Kagen gets earful at listening session

GREEN BAY - Representative Steve Kagen, D-8th District, was greeted by an angry crowd inside the auditorium at the Brown County Library Monday night.

"Are you gonna vote for it?" one man screamed from the crowd.

Most of the hundreds of people inside came to voice their strong opposition to the health care reform being talked about in Congress.

"No government involvement," shouted another man, prompting the crowd of about 300 people to give a standing ovation. Outside, hundreds of other people gathered. They were frustrated that they could not get in because of the huge turnout.

"How can we be represented in a situation like this?" Greenville resident Wade Perluss told FOX 11.

Dennis Feldt from Green Bay said he came to have his voice heard.

"How in the world can we possibly cover the costs that are gonna be associated with this?" Feldt said.

Some in the crowd said they do support health care reform.

"I'm just sick and tired of hearing all the negative comments and the scare tactics and all that sort of thing," said Green Bay resident Audrey Hanson.

Kagen's staff was surprised by the turnout and tried to calm the crowd before the event. Kagen said he knows everyone is not on board with health care reform, but he's hoping to find common ground.

"This conversation we're having with the people here is all about how we're gonna work together to improve our system," Kagen said in an interview with FOX 11.

Inside the listening session, one man yelled to Kagen, "what makes you better qualified to do that?"

On this night, the conversation was pretty one-sided and that common ground appeared way out of reach.

Congressman Kagen is promising to hold another listening session in the Green Bay area. He already has two more planned for this week. One is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 10 am at the Thompson Community Center in Appleton. Another listening session is scheduled for Wednesday at 6 pm at the Senior Center in Marinette.