David Scott on a racial undertone in the debate over health care reform
Just got off the phone a few minutes ago with U.S. Rep. David Scott of metro Atlanta, who underlined what he said are some worrisome racial undertones in the current health care debate.
U.S. Rep. David Scott of metro Atlanta/Associated Press
As noted this morning, Scott was the topic of a WXIA TV report over the weekend, which detailed an Aug. 1 confrontation with opponents of health care reform at a town hall meeting in Douglasville.
Scott angrily accused protestors of attempting to “hijack” the meeting.
On Monday, the congressman said he stood by those comments, which were recorded by the city’s cable TV outlet — then truncated into the WXIA report.
The edited video hit the airwaves only this weekend, but in fact was one of the first of many such clashes over health care reported around the country.
U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Decatur) will host a town hall meeting on health care this evening. His staff says 20 law enforcement officers will be on hand to maintain order.
What the WXIA report failed to capture, the 13th District congressman said, was the fact that the health care protestors intruded on a delicate, local discussion.
“That was not my town hall meeting. It was the city of Douglasville. They had worked months to put a town hall meeting together, for me to come and to explain and to give comfort and assurance [to] the community that would be impacted,” Scott said.
The topic was the $70 million reconstruction of Ga. 92 in the community. Sixty-eight homes and businesses will be destroyed in the process.
“It would go right through the heart of the African-American community,” Scott said. “These people don’t know — they’re willing to try to trust here, but they want some comfort. They want to know how their homes will be appraised. How will the neighborhood be impacted? The whole future of Douglasville rests on this road. That’s what that meeting was about. It was not about health care.”
Scott said it was the fact that the meeting wasn’t his, and dealt with a sensitive topic, that made him use the sharp tone.
“I was going to stand up and get the respect of the constituents of mine that had worked hard to put a meeting together. And I was not going to let [health care protestors] hijack this meeting. We were discussing the life-and-death issues of their future and their homes and their way of life,” Scott said. “It was very disrespectful and selfish. I had to speak up for the respect of the people of Douglasville.”
Scott said he’ll be the sponsor of a health fair in Jonesboro on Saturday. “I’m willing to take questions. But that’s mine. This meeting was not mine,” Scott said.
City Manager William Osborne, who moderated the Douglasville event, confirmed that health care protestors had to be called to order “four or five times” during a meeting that lasted nearly four hours.
The city manager said the demonstrators weren’t a surprise — Herman Cain, the WSB Radio talk show host and former Republican candidate for senator, had urged those opposed to current health care proposals to show up.
But Osborne also disputed descriptions of Scott as “ranting.”
“He was angry and he showed that anger. But he was totally under control,” Osborne said.
Scott said he understands why he was the target of confrontation. As the only member of Congress who is a member of the Blue Dog and New Democrat caucuses, plus the Congressional Black Caucus, Scott says he has begun to fill the role of go-between on the health care issue.
“I think members of Congress have to stand firm, and they have to be able to realize that we’re in a fight — that this is a serious issue, it is a deliberative issue. But we’re being hanged in effigy,” he said.
Scott said he has no problem with protestors exercising their freedom of speech.
“This is a different thing here. We’re dealing a concerted effort to use these town hall meetings to bum rush Democratic congressmen about this issue,” Scott said.
While Scott acknowledged the legitimate concerns that many Americans have when it comes to overhauling health care, the congressman also expressed worry about the debate’s undertone. Scott e-mailed me a sampling of some of the rougher health care mail he’s received — the ones with variations of the n-word.
“You were, you are, and you shall forever be but a ———-,” one fax to his office reads. The missive includes a mug of President Barack Obama with a hammer-and-sickle stamped on his forehead.
“The folks are not going to stand for socialized medicine even though most Negroes refuse to stand on their own two feet,” says another.
“These people are bringing [in] race — and ‘Negro’ and ‘colored’ and Obama,” Scott said. “We should applaud the fact that we have an African-American president and he is working on this. This is a great thing. But it should not be a racial situation. What have we done except look at the problem and move on it?”
