Moore constituents voice opinions on health care, government’s reach at Rep. Tom Cole's forum

MOORE — Nearly 500 people attended a town hall meeting Tuesday afternoon with U.S. Rep. Tom Cole. The discussion ranged from the power of the federal government to debate on national health care reform.

The crowd cheered, booed and at times even shouted over each other, but for the most part remained civil as Cole explained for more than two hours the issues before Congress. Cole’s town hall meeting is one of many he and other federal lawmakers across the country have scheduled during the August recess.

"Let’s let the national debate go on,” said Cole, R-Moore. "I think this is a very healthy process, and somewhere along the way we’ll find some sort of middle ground.”

A common theme was clear: Many in Cole’s district believe the federal government’s reach is growing larger and spending is out of control.

"This is just a giant grab by the federal government to take more and more of our freedoms,” said Lyn Francik, who lives in southeastern Oklahoma City. "Yes we can, but we don’t need government to help us. We need government to get out of the way.”

Francik looked bewildered as her comments drew cheers and a standing ovation from the packed room.

"We live in a very blessed nation, and sometimes we make mistakes and sometimes we undo them,” Cole said. "This dialogue is a good thing.”

‘A huge debate’

Cole said he doesn’t support the current health care reform bill that’s before Congress and isn’t in favor of a health care plan to create a single-payer system.

Instead, Cole said, he favors medical liability reform that could lower the cost of medicine, creating a national market for health insurance, allowing small businesses to pool their resources to buy health insurance for employees and allowing people to pay for health insurance with pretax dollars.

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