The Congress is home listening to the people and the senators and representatives are getting an earful. While America voices its wants and concerns, health care has become a political football with Republicans and Democrats trading barbs and accusations.

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The latest from the halls of Congress are educated guesses the Democrats may have to abandon any signs of bipartisanship and go it alone.

The political maneuvering will go on for a few more weeks but the heated debate, such as seen during Congressman G.K. Butterfield’s town hall last week, may never end.

At the gathering in Rocky Mount, several Valley residents spoke out voicing their concerns with the myriad of health programs being debated. Several people were bothered by Butterfield’s approach asserting he had already made up his mind.

“I would like to know why decisions have already been made before they have a neighborhood meeting ... They are trying to decide to do something that affects all of our lives. You are suppose to have a town hall meeting before a decision is made. The Congress should want to know how we feel before they make their decision. Our congressman had made up his mind,” William “Billy” Green told the Daily Herald.

Phil Hux agreed with Green’s assessment. “I thought it was for him (Butterfield) to listen to the people and then make up his mind. The town hall was staged. This isn’t the democratic process. He had made up his mind and was listening. I don’t see why he had the meeting.”

While many people agree reform is needed, how that reform evolves is the crux of the debate.

Will Mahone is at the center of the health care issue, he is CEO of Halifax Regional Medical Center.

He listened to the people and the congressman and then offered his thoughts. “Many of those in health care are glad to see the problems of the health care system discussed in such detail. We have watched this system become more and more complicated and these discussions identify the problems in the current system.”

Mahone pointed out over the years the system as “incrementally become so poorly organized when you try to fix it your are nearly over come with the complexity.”

He added it would be hard to judge the impact of health care reform until an actual bill is formulated. Currently there are at least five bills with different approaches and costs floating around the nation’s capitol.

Cary Whitaker was direct in his concerns. “I think it is a bad idea. No one would want to trust the government to run 1/6 of the economy when it can’t run the postal service or get the clunker program right from the start.”

Editor’s note: We will have more reactions from local residents to the drive for health care reform in the coming days. We invite our readers to submit their thoughts to Our Readers’ Views at the Daily Herald, 916 Roanoke Ave., Roanoke Rapids, or via e-mail to johnmoeur@rrdailyherald.com.