HOUMA — For more than an hour Saturday afternoon, U.S. Sen. David Vitter stood front and center inside the Houma Municipal Auditorium, warning the 200-plus attendees about the potential evils of government-run health care and promising them he will focus like a “laser” on the issue. “He was preaching to the choir here,” said Carl Wilkinson, 28, of Houma, who described himself as a conservative. Wilkinson praised Vitter’s performance but regretted that the meeting presented few opportunities to “win people over,” since almost everyone who attended seemed to share the senator’s views on the issue. Vitter’s town-hall meeting was the latest in a series of stops he’s made across the state since August, urging voters to rise up against the dangers he envisions from so-called “Obamacare.” “This is a big deal,” the senator said. “This affects every single American without exception. And this is about one-sixth of our economy.” Vitter, R-La., answered about 20 audience questions with ease, often drawing hearty applause and cheers. He said he wants to see four or five 30-page bills on specific health-care problems rather than a 1,900-plus-page bill like the one that emerged in the House last week. Problems Vitter said he would address in his shortened bills would: n Make insurance more affordable for people with pre-existing conditions. n Let people buy health insurance across state lines. n Allow businesses to pool their employee insurance plans across state lines to reduce costs. n Make cheaper prescription drugs available. n Enact tort-reform legislation that would, in part, reduce so-called “defensive” medicine in which doctors call for unnecessary tests just to cover their bases in case of a malpractice lawsuit. “A government option is the first step to socialized medicine,” Vitter said. “It’s crystal clear to see.” The senator was not the only person to make his points with gusto. Jane Griffin, a Thibodaux woman who works in the fuel-distribution industry, told the crowd she had seen “the future” when she read parts of the 1,900-plus-page health care bill backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. “In that future, I see misery, pain, heartbreak and the economic destruction of this nation,” Griffin said with a revivalist’s flair. “Tell us how you really feel,” Vitter deadpanned to the audience’s delight. There was scarcely a hint of an opposition viewpoint until Audrey George and her son, Arthur, arrived toward the program’s end with signs that voiced a decidedly different view than the rest of the audience. “Proud Republican,” Arthur George’s sign said on top. Underneath it read “Voted Obama.” The 38-year-old Houma resident’s arrival minutes after the question-and-answer portion ended stirred more debate than Vitter’s entire session. “I was the last person who talked to him and he high-tailed it out of there,” recalled Audrey George, a 70-year-old Houma resident who is a member of the Democratic National Committee. She reminded anyone in earshot that the health-care bill is far from finished and that people should not assume the worst. Besides, she said, the health-care problem could have been fixed already if not for the previous Republican administration’s actions. “If we ever get out of the war, the war President Bush brought us in, then we will be able to afford anything and everything,” Audrey George said.