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514 comments Add your comment
David
August 11th, 2009
4:13 pm
Jason.
You said Republicans have a history of racism in the South. The implication was that only Republicans have a history of racism in the South. And further implied that racism only exists in the South and only among white people.
And you were wrong.
Further, you have stated that there isn’t any logical reason one would be opposed to this healthcare plan. If you haven’t heard any rational objections, then I really don’t have time to educate you on the other point of view. For example, the bill would bar ERISA based plans from charging sick and elderly people more than young and healthy ones. You can think of this as kind of like a car insurance company charging the same rate to all drivers. Also, private plans will not be able to make changes after being grandfathered and will have to adopt the mandates after five years. There is very real concern that these companies will not be able to operate their plans profitably. What this means is they will have to go out of business. If my plan goes out of business because of government regulation, then I really don’t have the “choice” that the President says that I have. That has nothing at all to do with race or region as when you begin to invesitgate, you’ll see these arguments taking place all over the country.
I can only suggest that you read some publications that you feel present both sides logically. I’m done with you.
Martha Barrett
August 11th, 2009
4:15 pm
Enter your comments here
defiant
August 11th, 2009
4:18 pm
Have anyone noticed that all the protesters are WHITE?
Get Real
August 11th, 2009
4:21 pm
Saddened, its no speaking intelligently to these people. They see what they, and thats it. Forget the defaming of his office and the email and faxes Scott received. Because he didn’t drop his head and say yessur to a doctor, he was rude. Scroll through some of the comments on page 3 of this blog. The true, blue, REAL Americans have announced themselves. They’re fighting against their own self-interests and don’t even see it.
thatdeal
August 11th, 2009
4:23 pm
So Glen Beck and many can call Obama a racist for no apparent good reason, but when someone paints a swastika on a sign at his office he’s playing the race card? Wow I am so confused.
Martha Barrett
August 11th, 2009
4:23 pm
This man is a fool. We need to get him out of office. I contacted his office about a town hall meeting and they told me he wasn’t having one. He knows that health care is the most critical issue in the lives of the American people yet he will not address our concerns at a town hall meeting with the American people. It is clear to anyone with a brain why a swastika was painted on his sign. He, along with Obama and the Chicago mob, will make America look like Hitler’s Germany before too long. What a woeful lack of intelligence must be in David Scott and his supporters to so easily reduce a real debate on a real issue affecting all American people to race! That is totally irrelevant to the issue and the discussion. This man has an evil heart and mind and he needs to be voted out of there. He should not be able to have such power over our lives!
David
August 11th, 2009
4:24 pm
I think people have noticed that, genius.
thatdeal
August 11th, 2009
4:27 pm
Terri, you obviously don’t know the history of the Republican party and the Democratic Party. Remember how the sides flip-flopped after the signing of the civil rights bill? Dems were Repubes, and Repubes were Dems prior to the signing of the bill in 1964.
Jason
August 11th, 2009
4:34 pm
@ David.
I’m sorry that you’re done with me. You are the first person who I’ve spoken with on this subject who’s actually put forward something of substance on the issue of health care reform.
You make a very good point. I’m just sad that you just barely tolerate my entire existence, as I would’ve liked to have debated the point with you.
Thanks for keeping an open mind about things. I’m done, too.
David
August 11th, 2009
4:36 pm
The bills in both houses require that Americans purchase insurance through “qualified” plans offered by health-care “exchanges” that would be set up in each state. The rub is that the plans can’t really compete based on what they offer. The reason: The federal government will impose a minimum list of benefits that each plan is required to offer.
David
August 11th, 2009
4:37 pm
As with the previous example, the Obama plan enshrines into federal law one of the worst features of state legislation: community rating. Eleven states, ranging from New York to Oregon, have some form of community rating. In its purest form, community rating requires that all patients pay the same rates for their level of coverage regardless of their age or medical condition.
