Gee, You Think Voters Are Genuinely Pissed? 'Lawmakers Argue Over Nature of Health Care Protests'

From Fox News, "Real or Contrived? Lawmakers Argue Over Nature of Health Care Protests":

Lawmakers battled Sunday over whether demonstrations against health care reform legislation at town hall meetings across the country are real or contrived.

One prominent Democrat continued to assert that scenes in which protesters are interrupting and shouting at reform proponents are "clearly being orchestrated," while the top Senate Republican said it's "absurd" for Democrats to criticize members of the public for being organized.

The fresh round of debate over the heated summertime sessions comes after a meeting in Des Moines with Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin was interrupted several times by critics in the audience. He drew outrage Saturday when he told the crowd there is a "nationally coordinated effort" to disrupt the town halls.

"How dare you claim that I'm part of a conspiracy," one man yelled, claiming he sent himself to the meeting.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., told "FOX News Sunday" that it's not clear who's organized and who's not but that Democrats' efforts to "demonize" the protesters reflect weak spots in the substance of their plan.

"I think attacking citizens in our country for expressing their opinions about an issue of this magnitude may indicate some weakness in their position on the merits," McConnell said. "And I also think it's particularly absurd for the Democrats, who have over an $8 million e-mail list over at the DNC called Organize America, to be criticizing citizens for being organized."

He said concerns over how the plan will be paid for are probably triggering a lot of the passion and tempers at the meetings, and predicted the tension will not slacken -- with dozens of other town hall meetings scheduled throughout the month of August.

The piece goes on to quote Dick Durban, who is interviewed by CNN's John King above.

See also, Ed Morrissey, "Video: C-SPAN Caller Blasts Media; Update: New Astroturfing Signs for Obamabots" (via Memeorandum).

Plus, the Astute Bloggers, "WHO ARE THE ASTRO-TURFED THUGS AND WHO ARE THE REAL PEOPLE PETITIONING THEIR GOVERNMENT? THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT POST SINCE OBAMA WAS SWORN IN ..."

Stout Street Clinic: ObamaThugs Rough Up Peaceful Protesters in Denver

This pair of images below records of one the more sickening incidents taking place during Nancy Pelosi's visit to the Stout Street Clinic in Denver last week.

The first picture is from El Marco's photo-essay, "Nancy and the Astroturfers." As he notes:

Take note of the lady on the right. She is holding a sign that reads “Pants on Fire” with Pelosi’s image. The image is repeated three times on her sign. There are no other words. I left the event early but the photo below, from the Denver Post, shows what I missed. The astrozoid on the left below, with the HOPE T-shirt, decided that she didn’t like the Nancy Pants on Fire sign. Not a problem. Just grab it.

The woman in black struggles to maintain her free speech while calling for help from police nearby.

The Denver Post's piece is here. It includes this caption:

"A supporter of health care reform, left, who did not want to give her name, pushes forward to rip a sign out of Kris McLay's hands outside the Stout Street Clinic visited by Nancy Pelosi."

The "supporter of health reform" is an ObamaCare thug. We've been seeing them in action for weeks now.

Just as bad, in the sense of doing violence to the truth, has been the mainstream press. (See for example, Newsbusters, "Media Ignore Democrat Astroturfing at Pelosi Event.") Bloggers have been providing crucial coverage around the country, documenting the town hall protests and the Democratic Party's extremist efforts to quash dissenting opinion. Things are so messed up that SEIU, subsequent to their union goons beating up Kenneth Gladney, spliced raw video footage to revise the story and make it look like their own people were attacked. The rank bullying and dishonesty among the Democrats is unbefitting of a worthy opponent. Indeed, from the White House on down - with its call to "flag" dissenters - we're seeing the total self-immolation of the "hope and change" promise from 2008. The Democrats are not only losing the healthcare debate, they deserve to lose. They've dissed the common sense and good graces of everyday Americans, and they've underestimated the strength of genuine civic solidarity and traditional grassroots community action.

For all their strenuous efforts to smear conservative street activists as "Nazis" and "teabaggers," the agony of defeat is starting to sink in. See, "Ten Things Obama Did Wrong on Health-Care Reform." (Via Memeorandum.)

