At town halls around the country, many flooded by more
protesters than event organizers anticipated, lawmakers returning from
Washington are finding constituents don't want to listen; they want to be heard.
"Why won't you let the people speak?" shouted one protester in Tampa, Fla., at a
public forum where Rep. Cathy Castor, D-Fla., attempted to pitch Obama's health
care reform plan to her constituency.
The Tampa protest made national headlines afterward, as dozens of protesters
were pushed out the door in a scuffle, some claiming to have received injuries,
and the doors were locked to bar their chanting protest: "You work for us!"
But even inside the locked doors, many in the crowd didn't want to listen to
their legislator's reasons for advocating a federal health care plan.
When Castor tried to tell the crowd that those who currently pay for their own
health insurance, either privately or through their employer, would benefit the
most from legislation being considered in Washington, she was drowned out by
disbelieving citizens. "Bull----!" shouted protesters inside the room. "No we're not!"
Video of the eruption can be seen below, though the clip does contain flagrant
and repeated profanity:
Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Wis., got a raucous earful as well, when
hundreds of people inside and outside the Green Bay town hall demanded their
representative read thoroughly the health care reform bill, which many people
believe is being pushed too quickly through Congress.
On the Fox News Channel, a Wisconsin man who attended the town hall meeting
explained he wanted to express the message, "We don't feel that Washington is
listening to us."
He told host Bill Hemmer, "The way the Congress has been acting in general
lately is in my mind totally unconstitutional. They want to take one of the most
important issues in my life, which is health care, they want to say that they
are going to reform it but they haven't even read the bill."
"I will continue to exercise my First Amendment rights until
this government exhibits some form of willingness to communicate with the
people," the guest explained.
As WND has reported, incumbent Democrats returning from Washington across
the country are being forced to suspend meetings with their constituents,
screaming protesters are being dragged out of events by police and officials are
being greeted by protest signs and chants.
Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have noticed the firestorm over the
past few months, and both have released comments to explain the phenomenon.
"These are nothing more than destructive efforts to interrupt a debate that
we should have, and are having," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., told the Associated
Press. "They are doing this because they don't have any better ideas. They have
no interest in letting the negotiators, even though few in number, negotiate.
It's really simple: they're taking their cues from talk show hosts, Internet
rumor-mongerers ... and insurance rackets."
Atonia Ferrier, spokeswoman for House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio,
however, had a different take.
"All the polls show there is serious concern, if not outright opposition, to
the president's health care plan," she told the Associated Press.
The volatile situation has resulted in a new tactic from the White House.
"If you get hit, we will punch back twice as hard," said deputy chief of
staff Jim Messina, according to a report in Politico.
The comments came as senators in support of Obama's health care plan were
told to do more preparation than usual for their public meetings expected during
the coming recess time.
All across the country, legislators coming to their home districts in attempt
to sell the health care plan to constituents are being met with fierce
opposition and huge crowds:
Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was
confronted by self-described Democrats who accused their representative
of lying about health reform and protested, "Why would you try to stuff a
health care plan down our throats in a couple days when the president took
six months to pick a dog for his kids?"
In Mehlville, Mo., protesters lined up around the block of the Bernard
Middle School gym where Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., had planned a public
forum. When hundreds were left standing on the street, they remained outside
into the evening. Eventually, a union representative reportedly assaulted
one of the protesters, Kenneth Gladney, which lead to six arrests, including
a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. Gladney
later appeared in an interview on the Fox News Channel explaining the
attack, which drew national attention.
A video posted on
YouTube, one of many from around the country, reportedly shows several
hundreds standing outside in a stunningly long line, waiting to get into a
packed town hall meeting on health care with Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga.
WND
reported the story of Mike Sola, a Michigan father who confronted
Dingell in a separate meeting over what he feared Obamacare would do to his
handicapped adult son. Sola
later reported he was threatened at his home, at night, by supporters of
the government health care plan.
At a health care town hall event in Syracuse, N.Y., in July, police were
called in to restore order, and at least one heckler was taken away by local
police.
Close to 100 sign-carrying protesters greeted Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla.,
at a late June community college small-business development forum in Panama
City, Fla.
Danville, Va., anti-tax tea party activists claimed they were "refused
an opportunity" to ask Rep. Thomas Perriello, D-Va., a question at a town
hall event and instructed by a plainclothes police officer to leave the
property after they attempted to hold up protest signs.
A handful of New York's congressmen, including Democrats Brian Higgins
and Louise Slaughter and Republican Chris Lee,
have
shunned the town hall meetings altogether, opting instead for telephone
meetings or no meetings at all.
The constituents of Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., unable to access their
representative through a town hall meeting,
created a video charging that Tanner has met with Michael Moore and
Fidel Castro, "But he won't meet his constituents in the 8th District to
talk about health care."
Meanwhile,
as WND
reported, pre-written questions from participants with track records of
campaigning and organizing for Obama have led some to believe the president
has been stacking his own town halls with "plants." The practice, some
allege,
may also be in use at other, purportedly open public forums.
The biggest source of protests are the health-care bill, the $787 billion
economic stimulus package and the cap-and-trade legislation. They're also angry
about Barack Obama's refusal to release his birth certificate to prove he is a
"natural born citizen" and constitutionally eligible to serve in the White
House.
According to an Associated Press report, Obama's top political adviser, David
Axelrod, showed Senators in D.C. video of some of the boisterous town-hall
meetings and discussed how to respond to disruptions.
"It's a challenge, no question about it, and you've got to get out there and
make the case," Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., said afterward. "This is not the
time for the faint-hearted."