Americans with pre-existing conditions need subsidies under any plan, but community rating is a dubious way to bring fairness to health care. The reason is twofold: First, it forces young people, who typically have lower incomes than older workers, to pay far more than their actual cost, and gives older workers, who can afford to pay more, a big discount. The state laws gouging the young are a major reason so many of them have joined the ranks of uninsured.
Under the Senate plan, insurers would be barred from charging any more than twice as much for one patient vs. any other patient with the same coverage. So if a 20-year-old who costs just $800 a year to insure is forced to pay $2,500, a 62-year-old who costs $7,500 would pay no more than $5,000.
Second, the bills would ban insurers from charging differing premiums based on the health of their customers. Again, that’s understandable for folks with diabetes or cancer. But the bills would bar rewarding people who pursue a healthy lifestyle of exercise or a cholesterol-conscious diet. That’s hardly a formula for lower costs. It’s as if car insurers had to charge the same rates to safe drivers as to chronic speeders with a history of accidents
David
August 11th, 2009
4:39 pm
This is the freedom that the President keeps emphasizing. Yet the bills appear to say otherwise. It’s worth diving into the weeds — the territory where most pundits and politicians don’t seem to have ventured.
The legislation divides the insured into two main groups, and those two groups are treated differently with respect to their current plans. The first are employees covered by the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974. ERISA regulates companies that are self-insured, meaning they pay claims out of their cash flow, and don’t have real insurance. Those are the GEs (GE, Fortune 500) and Time Warners (TWX, Fortune 500) and most other big companies.
The House bill states that employees covered by ERISA plans are “grandfathered.” Under ERISA, the plans can do pretty much what they want — they’re exempt from standard packages and community rating and can reward employees for healthy lifestyles even in restrictive states.
But read on.
The bill gives ERISA employers a five-year grace period when they can keep offering plans free from the restrictions of the “qualified” policies offered on the exchanges. But after five years, they would have to offer only approved plans, with the myriad rules we’ve already discussed. So for Americans in large corporations, “keeping your own plan” has a strict deadline. In five years, like it or not, you’ll get dumped into the exchange. As we’ll see, it could happen a lot earlier.
The outlook is worse for the second group. It encompasses employees who aren’t under ERISA but get actual insurance either on their own or through small businesses. After the legislation passes, all insurers that offer a wide range of plans to these employees will be forced to offer only “qualified” plans to new customers, via the exchanges.
The employees who got their coverage before the law goes into effect can keep their plans, but once again, there’s a catch. If the plan changes in any way — by altering co-pays, deductibles, or even switching coverage for this or that drug — the employee must drop out and shop through the exchange. Since these plans generally change their policies every year, it’s likely that millions of employees will lose their plans in 12 months.
Steve
August 11th, 2009
4:39 pm
The Race Card is So Fugging Pathetic . . .
It’s easy to see through the garbage message of the race card . . .
What a Moron . . .
.
David
August 11th, 2009
4:40 pm
The Senate bill requires that Americans buying through the exchanges — and as we’ve seen, that will soon be most Americans — must get their care through something called “medical home.” Medical home is similar to an HMO. You’re assigned a primary care doctor, and the doctor controls your access to specialists. The primary care physicians will decide which services, like MRIs and other diagnostic scans, are best for you, and will decide when you really need to see a cardiologists or orthopedists.
Under the proposals, the gatekeepers would theoretically guide patients to tests and treatments that have proved most cost-effective. The danger is that doctors will be financially rewarded for denying care, as were HMO physicians more than a decade ago. It was consumer outrage over despotic gatekeepers that made the HMOs so unpopular, and killed what was billed as the solution to America’s health-care cost explosion.
The bills do not specifically rule out fee-for-service plans as options to be offered through the exchanges. But remember, those plans — if they exist — would be barred from charging sick or elderly patients more than young and healthy ones. So patients would be inclined to game the system, staying in the HMO while they’re healthy and switching to fee-for-service when they become seriously ill. “That would kill fee-for-service in a hurry,” says Goodman.
