Is it a debate or a political smoke-screen?

It really came as no surprise to me that U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Fifth District, faced a mostly hostile crowd during his most recent town hall meeting in Campbell County last week. So far, Perriello has held nearly 20 such public forums in an attempt to explain proposed congressional legislation aimed at national health care reform.

Across the nation, most of those “public information” sessions have been described as loud, ugly affairs. On the surface, it would appear that a majority of people attending these meetings are against such federal legislation, but one has to wonder if what these folks are against is what is actually being considered or what they have been told the bills contain. Sadly, there has been a lot of misinformation and outright lies.

Remember folks, this is still more about politics and big money than it is about fixing a broken health care system that leaves millions of Americans without any coverage whatsoever — and millions more subject to the whims of the health insurance giants. Something has to be done to correct the flaws in the system. The real questions are what to do and how to do it.

At the strange place where politics and policy meet, there is hardly ever a clear right or wrong. There are always self interests that must be protected at any cost. In this instance, the debate is being funded by the huge, well-funded health care lobby versus the White House.

It may surprise you to learn that more than $57 million has been spent by interest groups on both sides of this public policy advertising war.

Opponents want you to see this overhaul as a government takeover of health care. But short on actual facts to support that point, somebody came up with rumors that the legislation would create “death panels” to kill off the elderly, fund abortions or provide health care for illegal aliens.

None of these things are being proposed.

In fact, there is not even one single piece of legislation because neither the House nor Senate have come up with a final version which to vote for or against.

Meantime, supporters of health care reform want you to view the plan as an end of insurance industry abuses like dropping you when you get sick, or denying you coverage for pre-existing conditions. They have maintained that no one wants to take away your choice of doctor or force you to change your present insurance plan if you are satisfied with it.

In addition to President Barack Obama’s White House, other supporters of the reform plan now includes a broad coalitions of for-profit hospitals, doctors, drugs companies and unions that have spent $12 million to buy advertising to support reform. One major supporter of the health care reform plan is the AARP.

The irony of this fight is that right now the president is getting hit from all sides. Republicans, desperate for any issue to discredit the Obama administration, have chosen this as his “Waterloo.” Progressive Democrats are upset with him because he has continued to try to make this effort bipartisan in nature, despite that fact that the GOP will not agree to anything — including its own amendments to the proposals.

This is a big mess, and it is likely to get even messier, but remember this is more about politics and money than it is about reforming health care. Never forget that one sad fact.

So, the next time Congressman Perriello, or anyone else from Congress holds a town hall meeting, don’t be to quick to believe everything you hear about what happened there. Some of the folks there might not be your neighbors, but instead may be people paid to go in to “raise hell” so you can’t get answers to legitimate concerns.

This is a major policy debate, not another political game. Get your own facts and don’t be mislead by unsubstantiated assertions. Everyone of us has a stake in this one, but there are always people willing to “throw us all under the bus” if that’s what it takes to achieve their own ends.

* Fisher of Danville is a businessman, documentary filmmaker and freelance writer, and is the former bureau chief for KDFW, a CBS affiliate in Fort Worth, Texas. You may contact him at johnfisher@john-fisheronline.com.