Pahrump’s Conservatives and Progressives Demonstrate
Yesterday, August 24, the conservatives and progressives of Pahrump met outside the Town Office of Pahrump while the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid met inside with Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo.
I was told that the conservative demonstrators outnumbered the progressives 3-1.
I didn’t see see any firearms nor fights. I could hear some loud arguing going on, but other than that there was no breach of the peace observed. I saw no cops. The two groups kept a respectable separation from each other.
The conservative group obviously doesn’t like Harry Reid or healthcare reform.
Updated: Wednesday, August 26, 2009:
The Pahrump Valley Times has a couple of stories about Senator Harry Reid’s visit to Pahrump on Monday, August 24 which fits in here. (See Reid on Stump in Pahrump). The issue of the PVT won’t be online until sometime later today but I’ll manually try to type (now known as keyboarding) it in here to complete the posting on this topic. So, bear with me. There are two stories on the Times’ front page about his visit.
Mark Waite reported that Senator Reid, in a closed door meeting with “a couple of town and county officials” discussed some topics.
He addressed what was described as a $1 million request for a reconnaisance study of Wheeler Wash. That is a “10-acre entrance to the Last Chance Park site and a Municipal Utility District that would allow recycled effluent to be used to water the fairgrounds site.”
Additionally, “A press release from town manager Bill Kohbarger said the Pahrump Airport and a railroad spur also was discussed.”
Reid said town officials had a good plan for a recreational complex at the fairgrounds with baseball and soccer fields. It was Reid who first announced the 426 acre property was awarded to the town in a congressional act 10 years ago,” reported Waite.
Reid said “The most important thing is to be able to do something with sewer and water. What we need to try to do to help is have a municipal utility district–it’s called a MUD.”
So we set it up where there would be 10 acres which would be an entry way to all those thousands of acres for people to have an equestrian trial, to have walking trails.
(Note: All that for some equestrian walking trails? Lord mercy, seems to me there is plenty of space in Pahrump where one can walk. I don’t understand why any of that is necessary. As to the sewer and water thing, I can only say I don’t know much about that. My wife and I live on a 1.25 acre plot with our own water well and a septic tank for sewage which is working well for us. Incidentally, the well and septic tank was put in by County Commissioner Butch Borasky and have served us well for the past six years. But I realize there are other residents of Pahrump that are tied into a different system.)
There have been some discussions, Reid said, with the Paiute Indian tribe about completing a proposed 230-kilovot power line extension from the Valley Electric Association grid to connec with NV Energy in northwest Las Vegas.
Reid acknowledged he hadn’t heard about Wheeler Wash before. He did say that “[d]etention basins could be built to help drain water coming down Wheeler Wash without spending $200 million to $300 million.”
Putting on his election campaign hat, Reid said “Nye County has benefitted from economic stimulus money already. There will be more money for transmission lines to spur renewable energy projects in Nye County, feeding the power generated to populated areas.”
“We need to look at what can be done to get these renewable energy projects up and running,” he said.
“Local officials are in support of renewable energy projects in Nye County,” Reid said. Government officials asked for a six month extension on a deadline to break ground in 2010 in order to be eligible for tax breaks in the stimulus package.
Then the report by Waite turns to the guts of what this blog post topic is about: healthcare reform. Here is what the PVT reported what Senator Reid had to say about that:
On a national scale, the debate over health care reform has been front and center lately. Reid said American today spends one-sixth of every $1 on health care, a figure that will rise to one-third in 10 years.
Reid heaped blame on the insurance industry for spreading false information about health care reform. He siad the insurance industry and most Republicans don’t want any bill on health care reform at all.
“The status quo helps the insurance industry. The insurance industry is the biggest benefactor of what we have now. The insurance industry wants everything to be just the way it is.”
The American public should have the same privileges federal employees have to pick the health insurance coverage they want, regardless of pre-conditions.
There is no socialized medicine. This is all a figment of someone’s imagination. No one’s talking about a single-payer system, but what we are talking about is a public option of keeping insurance companies honest.
Democrats would have 60 votes in the Senate to pass health care reform, but Senators Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., (Note: Senator Kennedy has now died) and Robert Byrd, D-W.Va, are sick. One Republican, Olympia Snowe from Maine, is in favor of health care reform.
One of the things that the insurance industry has done, together with all the Republican leadership in Congress, is they don’t want a bill. They know how successful some of our programs have been in in the4 past, like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid–all imperfect programs but all good programs and kind of like the face of the Democratic party. We want to do some health care now and take another whack at the insurance industry, but the Republicans aren’t helping us. We want bipartisanship. We’re doing everything we can.
There’s waste in the health care system that can be cut. The pharmaceutical industry spends 70 percent of its money on marketing, not research. Medicare isn’t allowed to negotiate for lower-priced drugs.
…
At town hall meetings, not everyone that comes is in love with me, is in love with the federal government. But in the past people weren’t trying to disrupt meetings. People have a right to speak up, but it’s not even a fine line, it’s a bright line between asking questions and disrupting meetings, yelling and screaming.
That basically, covers what Mark Waite reported in his story. Now let me turn to the second story on the front page of the PVT written by Gina B. Good. She wrote:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev, made several stops in Pahrump on Monday, addressing local, county and national issues (see story above).
His small entourage visited the town office, where he met with town board Chairman Nicole Shupp and Vice Chairman Bill Dolan, Town Manager Bill Kohbarger, County Manager Rick Osborne and Assistant County Manager Pam Webster. County Commissioners Lorinda Wichman and Joni Eastley as well as town Economic Development Director Al Balloqui were also present.
Reid next held a press conference, followed by a meeting at the Veterans of Foreign Wars building where he spoke with VFW and American Legion members.