End of Life: ObamaCare and the Elderly

The Washington Post has a new piece up, "Seniors Remain Wary of Health-Care Reform: Administration Aims to Reassure Older Americans Fearful of Losing Access to Care."

The report covers the big issues of debate on ObamaCare and medical treatment of the elderly.

On the one hand, there's the suggestion, stretching back to early this year, that President Obama favors the steep rationalization of elderly care, which has been described by some as "euthanasia." More recently, former Gov. Sarah Palin wrote a post on Facebook this week suggesting:

The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama’s “death panel” so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their “level of productivity in society,” whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.

The Post's article responds, saying "There are no such "death panels" mentioned in any of the House bills." And of course, right on cue, leftists attacked Palin as wacko. But as both William Jacobson and Ann Althouse indicate, the former vice-presidential candidate is on solid ground. And Althouse, pointing to this video below, argues that Palin's conclusion is "cool-headed and manifestly sane."

There's also a second strand of debate on "end-of-life" counseling, which is sounds less dramatic than "euthanasia," but in some respects comes pretty close to it. Charles Lane addresses the issue in his piece, "Undue Influence: The House Bill Skews End-of-Life Counsel." Looking at the House bill, Lane argues:

Section 1233 ... addresses compassionate goals in disconcerting proximity to fiscal ones. Supporters protest that they're just trying to facilitate choice -- even if patients opt for expensive life-prolonging care. I think they protest too much: If it's all about obviating suffering, emotional or physical, what's it doing in a measure to "bend the curve" on health-care costs?

Though not mandatory, as some on the right have claimed, the consultations envisioned in Section 1233 aren't quite "purely voluntary," as Rep. Sander M. Levin (D-Mich.) asserts. To me, "purely voluntary" means "not unless the patient requests one." Section 1233, however, lets doctors initiate the chat and gives them an incentive -- money -- to do so. Indeed, that's an incentive to insist.

Patients may refuse without penalty, but many will bow to white-coated authority. Once they're in the meeting, the bill does permit "formulation" of a plug-pulling order right then and there. So when Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) denies that Section 1233 would "place senior citizens in situations where they feel pressured to sign end-of-life directives that they would not otherwise sign," I don't think he's being realistic.

What's more, Section 1233 dictates, at some length, the content of the consultation. The doctor "shall" discuss "advanced care planning, including key questions and considerations, important steps, and suggested people to talk to"; "an explanation of . . . living wills and durable powers of attorney, and their uses" (even though these are legal, not medical, instruments); and "a list of national and State-specific resources to assist consumers and their families." The doctor "shall" explain that Medicare pays for hospice care (hint, hint).

Top administration officials have been developing a policy known as "The Complete Lives System." The model provides the theoretical basis for President Obama's plan for the rationaliztion of elderly care.

It's really awful, no matter how you look at it. Leftists will keep pulling their hair out over this, screaming that it's just a bunch of right-wing demagoguery. But all folks have to do is READ THE BILL itself. This first passage, from page 429, Lines 10-12, is particularly gruesome, and later sections indicate the "limitation" of treatment:

‘‘(4) A consultation under this subsection may include the formulation of an order regarding life sustaining treatment or a similar order.

‘‘(5)(A) For purposes of this section, the term ‘order regarding life sustaining treatment’ means, with respect to an individual, an actionable medical order relating to the treatment of that individual that—

‘‘(i) is signed and dated by a physician (as defined in subsection (r)(1)) or another health care professional (as specified by the Secretary and who is acting within the scope of the professional’s authority under State law in igning such an order, including a nurse practitioner or physician assistant) and is in a form that permits it to stay with the in dividual and be followed by health care professionals and providers across the continuum of care;

‘‘(ii) effectively communicates the individual’s preferences regarding life sustaining treatment, in cluding an indication of the treatment and care desired by the individual; ‘(iii) is uniquely identifiable and standardized within a given locality, region, or State (as identified by the Secretary); and ‘‘(iv) may incorporate any advance directive (as defined in section 1866(f)(3)) if executed by the in dividual.

‘‘(B) The level of treatment indicated under subpara12 graph (A)(ii) may range from an indication for full treatment to an indication to limit some or all or specified 14 interventions. Such indicated levels of treatment may include indications respecting, among other items—

See also, "The HC Monstrosity-All 1,018 Pages."