In reality, the flexible, employer-based plans that now dominate the landscape, and that Americans so cherish, could disappear far faster than the 5 year “grace period” that’s barely being discussed.
Terri
August 11th, 2009
4:41 pm
to That Deal…..fact remains….crucial years were 1924 and 1935. Read your history and do that math.
thatdeal
August 11th, 2009
4:45 pm
Terri,
So what’s your point? Are african americans supposed to be a monolith and all walk alike, think alike, vote alike? I’m not getting the point you’re trying to make?
defiant
August 11th, 2009
4:47 pm
“the big boss man” Do you even know any black people? Sounds to me like you don’t because we don’t look and think alike. OJ was guilty and Dick Chaney should be prosecuted and we will get health care reform “Believe it or Not”.God bless America
David
August 11th, 2009
4:52 pm
Jason,
Apologies to you. I’m no expert on this. As you can see, most of what I am concerned about is in this CNN Money/Fortune Magazine article.
Terri
August 11th, 2009
4:56 pm
@ thatdeal….Point? Confusion? No one should walk alike, think alike or vote alike. My point was that since majority of African American’s are democrat (putting aside Obama), history could be a revelation. Ever notice how a Republican African American is treated by the Democrats? Sit, think and ponder.
Terrell
August 11th, 2009
4:57 pm
As usal dumb people who don’t read the whole article post on here why am I not suprise. I guess the picture that preceeds this article isn’t enough right? He did not say all protesters are racists but quite a few are, and it’s sad that when race is brought you all turn the other way like it’s not a big deal. Just because it’s 2009 doesn’t mean ignorance does not exist.
Keith’s post on 8/10 at 4:56pm is a perfect example of a racist punk. It’s funny to be honest but what more do you expect?
Terri
August 11th, 2009
4:59 pm
@ David…..YOU RULE!
Tom
August 11th, 2009
5:08 pm
I have had a lifetime of the “racial” excuse. Maybe it was justified in the 60s and 70s but not today. Get over it! You have a responsiblity to the people ALL THE PEOPLE!
Hananova
August 11th, 2009
5:12 pm
This guy probably did it himself. I have seen this happen in Virginia – a mayoral candidate mailed himself a hate letter, then filed a complaint of racial harrassment. Good for the police, they weren’t fooled. DC police are a joke, though.
Of course, if the culprit isn’t who the media thinks it should be, the story will be buried faster than Janet Reno/Bill Clinton bulldozed Waco after they killed all the Branch Davidians.
kipper jones
August 11th, 2009
5:12 pm
i’m new to this racist south thing. but i do know it’s ugly.
‘would rep. scott have treated the doctor differently if he were black?’
if he were at a panel on transportation and disrupted it w/health care questions, no!
he would have been admonished in the same manner.
but isn’t the issue we’re debating ‘health care’? other than the fact that blacks make up nearly a majority of the uninsured, what does this have to do w/race? like i said,
i’m new to this racist thing. but i do know it’s ugly!
Hananova
August 11th, 2009
5:16 pm
Scott is a racist
thatdeal
August 11th, 2009
5:16 pm
Terri,
Why does the “heartland” vote majority republican? The question can go both ways. Ever notice how they treat those “libs.” Sit and ponder on that one. The “heartland” is poor to middle-class but they vote republican in droves? They hate that darn socialized medicine and guberment but their mom and granny still get that social security check and that medicare. I would like to challenge these people who hate the government so much to send back that social security check. Put your money where your mouth is. Sit and ponder on that one.
scott
August 11th, 2009
5:28 pm
Buy a gun. You will need it.
Terri
August 11th, 2009
5:29 pm
@ thatdeal….send back their social security check as a debate? Wonder how many libs sent back their stimulus checks that Bush gave them. Did they put their money where their mouth was when they had so much to say about him giving a stimulus? Please don’t fall off your chair….keep sitting and pondering. Good Day!
