Thursday, August 27, 2009
10:16 AM
Health care reform advocates support Kagen in Green Bay
U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Appleton, was greeted by hostile crowds at several health care town hall meetings earlier this month, but got a more friendly reception Wednesday from a pro-reform crowd on the UW-Green Bay campus.
The event featured a standing-room only crowd filling the student union at a rally sponsored by 20 groups, including the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO, JOSHUA, Citizen Action of Wisconsin and Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups.
Kagen told audience members he supports reforming health care, but wouldn’t specify a particular congressional proposal. He also said there was still a lot to be done on the legislative side.
"The bill is not over. We're in about the fourth inning," Kagen said. "This discussion is going to go on and on until we get it right. We're going to take our time to get it right, because we can't afford to get it wrong."
The allergist said he would not support health care reform that denies health care to Americans with pre-existing conditions.
"When you discriminate against any citizen, it's immoral, it's un-American and it cannot stand. It's going to end this year," he said.
A handful of conservative protesters gathered outside the UWGB union, while 2,000 mostly conservative activists attended an Americans for Prosperity rally opposed to the current reform proposals in Middleton. The event featured former GOP U.S. Rep. Scott Klug and ABC News correspondent John Stossel.
See more WisPolitics coverage here.
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