Kenneth Gladney is the MOB!

From Dana Loesch, "Peaceful Presser Today for Kenneth Gladney."

Check the link for the details, plus lots more great pictures.

Obama in '08: We’ll Broadcast Health Care Negotiations on Cable

From Nice Deb, "Obama In August 08: We’ll Televise Health Care Negotiations On C-SPAN":

Yeah, what do you know, according to Polifact, Obama said this at a Town hall meeting on Aug. 21, 2008, in Chester, Va:

To achieve health care reform, “I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We’ll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies — they’ll get a seat at the table, they just won’t be able to buy every chair. But what we will do is, we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who are making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.”

Well, when did that happen? Did I miss it? Where’s the transparency?

More at the link.

All 9 Presumed Dead in Small Plane-Helicopter Crash Over Hudson River

I'm watching Fox News' coverage of New York's Hudson River crash. See, "9 Feared Dead After Chopper, Small Plane Collide Over New York's Hudson River."

Some video reports:

God bless the families and may the passengers rest in peace.

Pamela Geller Gets Results! Atlas Shrugs Hammers Huffington Post on Allegations of Nazi Salute in Denver!

Pamela Geller is hot!

She hammered Sam Stein at the Huffington Post, who lied that a young tea party protester gave "Hitler salutes" at Nancy Pelosi's health clinic visit in Denver on Thursday.

Check the post at Atlas Shrugs, "Pelosi's Leftist Lies and the Propagandists Who Spread Them, Libel blogging A Different Kind of Fauxtography." Here's the screencap:

Stein's post is here, "Pelosi Protesters, Including Kid In Stroller, Compare Obama To Hitler." The reference, at the text, to the "Hitler salute" has been removed. But the smears remains at the title.

See the full series of screencaps at Pamela's post.

These Democratic-haters got nothing!

As Pamela writes:

This sweet boy should sue. It is libel. He should sue every blog that ran this fallacious smear, and I have a screenshot of every blog that made the accusation. Every one. If any Atlas readers have this fellow's contact info, please email me, I have the screen shots and the owners of every blog that libeled him. Let's file a lawsuit. Any Atlas lawyer who wants to assist, please email me at PamelaGeller@yahoo.com.

NOTE: The young man is pictured carrying a sign that reads, "CONGRESS HAS CADILLAC HEALTH CARE; AMERICANS WILL HAVE CLUNKER CARE."

El Marco has the shots at "Nancy and the Astroturfers.

President Obama: Americans Are Not An 'Angry Mob'

From the Washington Examiner:

They aren't carrying swastikas, either, contrary to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's rant about the legions of worried citizens who have been standing up in multiple town halls and congressional forums to demand straight answers from their congressmen about what they are doing under the guise of "health-care reform." Pelosi's attempt to smear honest citizens as Nazis is only the most reprehensible manifestation of a White House-directed propaganda campaign to discredit anyone who disagrees with President Obama's health-care proposal. A growing list of major national surveys suggests that the people targeted by the campaign represent a clear majority of Americans, if not something very close to it. And they are being portrayed by some in their government as its enemy ....

We are witnessing something terribly ugly in America this summer. Obama is leading a campaign to shift our peaceful democratic process away from civil discussions of programs and candidates to using the power of the state to bully those who oppose the majority party's policy proposals. The threat may be as subtle as the fear of being reported by a neighborhood informant to the White House, or as overt as stick-wielding union toughs who might not approve of the way you ask your congressman a question.

Read the whole thing (link).

See also, Atlas Shrugs, "Pelosi's Leftist Lies and the Propagandists Who Spread Them, Libel blogging A Different Kind of Fauxtography."

Tea Party at SEIU Headquarters in St. Louis: ACLU, NAACP Boycott; No Violence Reported as ObamaThugs Avoid Further Arrests

Via Gateway Pundit, "Hundreds Show Up to Protest SEIU Thuggery & Violence in St. Louis":

Sadly, the ACLU and the NAACP did not send representatives to the rally ...

