critical in maintaining that relationship,” Curnock said.
“I am disappointed that our current congressman won’t meet with groups of Central Texas voters who have legitimate concerns and questions about legislation being considered in Congress.”
Latest Comments
I think, that its goes with the responsibility of holding the government position and taking the income, that Congressman Edwards should meet with his constituents to understand their concerns. Meeting behind closed doors with special interests should frighten every American. Don't they take an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution? Its the people of this country that the Constitution protects and should not be swayed by a checkbook from special interest groups. Face to Face townhall meetings are best the answer, not a telephone conference call. When a Congressman wants to understand how things are going in a certain part of the world like Iraq or Afghanistan, let me ask you: do they go there to see or just make a call?
Mr. Edwards should come forward and meet with all of the voters that he represents. He is meeting with the doctors at both hospitals in closed meetings. Even if you are a doctor but you are not on staff at the hospital, you are not allowed to give input. It is an uncomfortable feeling to be "cut off" from the person who is supposed to be representing ALL the voters. Mr. Edwards has helped my business in the past and I appreciate his help very much. However, my family can not support any candidate who fails to meet with the voters especially on something so personally important as health care. Insurance has already changed our access to care and set some pretty tough limits. Do you feel confident in any government plan for health either current or proposed in HR 3200? I have many questions that I have asked and received NO answers to date from any of my representatives in the House or Senate or White House or HHS. Who do we turn to for answers? Time to answer our questions Chet.
So because I would like a chance to meet with my representative face to face you call me a heathen hypocrite and child. Nice...how very adult of you. The only ones acting like children at the demonstration Friday were the kids that were there learning how democracy is supposed to work in our Republic. It's a hard lesson to teach when our congressman won't even meet with us to discuss our concerns and be our voice. Heathens? Seriously? I don't know all the people who were there, but part of what unites us is our belief that our nation is one under God. God has blessed this country and I will not stand silently as D.C. shreds everything God gave us through our forefathers who sacrificed everything to give us independence and the Constitution. As for hypocrites, I have learned in my 30 years of living that everyone is one of those in some area of life, but the ones who throw out that term for every little conflict in life tend to be the biggest hypocrites of all.