Ms.Dee
August 11th, 2009
5:29 pm
The meeting was surely a transportation forum. The local TV station edited out the facts. I am glad the Congressman spoke up for the people who put the meeting together. If the Doctor wants a meeting let him call Congressman Scott’s office and request one. I am sure most of the people who out there protesting are the same one who need health care and holler against their own self-interest.
Terri
August 11th, 2009
5:32 pm
@scott….you are right…buy a gun. Laughed at Schumer when he said Americans are so much safer now that they can’t cross a border state with a firearm and a concealed weapon permit. Imagine we, the law abiding citizens are safer w/o our gun. Do the criminals have a permit to carry a concealed weapon? Liberal philosophy hard at work…..LOL
thatdeal
August 11th, 2009
5:33 pm
Terri,
There wasn’t this kind of an uproar over the stimulus checks. Lets compare apples and apples. Good day!!!!
Terri
August 11th, 2009
5:36 pm
@thatdeal…..can those lazy people on welfare send back their welfare checks and turn in their medicaid card? I can’t stop pondering …. lol
Terri
August 11th, 2009
5:37 pm
@ thatdeal….sure there was….democrats criticized those stimulus checks….kept the money, though.
Terri
August 11th, 2009
5:39 pm
@thatdeal……are we politically bonding? I luv it when you call me by my name.
Elle
August 11th, 2009
5:40 pm
EVERYTHING IN THE SOUTH IS ABOUT RACE!! You guys are such morons . In one sentence you write how blacks are always playing the race card (which by the way is a good card based on the deck being played) then in the next sentence you go on about how blacks don’t work and are on welfare etc which is contradictory to your statement about playing the race card (which in itself indicates an ideology that racism doesn not exist or is minimal).
Facts are that the largest group of people being supported by the Government for health care is eldery white people. Too bad that these same people dont want healthcare for the younger less fortunate so they can at least get to be elderly. Talk about selfish! THERE IS NO LOGICAL REASON PEOPLE IN THE US SHOULD DIE BECAUSE THEY CANT AFFORD HEALTHCARE. PERIOD EXCLAMATION POINT. Whew…got that out .
Virginia
August 11th, 2009
5:41 pm
I knew of a black MARTA driver who said he was paid better than a school teacher, yet if socialist health care was propsed to him, he’d quit working so he’s become elgible. At a clinic in Marietta, I had to wait a long time and was asked to pay $35 or so for a co-pay. The illegal aliens weren’t asked to pay anything-they came in nice cars, had expensive clothes and their kids played with I-Pods. None came off the bus with me and none went out to wait for one when we left. It will be the illegal aliens who will sap the Obama healthcare system. Once sapped, I’m sure rationing will start and disabled-elderly will be told they won’t qualify(just like in Europe and Canada).Folks like Scott, McKinney,etc. wil also squeal racism, but if something like that happens to me, my cries of unfairness will go unheard.
Elle
August 11th, 2009
5:44 pm
Virginia says”I knew of a black MARTA driver who said he was paid better than a school teacher, yet if socialist health care was propsed to him, he’d quit working so he’s become elgible”
STOP YOUR LYING VIRGINIA! No black marta driver told you that and you know it. And why did he have to be black anyway huh? You people are so transparent its pathetic.
Hananova
August 11th, 2009
5:47 pm
Duane where do you live, in a cave? Cathy Hughes, black racist, owns a NETWORK of radio stations, and she has done commentating every day in the 1980’s, 1990’s and 2000’s. She has called Bush, Bush and Reagan “racist” and “nazi” thousands of times.
Terri
August 11th, 2009
5:49 pm
I never saw a white marta driver now that I think about Elle. Could that be discrimination?
Terri
August 11th, 2009
5:49 pm
Reverse Discrimation?