Although he was too weak to speak after his beating on Thursday, black conservative Kenneth Gladney attended the event. Kenneth was beaten, kicked and called racist names by SEIU Russ Carnahan supporters after a town hall meeting on Thursday.

More at the link. (Via Memeorandum.)

Also, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Tea Party Rally Draws About 200; No Violence is Reported."

Change! Rep. David Scott Bans Video Cameras From Town Halls!

More evidence that Democrats treat inquiring constituents as the enemy!

It turns out that Representative David Scott screened town hall antendees for video cameras:

Here's this, from the sidebar at the YouTube:

U.S. Rep. Scott (13th District Of Georgia) would not allow any video taping of his town hall on Aug. 1 2009. The video shows the police chief confronting a constituent after he complained about not being able to bring in his own video camera. David Scott wanted to control all video regarding the event to keep any embarrassing moment's from getting on the internet. He has been named Tuesday as one of the 25 most "corrupt members of Congress" by a ethics watchdog group!

See also, Dakota Voice, "Rep David Scott Corrects Unruly Serf on Health Care":

It appears the socialists in Washington are trying a new tactic for dealing with non compliant Americans who won’t quietly acquiesce to having their freedoms taken away.

Droves of angry Americans have confronted their elected rulers, er, representatives at town hall meetings recently over their support of an unconstitutional government takeover of health care.

Some of these rulers are saying they just won’t hold anymore town hall meetings if the serfs are going to be so unruly.

Others say they’ll hold teleconferences where they can control all this icky freedom and democracy and keep it properly bottled up.

But Rep. David Scott (D-GA) seems to have a different approach: attack your constituents, lie and shoot your mouth off without having a clue of what you’re talking about.

See my previous entry, "Democratic Deliberation? Congressman David Scott's Town Hall Meltdown."

Hat Tip: Marooned in Marin, "TV News Crew Catches Meltdown Democrat Rep. David Scott, While Ordinary Citizens Banned From Using Cameras."

Artists Have a Duty to Dissent—Even Against Obama

Via Glenn Reynolds, check out Patrick Courrielche, "The Artist Formerly Known as Dissident":

For over 14 years, I've been professionally involved in the street-art community, hosting events where artists paint live installations, and producing and promoting national art tours. I've personally known the key players behind the Barack Obama "Hope" posters for many years—one being a former employee of mine, another a former colleague. I'm excited for their accomplishment and sense of pride for participating in Obama's historic presidential campaign. When asked by my former employee to be involved with the Hope poster distribution, I declined on philosophical grounds, but fully appreciated and understood their passions.

But that said, it feels to me, as it did during the campaign, that the art community is not meeting its duty of always questioning those in power. And I say duty because the art community, as a counterpart of the press, has been given special rights written into the Bill of Rights, known broadly as freedom of the press, for the explicit purpose of keeping power in check ....

Consider the recent flurry of debate over the Obama "Joker" posters that have been appearing in Los Angeles ....

I find it hard to believe that the Obama Joker creator is the only serious detractor (assuming that it is a critical commentary) within the art community. And I'm sure the incendiary criticism will keep others from creating similar images. But regardless of political affiliation, the art community must embrace all rational dissenters. Art must not exclusively serve the interests of any presidential administration.

It's time for the art community to return to its historical role in political affairs, which means speaking to power, not on behalf of it. Which leads me to the second case where art enters politics on a mass scale. The power of art, in combination with the suppression of free speech or a free press, has been used as a tool by authoritarian governments to control their citizens. From Hitler, Stalin, and Mao to Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il, art has been used to deify leaders while preserving the position of the ruling class. Most artists would not want to be referred to as tools of the state, but in the case of Obama's administration, that's exactly what they've been so far.

Read the whole thing, with citations, at the link.

Democratic Mobs: ObamaCare Supporters Tell Citizens to Shut Up

From Dana Loesch, "It Wasn’t a Mob … Until They Showed Up":

Yep, watch the video:

More great pictures at the link.

Crashing Public Support for ObamaCare

From the Wall Street Journal, "Support Slips for Health Overhaul":

Public support for a massive revamping of health care has been slipping as the effort has slowed.

With Congress heading off on August recess, opponents have the chance to mount local campaigns against the plans while lawmakers are home.

