The Texas Observer

Lloyd Doggett held another “townhall” meeting this Saturday, this time outside CommUnityCare, a non-profit health care clinic that serves a low-income, largely minority clientiele.

In a sign that Democrats and universal health care advocates are perhaps figuring out how to counter right-wing tactics, the event was spirited but civil and the reformers took control of the event. It looked little like the mob scene at the Randall’s last Saturday.

At the invitation of the clinic, both Doggett and Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who has suggested that the Obama plans might lead to a “single-payer, Washington-run system,” made an appearance. Cornyn left after the short press event, driving away in a SUV as protesters in the Doggett camp booed him. Outside the clinic, about 200 people stuck around for the townhall, a mix of local Democrats, progressive activists, “tea bag” types, Ron Paul libertarians, and some fans of Alex Jones, the Austin talk radio host and conspiracy theorist. Fans of reform outnumbered opponents about two-to-one.

“After what happened last Saturday, I figured Lloyd needed some help,” said Kent Johnson, who carried a sign reading “Insurance Costs Doubled Under Bush/The Right Did Nothing.” Of the protesters trying a repeat of the supermarket uprising, he said, “They tried but they were outnumbered.” Doggett supporters fanned out in front of the speaker’s podium, loudly cheering the congressman and others speaking in favor of health care reform. When the antis tried to drown Doggett out with cries of “Socialism!” or “Just Say No!,” self-appointed enforcers would push back with forceful “shushes.” One man carried a sign that simply said: “You Can Disagree Without Being Rude or Disruptive.”

George True, 35, used a bullhorn to tease the tea party people, a tactic he said he learned as an activist in Washington, D.C.

“Everyone’s scared of public speaking so you mock them,” he explained.

After stepping to the podium, Doggett called for a “civil discussion” and that’s mostly what he got.

“If the only thing coming out of this is the fight” - the squabbling and accusations - “that will be a defeat for health care,” Doggett said. “I hope you go away recognizing [a health care reform bill] is in your self-interest.”

The format of the townhall helped to defuse the tension. Each side took turns asking Doggett questions over a loudspeaker. (P.A. systems, as all good activists know, are magical things.)

A Travis County Republican precinct chair asked about the $1.6 trillion price-tag affixed to a version of the legislation by the Congressional Budget Office. Another woman said - like many at these events - that she’s “just scared.”

The health reform advocates focused on bringing the debate back to earth. One man spoke of running through three insurance policies for his sick wife in three years, all the while watching the premiums soar 67 percent. Even the militia types in the back, waving a “Come and Take It” flag, found that hard to jeer.

An older nurse described seeing patients falling through the cracks. “Everyone here needs health care so we can all be healthy,” she said. One man asked the congressman how best to repel the rumors about “ObamaCare,” such as the notion that the government will require euthanasia of senior citizens. “There are many people in this country who have died because they don’t have health insurance,” Doggett said. Of the rumors: “It is absolute nonsense.”

Single-payer advocates—a group that has dogged lawmakers at public events for years but received scant attention from the media—made their mark too. Doggett said he was open to single-payer, but that Obama had taken that option off the table at the onset of the health care debate.

At the end Doggett seemed pleased. “I think we’ve had a reasonable dialogue this morning,” he said. And he walked to his car with only his aides in tow.

The U.S. Department of Justice today released a scathing report on conditions in Texas’ 13 large institutions for the mentally retarded.

The facilities — known as state schools, though they’re not schools but rather repositories for the developmentally disabled of all ages — house roughly 5,000 patients and employ 11,000 staffers. They comprise the largest remaining system of mental institutions in the country.

The Department for Justice has been investigating the state schools for more than two years. Justice officials have sent a 60-page report to Gov. Perry’s office, concluding that poor treatment inside the facilities violated residents’ constitutional rights. You can read the AP story about the report here. (When the the full report is posted online, we will link to it.)

There have been numerous media reports of abuse inside the facilities. A six-month Observer investigation revealed horrific incidents of abuse, including a staffer who repeatedly bashed a resident’s head into a metal door. You can read our story here.

However, while there has been severe abuse inside state schools, some media reports have failed to put the abuses in context.

For instance, the Associated Press reported last spring that 800 state school employees had been suspended or fired for mistreating patients since 2004. That sounds awful. But keep in mind that the system employs more than 11,000 workers, and the turnover rate is more than 30 percent. So roughly 20,000 people have worked in state schools since 2004. That means less than 5 percent of the total workforce was suspended or fired. Moreover, staffers can be suspended for incidents as minor as making inappropriate jokes in front of residents. None of which ever excuses the horrific mistreatment that does go on and should be prevented. But some media reports have failed to detail the complex reality inside these institutions.

Some advocates have seized on the abuse reports to call for closure of the entire system. The families of many state school residents desperately want the facilities to remain open.

As we reported last spring, the root problem is a lack of resources.The facilities are understaffed. Employees are underpaid (some direct care staff earn fast-food wages). Turnover rates are high: among direct care staff at the Austin State School in 2007, the turnover rate was 70 percent.

These problems stem from a chronic shortage of funding from the Legislature. There is abuse in state schools. But the larger story — and the one lawmakers must address next session — is that these facilities require greater resources.