Reply #22: Really good article in the Globe:

[beachmom]

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/somerville/2009/09/mostly_friendly_crowd_greets_k.html

Mostly Friendly Crowd greets Kerry at Somerville town hall

By Travis Andersen, Town Correspondent

Senator John F. Kerry said at his Town Hall meeting on Wednesday night that millions of Americans would lose their jobs in the next five years - among other calamities - if Congress does nothing to change the nation's health care system.

He addressed a mostly friendly crowd of about 2,800 at Somerville High School. Spectators packed the auditorium and gymnasium to hear his pitch for national health care reform.

"We cannot continue to be the only developed country in the world that does not cover everybody," the Massachusetts Democrat said to enthusiastic applause in his opening remarks.

If the uninsured population continues to climb, Kerry said, the nation would spend $7 trillion on health care by 2025; Medicare, the federal health plan for seniors, would go broke by 2017; and the average cost of a family health plan would reach $24,000 by 2016.

Go to the link and read the rest.

Also, as a side note, if you want to give a newspaper a "tip" for an article, then click one of their ads. They get paid if you click through an ad. Weirdly enough, I saw no ads on this page (it's a local coverage article from Somerville).