President Barack Obama had hoped to have sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation's health system in hand by the summer break. But the effort has been hindered by infighting among Democrats and his failure to effectively sell the plan to Americans.

That's right. Failure: Massive. Epic. Fail.

See also, Scott Rasmussen, "Health Reform and the Polls":

For all the back and forth about the “public option,” Congressional Budget Office estimates and proposed tax hikes, the fundamentals are really what make health-care reform a hard sell to American voters. As members of Congress head home for the August recess, they should take a close look at some poll numbers before they attempt to pass any new legislation.

The most important fundamental is that 68% of American voters have health-insurance coverage they rate good or excellent. That number comes from polling conducted this past weekend of 1,000 likely voters. Most of these voters approach the health-care reform debate fearing that they have more to lose than to gain.

Adding to President Barack Obama’s challenge as he sells health-care reform to the public is the fact that most voters are skeptical about the government’s ability to do anything well. While the president says his plan will reduce costs, 53% believe it will have the opposite effect.

There’s also the reality that 74% of voters rate the quality of care they now receive as good or excellent. And 50% fear that if Congress passes health-care reform, it will lead to a decline in the quality of that care.

Advocates of health-care reform on Capitol Hill are up against something bigger than voters’ reactions to a variety of specific proposals. Our polling in February found that by a 2-1 margin, voters believe that no matter how bad things are Congress can always make matters worse. That’s one reason 78% believe passage of the current congressional health-care proposals is likely to mean higher taxes for the middle class.

See also, Daniel Henniger, "Why Obama May Fail If Obama Can’t Sell More Government, No One Can."

More at Memeorandum. See especially, "Health Debate Turns Hostile at Town Hall Meetings."

Democrat John Dingell Greeted With Jeers at Michigan Town Hall

From The Blog Prof, "Health Care Won't Fund Abortions":

Dingell held a townhall on Thursday. But it wasn't really a townhall at all, but rather a speech to look like a townhall, complete with union thugs being let in through the back to take up all the front rows, prepared questions in advance, etc.

This video is absolutely devastating:

Look, even some at the New York Times are questioning the administration's strategy. See Gail Collins, "August Is the Cruelest Month":

Advocates need a better story line given what’s happened to health care over the last few weeks.

You think?

More at Memeorandum.

Related: TigerHawk, "Paradoxes, and not, in health care finance."

Obama’s Intolerance Toward Dissent

From Timothy Carney, "Obama’s Pattern of Intolerance Toward Dissent":

Dissent, it turns out, is no longer patriotic. President Barack Obama’s White House and his Democratic National Committee have unleashed an all-out assault on what they call “angry,” “manufactured” and “lobbyist-funded” lies about health care reform. Look closely and you realize that’s how they classify all dissent.

Obama, when speaking at Notre Dame University last spring amid anti-abortion protests, said, “When we open up our hearts and our minds to those who may not think precisely like we do or believe precisely what we believe, that’s when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.”

But his record of dealing with actual dissent paints a different picture, one that suggests he has so much faith in his own good intentions and clever plans — and so little skepticism about the power of government to do good — that he sees all disagreement with his policies as condemnable.

“David Freddoso has made a career off dishonest, extreme hatemongering,” Obama’s presidential campaign wrote about my friend and now Examiner colleague David Freddoso last September in an effort to get a radio host to drop him.

The campaign e-mail called Freddoso a “card-carrying member of the right-wing smear machine” and said his anti-Obama book (for which I was the editor) contained “lies and smears about Barack Obama.”

The one “lie” the campaign claimed to find in the book turned out to be completely correct — that Obama “voted to raise your [taxes] if your taxable income is greater than $32,500 a year.” The Factcheck.org page the campaign cited actually proved Freddoso correct. The other “lies” they attacked were differences of interpretation.

The personal attack on Freddoso, filled with slurs and devoid of factual critiques, illuminates Obama’s current crusade against the “mobs,” “fishy e-mails” and “manufactured” dissent against his plan for massive regulations, subsidies and new government programs in the health care industry.

The White House does have a point here: Some of the protests these days are out of line. Shouting down Congress members at town halls is not practicing democracy, it’s bullying. Claiming, contrary to all evidence, that Obama is not an American citizen is not debate, but close-minded inanity — inanity possibly stemming from racism.

