Senator Feingold visits St. Germain for Listening Session March 20

See thorough article at News of the North.net about Senator Feingold's Listening Session in St. Germain, WI, including more photos and videos.  Editor Joe Constanza published the following at News of the North:

ST. GERMAIN – Sen. Russ Feingold came to St. Germain on Saturday, March 20, for his 32nd “listening session” of 2010 and 1,256th since 1993 and heard a lot of anger from a sometimes raucous and hostile crowd.


About 100 people showed up at the Community Center at noon for the one-hour meeting and, as expected, health care was the big topic.


Several people made statements, most of which were critical of the health care bill now before the House, or interrupted the Democratic Wisconsin senator with catcalls although appreciative applause also broke out at times from some in the audience who supported the health care legislation.

But for the most part it was a confrontational session as speaker after speaker blasted what they see as government takeover of the health care system. Outside a few protesters carried signs opposing “Obama care.” Another said, “Are you listening?”

The placard-carrying critics included Rudy Fuys of Boulder Junction, who said he was “outraged by the taking of $500 billion out of the Medicare program. That’s ridiculous. Myself and many other seniors have paid for this our whole lives and it’s gone. How can they force this on the American people?”

Another critic, James Lynn of Cloverland, said, “They totally corrupted the government and it’s unconstitutional.” Loyd Black (see video clip below) questioned the senator on whether the law should apply to everyone.

Feingold defended his support of health care reform, noting that the vast majority of Americans favored universal health care. (see video clip below), and that he was standing on principles espoused during his previous election campaign.

In discussing the soaring federal deficit and the need to cut spending, he lauded passage of the Control Spending Now Act provision to cancel unspent transportation earmarks, which won Senate approval last week on an 87-11 vote. He said the amendment could save taxpayers at least $478 million a year and considerably more over time.

Feingold also lent his support to an amendment to place a year-long ban on earmarks, although the move was defeated; he likewise endorsed a plan by House Republicans to impose a year-long prohibition on earmarks.

Another subject that came up during a pre-session interview was unemployment. Feingold said the new jobs bill, which President Obama signed into law last week, includes a payroll tax break to make it a bit easier to business to hire more workers.

“But even with this bipartisan effort becoming law, we must remain focused on creating jobs and strengthening the economy. And since the new payroll tax break expires at the end of the year, more must be done. I strongly favor the approach my own jobs tax credit bill takes, which is to provide firms with a tax break for the next two years to help them expand their payroll and put people back to work.”

Other questions dealt with illegal immigration sparking a testy exchange with Kim Simac of Eagle River, a member of the Northwoods Patriots Group (see video clip below). Deficit spending and global warming also came up, but the subject that was on most minds was health care.

Dr. William Raduege, a family physician who works in Land O’ Lakes, Wis., representing the Wisconsin Medical Society, said there should be a permanent fix for what he called the flawed Medicare payment system for doctors and hospitals, without which access to care would be threatened and limited. (see video clip below)

As the health care debate winds down this weekend and the House is on the verge of an up-or-down vote, Democrats appeared confident that the measure would pass after several months of contentious debate, which has not only split both major parties but also the country, according to public opinion polls. House Democrats were quoted Sunday morning as saying they had enough votes -- at least 216 are needed -- to pass the bill.

Before the listening session, Feingold, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke with NN.N about a new strain in U.S.-Israeli relations stemming from the Israeli government's announced plans to expand settlements in east Jerusalem, and the growing possibility that former Wisconsin governor and Republican Tommy Thompson may run against him this fall. (see video clip below). Feingold was first elected senator in 1992 and is seeking a third term

Republican Women of the North, Northern WI, rwotnorth@gmail.com