It was a long day for Reid, who had traveled from Searchlight and no doubt had more stops to make on what was his first swing through Pahrump on the way to the 2010 elections.
The trip came none too soon for Reid.
A statewide poll of 400 registered voters taken last week by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc., an independent polling firm, puts Reid behind at least two challengers. He is 11 percent behind former University of Nevada-Las Vegas basketball player Danny Tarkanian, now a Las Vegas businessman and the son of retired basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, best known as Tark the Shark, who led his UNLV team to a national title.
In the same poll, State GOP Chairman Sue Louden also leads Reid by 5 percentage points, although she has not officially declared declared her candidacy.
However, Monday was all about Reid, and as his vehicle turned into the entrace of the town office, he was greeted by Pahrump residents holding signs both for and against varous issues. There were also protesters carrying homemade “Bury Harry” and “Goodbye Dirty Harry” signs. One man made a sign portraying President Barack Obama as a clown.
Reid didn’t actually encounter any protesters as he was guided into a cleared town office for the meeting. But it was a long, hot morning for those waiting outside.
A group favoring House Bill HR 676 staked its claim along Highway 160.
HR 676, is the National Health Insurance Act, introduced by Congressman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich, who represents Detroit. Conyers’ Web site states the bill’s purpose is “to ensure that every American, regardless of income, employment status, or race, has access to quality, affordable health care services.”
According to organizer Margery Kay Behrens, who has lived in Pahrump for 15 years, “Organizing for America” has requested our presence to greet Harry Reid and the tea baggers with signs, banners and ‘tea’-shirts in support of HR 676, single-payer health care.”
Disabled Vietnam veteran Oscar Guajardo (Ms. Good didn’t get Oscar’s last name correctly) was with Behrens, holding a professionally printed sign supporting Latinos for Obama. “Medicare, Medicaid and the VA are all run by the government,” he said. “So the concept that the government can’t run anything is not true. I don’t know what I would be able to do without my VA and Medicare.”
Guajardo moved to Pahrump about 10 years ago and has a daughter attending Floyd Elementary School. “When I was in the military,” he said, “they were very good to me.”
Sara Mendez said she is transplanted Canadian. “I have a sister with skin grafts and she didn’t have to pay a penny because she pays about $36 a month for health care.” Mendez also mentioned a brother in Canada who had an aorta replaced without paying anything.
Her husband, Bill Mendez, said Spain is rated seventh for their health care by the World Health Organization. He quoted a Spanish doctor as saying, “There is no such thing as being socialist in medicine–we are humanistic.” The Mendez’ have lived in Pahrump for two years.
A few steps away, a trio of protesters, with home made signs had other thoughts, centering on self-reliance and states’ rights.
Katreen Romanoff said, “Society is swerving away from respect and consideration of the individual and it comes from the top down. Harry Reid doesn’t want to face a town hall meeting because of those few on television.”
Romanoff aslo mentioned she was against a global government and was afraid with the tremendous debt the administration is foisting upon the country that the whole monetary system could collapse.
Sandy Darby said her husband, Mike, a member of the town board, was invited to join Reid’s meeting in the town office, but declined.
About HR 676, she said, “It’s nice those people over there want everyone to have health care, but can we afford to pay for it? Health care should be left to the individual and to state law, not to the federal government.
“What’s going to motivate people to work? What’s going to be left? We know what’s best for our state. Harry Reid went in the back door so he wouldn’t have to listen to us.”
Sal Ledesma didn’t mince words. “We should remove Reid as a senator. He doesn’t represent the state of Nevada. He represents Washington, D.C. He is not a resident of Nevada any longer.”
Long-time resident Harley Kulkin was standing with Ted Holmes and others in the parking lot of the town office. They did not carry signs.
For the most part, the 30 or so people waiting outside the town office stayed in their own groups. However, a shouting match erupted when Shirley Matson, holding an anti-Reid and anti-Obama sign left her group near the side entrace to the office and walked up to the highway to check out the supporters favoring single-payer health care.
“She started it. She called me dumb; that crossed the line,” said a man supporting the health care plan as he and others in his group herded Matson back toward her own group. “Your evil tactics are going to kill this country,” he shouted at her.
Matson, who has lived in Pahrump for two years, was angry but regained her cool quickly. “We’re just individuals–moms and grandpas–who don’t agree with Obamacare. A few of us old broads got together and made our own sins.
“I am 60 years old. What if I need a hip replacement? Will I get it or will I just be told to take Tylenol?”
On page A4 of the Times was the following:
While U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev, isn’t hosting a town hall meeting on health care reform in person in Pahrump, two local party activists are.
Republican Dan Schinhofen and Democrat Jack Wood will co-sponsor the Pahrump town hall meeting from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Pahrump Nugget Convention Center.
The meeting will be videotaped and a copy sent to the Nevada Congressional delegation.
Reid will hold a town hall teleconference from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Friday. Interested parties need to register online at http://www.reid.senate.gov by noon, Thursday. Only people with a 702 or 775 area code may participate.
After a five minute briefing, Reid will be available to answer questions by telephone.
Whomever wrote that notice is mistaken about one point, I’m not a “co-sponsor” of the event. I don’t frankly know who is sponsoring it or paying the Pahrump Nugget for the use of their facility. My involvement came about when Dan Schinhofen phoned me and asked if I would be a co-moderator, whatever that is and I agreed.
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4 comments
Thanks for all your efforts Jack!
Thanks for reading it Frank. Without readers, like you, there would be no blog.
Jack, I can only agree with what others have written. We need people like yourself to sort things out for those of us who are unwilling to take the time to find out what is being proposed or what is best for us as a nation for ourselves. I enjoy your comments, but at the same time I don’t want you to put yourself in harm’s way. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the comment and concern Marge.
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