But Obama, through his White House, his campaign and his DNC, has lumped all dissenters in with the shouters and the birthers. There’s a political gain to this tactic, to be sure, but it certainly doesn’t reflect the open-mindedness and fairness Obama was supposed to bring.

Linda Douglass, communications director for Obama’s Office of Health Reform, said her job includes collecting “disinformation” about health care, and the White House asked Americans, “If you get an e-mail or see something on the Web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.”

More at the link.

Related: "Obama Reverses Stand on Drug Industry Deal" (via Memeorandum).

Cartoon Credit: Michael Ramirez.

Devastating: Obama 'The Divider'

Pure devastation ... "It’s So ... On":

I guess part of Chicago toughguy politics is not knowing that it’s a good idea to [STFU] when you are in the process of having your ass handed to you. The Unicorn of Hubris is about to have the worst August in the history of the office of the Presidency.

I, for one, am looking forward to the coming bloodbath. It’s about goddamn time the left learns what righteous anger looks like. I’m 100% against domestic violence but the daddy party is about to beat the shit out the mommy party for burning the f***ing chicken.

Hat Tip: Dan Collins, "Uncle Barack".

ObamaCare Will Weaken U.S. Economic Performance

In his weekly address, President Obama claims that healthcare reform is the key pillar in "a new foundation for growth and prosperity" in America:

But recent analysis suggests that ObamaCare will cause a deterioration in economic performance and worker well-being.

Here's Keith Hennessey, "Will Health Care Reform Cause Lower Wages?" (via Memeorandum):

• If health care reform finances universal coverage primarily through a mandate to buy health insurance, and if health cost growth continues as it has in recent years, a median worker’s real wage growth rate would be more than cut in half.
• If health care reform instead accelerates health cost growth because expanded insurance coverage means more health services are consumed, that same median worker would see his real wages shrink.
• For lower-wage workers the picture is worse. If health care reform finances universal coverage primarily through a mandate to buy health insurance, and if health cost growth continues as it has in recent years, a worker in the 3rd income decile would see no real wage growth.
• And if health care reform instead accelerates health cost growth because expanded insurance coverage means more health services are consumed, that same low-wage worker would see his real wages shrink dramatically.

And here's Hennessey quoting a news study by Nyce and Syl Schieber:

Health care reform is likely to impose new inflationary pressures as broader coverage increases the demand for health services.

When the Medicare program was started during the 1960s, real wages grew at a compound annual rate of 2.8 percent, while employer-sponsored health benefits costs grew by 8.9 percent per year, after adjusting for inflation. During the 1970s, when demand for services under Medicare intensified, real wages grew by 0.8 percent per year, while employers’ health benefit costs grew by 8.1 percent per year, after adjusting for inflation. Given that the legislation now being proposed to expand health insurance coverage includes no particularly effective mechanisms for controlling the pressures of new demand for health goods and services, it seems prudent to at least consider a scenario where expanded coverage accelerates health inflation. In alternative scenario 3, our high-cost scenario, employers’ health costs increase by 6 percentage points per year more than compensation.

Also, check out Arthur Laffer, "How to Fix the Health-Care ‘Wedge’: There is an alternative to ObamaCare:

To pay for the subsidy that the administration and Congress propose, revenues have to come from somewhere. The Obama team has come to the conclusion that we should tax small businesses, large employers and the rich. That won’t work because the health-care recipients will lose their jobs as businesses can no longer afford their employees and the wealthy flee.

The bottom line is that when the government spends money on health care, the patient does not. The patient is then separated from the transaction in the sense that costs are no longer his concern. And when the patient doesn’t care about costs, only those who want higher costs—like doctors and drug companies—care.

Thus, health-care reform should be based on policies that diminish the health-care wedge rather than increase it. Mr. Obama’s reform principles—a public health-insurance option, mandated minimum coverage, mandated coverage of pre-existing conditions, and required purchase of health insurance—only increase the size of the wedge and thus health-care costs.

Democratic Astroturfing in Denver

From the Los Angeles Times, "To Pelosi, Healthcare Protests Are 'Display of the Democratic Process'":

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats toured a homeless clinic in Colorado this week, supporters of the plan matched the opponents shout for shout, sign for sign, hollering their own slogans at the afternoon traffic passing the Stout Street Clinic in downtown Denver.

