Kagen gets another earful

MARINETTE - About 150 people packed into the Marinette Senior Center for the fourth listening session in three days by U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen, D-8th Dist. Unlike some previous meetings, where the listening quickly turned into shouting, the Marinette meeting was mostly civil.

"We distrust what's going on and how it works in Washington," one man told Kagen.

The crowd was overwhelmingly opposed to the health care reforms being talked about in Washington.

"There's no way that we could afford this," Jan Wiesneth from Porterfield told FOX 11. She said she fears the plan could lead to a government take over of the health care system.

"I really feel that's just an outrageous thing and actually not constitutional," Wiesneth said.

Others here say the system needs to be fixed.

"I've always thought the profit motive is not consistent with health care," Francis Lewandowski from Beaver said.

Kagen told FOX 11 he's heard a lot of concerns from people over the last few days but that he's committed to reforming the system. In fact that's why he ran for Congress in the first place.

"We want everyone to get the care they need when and where they need it at a price they can afford to pay for it," Kagen said.

As for the shouting and protests at some previous meetings, specifically in Green Bay, Kagen said he believes the insurance industry is to blame.

"People are telling me that there are newspaper reports out there that would suggest that the insurance industry through a lobbyist encouraged people to disrupt conversation between people with their congressman," Kagen said.

Others say it's simply the people standing up for what they believe.

"I think there's a lot of passion and worry out there and concern for the federal government to invade people's private lives so incredibly," Wiesneth said.

FOX 11 did try to reach the spokesman for a national health insurance association to get their thoughts on Kagen's comments, but they did not return our call.

Kagen has another listening session scheduled for Thursday morning in Kewaunee.