District 3 Townhall...

I went to Congressman Ramstad's town hall meeting. I wasn't surprised by anything that was said. He did his talking points, he really isn't a conservative, and Minnesota is left leaning, to say the least.

Between the preaching and the "Congressman Ramstad, please become more liberal and support my cause..." there were a couple of things that stood out. There was the "Oh, we need to do something for the uninsured." Aparently, Ramstad likes the approach from Mitt's state. He'd like to make people show proof of health insurance in order to get a driver's license. And he somehow thinks it is intuitive to require it.

OK, I look young and I have a carefully crafted image of not appearing as bright as I probably am. And I've been known to associate two unrelated topics to eachother. But... um... this is so not intuitive.

First, health insurance and car insurance are two entirely different products and they work different ways. I pay for my oil changes, new battery, tires, and other general maintenance repairs out of pocket, but I have car insurance in case I get into an accident. For health insurance, the carrier pays for my physical and a lot of other "general maintenance" costs.

Second, car insurance is a government handout to the insurance industry. I get car insurance fairly cheaply, and would probably continue to get car insurance should I not be required to carry it. But, there are people out there who would not get car insurance if they were not required to do so. Decreased demand, all other things being equal, would drop prices.

Third, what does the incidence of health insurance really do for my driving? Also, does incidence imply usage? In my health insurance policy, I have a prostate screening. Personally, I have no use for a prostate screening, and Josh is still a little young. The incidence of the screening does not imply that I use it. Furthermore, I have incidence of a breast cancer screening. Useful, yes, in another 12 or so years, but I have no use for it now.

Anyway, Ramstad also said if the 45 million people without health insurance were to jump on the band wagon, prices would go down. Um... how? All things being equal, more demand, higher prices. And we have an aging population.

The other issue was "We need to improve the VA system so soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress don't kill themselves." Actually, he said, "something" needed to be done. And he gave a statistic that 1/6 returning vets have PTS. Um, that sounds pretty high? Are we confusing it with Combat Stress (which eventually goes away)? Anyway, like I trust *the system* to take care of Josh if anything bad were to happen to him. I'd put up with it for a period of time, but really, soldiers should be given options. If the VA were made to compete with the private sector, care would improve. But the VA doesn't have to compete. Competition is good. Better care.

OK, so, after the meeting, I stood in line to shake the Congressman's hand and tell him I was a military wife who supports the mission. Yeah, I almost got brushed off by an aide who started to bring the Congressman to someone else. So, I said, "Oh, I'm a military spouse, and I have the right to talk to my Congressman." Aparently, this is not said often and I got a dirty look from the aide. It was fun. I said my bit asking the Congressman to continue funding and that I didn't want my husband to be hurt by being treated like a political pawn. I was done in a minute, and I felt better, but not pacified.