Elle
August 11th, 2009
5:50 pm
Jason your posting is simply brilliant! You obviously were not born in the south
Elle
August 11th, 2009
5:52 pm
Hananova there are plenty of white bus drivers but you probably wouldnt know that because you can’t relate to the poor. I volunteer and am active in giving back to communities and not just sitting in my home in the suburbs b^tchng and moaning about what I think “them people” are going to get for free. And again whay did she have to say he was black. I know what the implication was…dem black folks will quit dey jobs if dey get free healthcare….yes intentional misspelling just in case you are wondering. Say the sentence in the voice of one of the maids on Gone with the Wind to get the effect.
Elle
August 11th, 2009
5:54 pm
Sorry that comment was for Terri I am getting confused with the slew of stereotypical postings on here.
Terri read what I said to Hanna…thats for you “)
Terri
August 11th, 2009
6:01 pm
Elle? how would you know who relates to the poor? How would you know if someone is living in the suburbs moaning? You sound as though you’ve been slighted, angry perhaps? Volunteers come in all colors, sizes, etc.
Hananova
August 11th, 2009
6:04 pm
Elle, you’re a racist, and stereotyping. I don’t live in the suburbs, and I relate to the poor because I am poor. In fact I relate much better than you, because I have been rich and poor. Unlike you, I am not going to sit around moaning about how “whites” and “Hispanics” and “”Chinese” prevent me from succeeding, but will work until I am rich again, regardless of how difficult it is to get a job, attend college or get promoted because black women are given preferential (RACIST) treatment.
Elle, you’re also stupid, and can’t read. I didn’t make any comment about bus drivers. I have no idea wtf you are talking about, other than the race hate you spew.
Terri
August 11th, 2009
6:10 pm
Hananova….you are a breath of fresh air. You don’t sit around cry WHOA IS ME. You are the type to put your right foot forward, move on and succeed. You are a true AMERICAN. I wish you well!
Gen Neyland
August 11th, 2009
6:11 pm
Racial overtones..? Original thought right out of the Al Sharpton Field Manual. I’ll bet my last wooden nickel some Democrat pot-stirrer painted the symbol.
thatdeal
August 11th, 2009
6:12 pm
Terri,
I don’t remember the Dems being in an uproar over the stimulus, partly b/c it was the Dems’ idea. Remember, they held a majority of the Senate by that time. Also, the people on welfare aren’t crying over too much gubment in their lives. It’s the crazy right-wingers who are saying they hate government, want nothing else to do with government, but without government they wouldn’t have roads, schools, medicare, jobs, unemployment checks, small business incentives and subsidies, etc. I’ve never heard someone on welfare say they had too much government in their lives lol. My point is, if you hate the government and all of its intrusion into your lives then why not tell Uncle Sam to shove that medicare and social security where the sun don’t shine. Don’t take the public option and keep your insurance!!! There’s a lot of things you can do besides bashing the other side by calling them names. That just makes you look like you can’t articulate your views and that is quite evident at this point. The Patriot Act looks to be way more intrusive than this public option for health care. The Patriot Act actually gives the government the right to listen in on your phone conversations!!!! However, since it was served up by Bush in the name of “patriotism” the repubes ate it all up. The views of anyone should be consistent but the repubes seem to waver based on who’s serving up the dish.
thatdeal
August 11th, 2009
6:16 pm
Its so funny that people say this congressman is playing the race card when a swastika was painted at his office. That is classic. I don’t know how you can get more blatantly racist other than lycning him outside of his office and burning a cross in his yard. But then of course the right-wingers will say someone is playing the race card and they’re tired of hearing it lol Once again its evident that repubes can’t actually read, recognize context, or are capable of rational and logical thought. If you guys had actually read the article you would see that he was actually a victim of racism this time. I know its hard to believe!!! lol
Elle
August 11th, 2009
6:19 pm
Terri..Hanna what the hell ever…….You are such typical nitwits. I don’t care where you live in the suburbs, in the city, etc but I know what lives in your hearts…PURE HATE.. YOU KNOW IT AND GOD KNOWS IT!!!