Town Hall Frenzy

Over 150 people gathered at the Depot in Liberal on Tuesday morning for what was a lively town hall forum with U.S. Congressman Jerry Moran. There was standing room only with some of the audience having to stand in the hallway. Moran stated that it was the largest town hall he can ever remember being apart of in Liberal.

Moran started off by making a statement in which he said he would vote against the current House health care reform bill and anything remotely similar to it. Moran received a loud ovation of approval for the comment.

Moran then fielded questions from the audience who had health care on their mind. A majority of the questions were aimed at not being in favor of the current health care reform bills that are out there. However, there were two members of the audience who did challenge Moran on his position of being against the current House health care bill.

One of the challengers asked him if he just planned to vote against it because thatź??s what all the Republicans were going to do. Moran responded by saying that he is not one of those politicians who just follows the Republican talking points.

The other challenger stated that insurance companies are already making choices on what doctor people go to and what treatments people can get and that he would trust the government more with the choice then a CEO who’s income depends upon it.

Near the end of the forum Moran mentioned a Native American whose health insurance is run by the government who told him that itź??s not something the people would enjoy.

Improving Highway 54 from Liberal to Wichita and Congress spending money on new jets for themselves and automatic pay raises also came up in the forum. One member of the audience demanded that Congress stop spending money that they don’t have.

This is the first of a three part story about Moran’s town hall forum in Liberal. Visit kscbnews.net on Thursday for part two.