Freedom Line spirits high after anti-HR 3962 rally

Mark Lastinger

THOMASVILLE — The sagging bouquet of black balloons floating in front of Rep. Sanford Bishop’s office doorway Saturday morning didn’t reflect the spirits of the group that left them there the day before.

The Freedom Line remains upbeat after its latest rally against HR 3962, the “Affordable Health Care for America Act” the House of Representatives passed last week by a 220-215 vote. Bishop was one of the supporters of the proposal that Democrats claim will cost $900 billion and independent analysts say will cost between $1.3 trillion and $2.4 trillion.

“We had a phenomenal turnout, about 70 people,” Freedom Line organizer Kim Weckwert said. “We had at least 10 or 15 that came from Bainbridge and we had some from Donalsonville. It was wild!”

Weckwert’s group, which has protested against the Democrats’ plans for health care reform several times since July, called for the rally after the Lowndes County Democratic Party circulated an e-mail invitation to HR 3962 supporters to celebrate the bill’s passage. They were asked to meet at Bishop’s Jackson Street office at 4:45 p.m. on Friday.

A Lowndes County Democratic Party member declined knowledge of the celebration on Thursday. She told the Times-Enterprise, “I’ve heard it’s on and I’ve heard it’s off. I can’t answer any of your questions.”

A Times-Enterprise reporter contacted Bishop’s Washington, D.C., office on Thursday and asked if the congressman would attend the reported Thomasville celebration. The reporter was referred to Martina Morgan, the person responsible for maintaining Bishop’s schedule. Despite a voice-mail assurance that Morgan promptly returns calls, the question still hasn’t been answered.

Bishop wasn’t spotted at his local office and it appears the celebration didn’t take place.

“I think we scared him off,” Weckwert said. “It seemed there was a little meeting with a handful of people in his office, but we far and away outnumbered them. It was a great night.”

Many in the Freedom Line carried anti-Bishop signs and black balloons that symbolized “the death of freedom.” The also shared pieces of a “Freedom Cake.”

“I am grateful to the people who came and gave of their time,” Weckwert said. “A lot of them told me they want to get involved. They said they don’t feel like they have any control of what is happening in our country.”

The Freedom Line believes HR 3962 is too costly. Bishop countered in a news release that it would save taxpayers $104 billion over the next 10 years.

Many in the Freedom Line voiced support for Republican Mike Keown, the only announced challenger for Bishop’s seat in next year’s election.

After HR 3962 passed last week, Keown said in a news release, “ “At a time when thousands of families in south Georgia can’t find work, I am amazed that Bishop would vote for a bill that is clearly going to be a job killer in every community in our district, throughout Georgia and around the nation. It is clear that there is a major disconnect between Sanford and the reality we all face here at home.”

Weckwert said there are a few Freedom Line members who are unemployed.

“The cost of gas to get into town is precious to them,” she said. “It speaks volumes that they would come join us.”

 Keown pooh-poohs Bishop’s savings claim, referring to it as an accounting trick of fixing physician reimbursement rates by $200 billion in a separate bill and through $400 billion in cuts to Medicare, and increasing mandates on state taxpayers in Medicaid.

During a visit to Thomasville on Thursday, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said HR 3962 would cost Georgia $2 billion in its first year.

Like the Freedom Line, Keown is not against health care reform. He just believes there is a better way to achieve it than HR 3962.

He said in his release, “Next year when the people of Georgia’s Second District send me to work for them in Washington, I will work to pass the 70 percent of health care reform Republicans and Democrats agree on — expanding choices, lowering cost through competition and more importantly I’ll focus on growing small businesses that will give families the resources they need to receive the health care coverage they want and deserve. Real jobs are the key.”

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