Of course all of the coverage" is wrapped in the Democrat viewpoint.
VIDEO DEBATE: KGMB can't even cover the event, instead they have to drag Larry Mehau associate Brian Schatz into it.
VIDEO: KITV
VIDEO: KHON
KHON article: The Debate Over Healthcare Reform Hits Honolulu
The town hall was lead by City Councilman and Congressional Candidate Charles Djou.
Some expressed frustration Hawaii's congressional delegation has not scheduled similar public forums.
"Our elected representatives didn't hold one meeting."
"It clearly shows there's a lot of concerns that Hawaii residents have about healthcare and healthcare reform," says Charles Djou, (R) Congressional Candidate.
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Djou releases survey from Town Hall
I wanted to thank everyone who came out on Tuesday night for Hawaii’s first and so far, only Health Care Town Hall meeting. Nearly 300 concerned citizens came out to share their thoughts about Congress’ proposal to reform our health care system.
If given the honor to serve as your Congressman, I will never hide from discussing difficult issues and will always be open, honest and accessible to our community. If you agree and want to help accomplish this goal, click here to make a contribution or here to sign up to volunteer.
The strong showing clearly illustrated that the people of Hawaii have serious questions and concerns about this plan that deserve to be directly addressed by Hawaii’s congressional delegation. Unfortunately, our representatives decided that hearing from their constituents was not important enough to hold any public meetings.
To insure that the attendees had an opportunity to let our congressional delegation know how they feel, we provided a petition which asked, “Do you support Congress’ proposal to reform our health care system?” Here are the results of the 118 people who signed the petition.
5 people or 4% said Yes
14 people or 14% were Undecided
96 people or 81% said NO
It is clear that our representatives are not listening to their constituents. I am running for Congress because the people of Hawaii deserve better. I need your help to insure that I have the opportunity to bring a new brand of representation to Washington DC from Hawaii.
The well funded special interest groups that protect our current congressional delegation will do everything in their power to preserve the status quo. We can defeat them and your help and financial contributions are essential to overcoming their misguided priorities. With your support we can return our government to the people in 2010.
As always, let me know if you have any questions or comments, I greatly value your input.
Mahalo for all your support!
Charles Djou
www.Djou.com
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CHARLES DJOU ON THE HAWAII HEALTHCARE TOWNHALL FORUM
Honolulu City Councilmember Charles K. Djou (Waikiki, East Honolulu), Republican candidate for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District seat, reacted to the townhall forum on healthcare that he sponsored this evening at McKinley High School. Hawaii is the only state in the nation where not a single member of its Congressional delegation held a single townhall forum on healthcare.
“I’m pleased with the over 200 people that turned out for the townhall discussion on healthcare reform this evening. I think this forum offered a balanced presentation, educated all attendees, and showed the real concern the people of Hawaii have regarding the future of American healthcare,” stated Djou. “I am disappointed Hawaii’s congressional delegation decided against hearing directly from Hawaii residents, but I am hopeful that tonight’s discussion will further continued dialogue between residents and our elected officials.”
Djou supports healthcare reform, but prefers such reform include medical malpractice tort reform, the sale of inter-state health insurance and equalizing the way health insurance is taxed between corporations and individuals.
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RELATED: Djou calls Hawaii Healthcare townhall meeting
Health care fires up crowd
The meeting, hosted by Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou, who is running in the Republican primary for Congress in urban Honolulu's 1st Congressional District, was dominated by conservatives and other opponents who believe Obama is rushing reform through Congress. Djou called the meeting after the state's congressional delegation opted not to schedule town hall meetings on the issue during the August recess....
Speakers invited by Djou were Linda Rasmussen, a doctor and advocate for medical-malpractice insurance reform; Pearl Hahn, a policy analyst at the conservative-to-libertarian Grassroot Institute, who opposes employer-mandated health insurance in favor of greater market competition; and Bruce Bottorff, the associate state director of the AARP, who backed Obama's reform goals.
Many in the audience directed their anger at Bottorff, booing and jeering when he spoke. When Bottorff described the argument that health care reform would lead to "socialized medicine" as a myth, he was showered with jeers and shouts of "Liar!"
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IT TAKES A REPUBLICAN TO FINALLY HOLD A HEALTHCARE TOWN HALL
Councilman Charles Djou showed great leadership last night initiating what should have been the responsibility of our elected congressional delegation.
Why didn’t Hawai`i’s Congressional Delegation step up to the plate and face their constituencies here in the islands?
Because an informed electorate means a greater chance that “ObamaCare” initiatives will fail. The Delegation’s inaction is orchestrated to protect their political careers and self-serving interests. By keeping Hawai`i people misinformed and not providing a venue for open debate, Democrats and their controlling special interests hope to cling to power for another 50 years.
The people of Hawai`i are merely asking for an opportunity to voice their opinions and have their questions addressed before votes are taken on Capitol Hill. It is the same opportunity given to millions of constituents across the states by their elected members of Congress. Isn’t that what democracy is all about?
Who is looking out for the people? With the self-proclaimed “#1 Earmarks Guy” leading the way to more government waste and higher taxes, Hawai`i’s people must stand up and say enough is enough. We must demand real change that makes a difference for the people, not the powerbrokers.
The Hawai`i Republican Party believes real health care reform includes the “3 C’s”:
Care: Preserve the quality of the world’s most advanced medical system.
Choice: Freedom to choose your insurance providers and the level of coverage you want from your own personal care physician.
Cost: Tort reform, which reduces defensive medical practice, opening up the local markets for increased competition and reduction in bureaucracy.
Last evening’s forum showed that indeed the people of Hawai`i are demanding to be heard. Our state deserves more courageous leaders like Councilman Djou instead of the negligent Democrat delegation we currently have in Congress that continue to put special interests and their selfish power-grab first, instead of the will of the people.
Aloha,
Jonah Ka‘auwai, Chairman Hawaii Republican Party
www.HawaiiGOP.com