Barred from entering the center where Pelosi addressed the news media and homeless advocates Thursday, the protesters on both sides of the debate mingled on the sidewalk. And here’s the interesting thing: They did so with relatively little of the hostility with which crowds have met Democrats making similar pitches at town hall meetings around the country ...

Down the block, Dan Davidson, 56, hoisted a sign featuring ...

... a frothy mug of beer and the words “Obama Care: A Poisoned Beer Summit,” which he said prompted one health reform supporter to accuse him of being uneducated.

The owner of a machine tool repair shop who provides insurance for six employees, he said he’s found a health savings account plan with which he’s satisfied. The government doesn’t belong in the business of health coverage, he said, adding that Obama's plan is “fatally flawed.”

Inside the clinic, which has received federal stimulus money, Pelosi said people should educate themselves about the details of the plan, which she touted as one that would retain choice, lower costs and force private companies to offer cheaper premiums. She downplayed the demonstrations -- calling them “a display of the democratic process” -- and dismissed suggestions of a rift within the party over the plan. “This is called the legislative process,” she said.

As she and Colorado Reps. Diana DeGette and Jared Polis hurriedly entered a waiting car, demonstrators crowded near, trying to catch a glimpse.

Check Talk Left for lots more information, "Denver Health Care Event Went Smoothly."

The most important fact about yesterday's events is the Democratic, Soros-backed Astroturfing.

See for yourself at Looking at the Left, "Nancy and the Astroturfers."

The Democrats' Soros-Backed Astroturfing for Health Care

From Ben Johnson, at FrontPage Magazine, "Soros Care":

A rising chorus of discontent – more a citizens uprising – shows Middle America’s deep suspicion of President Obama’s health care reform proposal. Average citizens have voiced their disapproval at townhall meetings hosted by Sen. Arlen Specter and HHS Director Kathleen Sebelius, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, Rep. Tim Bishop, and staffers of Sen. Claire McCaskill. In a burst of passion-envy, Chris Matthews asked on Monday night’s Hardball, “Where the Hell are the people who want health care, the poor people out there…the union people? Where are they? I haven’t seen one placard, let alone one protest demonstration, for health care.”

In fact, tens of thousands of people have rallied in the nation’s capital supporting the president’s health care reform plan, including the controversial public option. However, national momentum is not with them, because they are, to use Nancy Pelosi’s phrase, “Astroturf.” These demonstrations were organized by Health Care for America Now! (HCAN), a new “national grassroots campaign of more than 1,000 organizations in 46 states representing 30 million people dedicated to winning quality, affordable health care.” Most of its component organizations have two things in common: they have no experience or expertise in health care, and virtually all received large, tax-exempt grants from far-Left billionaires like George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry. Like the “grassroots” movement for campaign finance reform a decade ago, the public demonstrations for health care reform are largely a Soros-financed operation.

Former Governor Howard Dean announced HCAN’s mission on the first night of the annual “America’s Future Now!” conference (formerly the “Take Back America” conference), hosted by the Campaign for America's Future in June. Dean pledged to spend up to $82 million to advance socialized medicine. HCAN rallied 15,000 people in D.C. in April, 10,000 more in June, and with state affiliates like the Maine People’s Alliance, hundreds more in state capitals in July. A searchable database of upcoming spontaneous demonstrations can be found here.

However, a closer look at its members shows it is less a “grassroots” organization than a series of interconnected left-wing pressure groups united by a collectivist ideology and, for most, a common donor.

Among the 21 members of its steering committee are ACORN, MoveOn.org, and the Center for American Progress. CAP, headed by former Clinton chief of staff John Podesta, was created with Soros’ money as a counterweight to the Heritage Foundation. In 2007 alone, Soros’ charity, the Open Society Institute (OSI), gave CAP $1.75 million in 2007 and approved additional grants totaling $1.25 million. Soros personally gave millions to MoveOn.org before the 2004 elections, and he has funded ACORN, the most notorious practitioner of election fraud in the nation.

