A crowd of local residents and a handful of state politicians gathered Thursday to hear the argument against government-organized health care.

The majority of the evening's speakers, which included Rep. Leah Vukmir, R-Wauwatosa, and a Wall Street Journal writer, focused on not raising taxes and squashing Healthy Wisconsin. The event was organized by Americans for Prosperity, an anti-tax increase group, and drew about 130 people.

Despite the subject matter being against Healthy Wisconsin, a bill that would provide health care for all Wisconsin residents and was supported mainly by Democrats, Sen. Pat Kreitlow and Rep. Jeff Smith, both local Democratic representatives, attended the event.

Vukmir said if health care were a free market, competition would cause prices to drop. Making people more informed about the costs of health care would help them make better decisions - like not going to the emergency room for a hangnail, she said.

Instead of the government establishing health care, it should "inject competition" into the sector.

Another speaker, insurance executive Gerald Frye, said Wisconsin would become a "health care magnet" if Healthy Wisconsin passed in the state Assembly. The state Senate has already passed it.

The bill would provide coverage to all Wisconsin residents, including illegal immigrants, pregnant women, domestic partners and dependent children - all of which Frye was against.

Kreitlow didn't agree and called Frye's words "ugly fear-mongering we reject in this state," in an interview.

He said he attended the event, where many attendees wore Republican Party pins, to monitor what the bill's opponents are saying so he can "correct the record and point out that this is a group that has not and cannot propose a plan of their own because they do not want things to change."

Kreitlow said much of what the speakers said at the event was misinformation. And when Vukmir told the crowd it bothers her when people give misinformation, Kreitlow said he wanted to tell her he agrees.

Banks can be reached at 830-5840, 800-236-7077 or emily.banks@ecpc.com.