Dean announced HCAN’s mobilization before the Campaign for America's Future, another institution that has received funding from George Soros and the Rockefeller Family Fund. CAF, an HCAN steering committee member, pushes for national health care as one means to transform the United States into a European social welfare state. Co-founder Robert Borosage previously served as director of the overtly Marxist Institute for Policy Studies, while co-founder Roger Hickey also co-founded the Economic Policy Institute. Other CAF co-founders include socialist columnist Harold Meyerson, Sixties radical Tom Hayden, socialist feminist Barbara Ehrenreich, Service Employees International Union president Andrew Stern, AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney, Jesse Jackson, and Julian Bond. CAF is best known for hosting its annual “Take Back America” conferences, a gathering of D.C. “progressives” and far-Left community organizers. Code Pink activists famously booed Hillary Clinton after a tour-de-force leftist speech in 2006. An up-and-comer named Barack Obama also spoke at the ’06 event.

Advancing the welfare state by ruse is old hat to the Children's Defense Fund (CDF). The CDF Action Council is a member of the HCAN steering committee. CDF founder Marian Wright Edelman once admitted she got nowhere pushing a left-wing message until “I got the idea that children might be a very effective way to broaden the base for change.” Hiding behind “the children,” her undisguised Sixties radicalism still shines through. In her 1987 book Families in Peril, she wrote, “We must curb the fanatical military weasel.” At the time, the CDF was chaired by one Hillary Rodham Clinton. In addition to Hillary’s patronage, the CDF received a grant of more than $700,000 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York while Teresa Heinz Kerry sat on its board of trustees, and Edelman received the Heinz Award for the “Human Condition” in 1995.

Labor unions are heavily represented on the HCAN steering committee. Members include the SEIU, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Change to Win (James Hoffa’s breakaway group of seven powerful unions, which includes the SEIU’s Andrew Stern), UAW, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, Communication Workers of America, and the United Food and Commercial Workers union. Even with the power of compulsory union dues, SEIU received $75,000 from the Open Society Institute in 2007, and AFT was approved for a $150,000 OSI grant.

Read the whole thing at the link.

Photo Credit: Looking at the Left, "Nancy and the Astroturfers."

Democratic Deliberation? Congressman David Scott's Town Hall Meltdown

This is a really mind-blogging report from WXIA-TV Atlanta, "Congressman Scott's Town Hall Meeting Meltdown":

U.S. Rep. David Scott (D-13th) was involved in what many called an embarrassing display of losing his temper at a town hall meeting in Douglasville last weekend.

In the meeting, Scott lost his temper and began yelling at a crowd that included two people who came forward during the question-and-answer portion of the meeting to ask Scott about his stance on the health care plan proposed by the White House and being debated on Capitol Hill.

The city of Douglasville taped the event and you can see Scott become increasingly agitated after a question about health care.

At one point he chastized some in the crowd for "hijacking" the meeting.

11Alive News has found the Douglas County doctor who posed one of the questions. Dr. Brian E. Hill, a urologist, said he simply wanted to know Congressman Scott's stance on government-provided insurance.

"I did not go to a meeting to create any problem. I simply have real questions about the quality of health care my patients are going to get not just now, but down the line," Hill said.

You know, the tea partyers have really been getting to the Democrats. The media-masters, party hacks, and lefty bloggesr have come up with every name in the book to smear and demonize regular citizens - and the vitriol is seeping into mainstream reporting, for example today, when CBS called citizen activists "teabaggers." And the Dems are arguing that all of a sudden democratic delibration is on the line when regular folks aren't getting their questions answered and they're getting mad. Democratic theory doesn't hold that flared tempers are undemocratic.

Just today, in a widely-cited essay, Stephen Pearlstein argued:

Health reform is a test of whether this country can function once again as a civil society -- whether we can trust ourselves to embrace the big, important changes that require everyone to give up something in order to make everyone better off. Republican leaders are eager to see us fail that test.

That is teh stupid if there ever was any!

Why isn't President Obama reaching out to answer those who have legitimate questions, instead of making threats about gathering the names of those spreading "disinformation"? This administration is the utlimate in amateurish nighmare! This country is now way worse off under the Democrats - and considering the serious problems the GOP left the country, that's saying a lot.

This man at the clip, Brian Hill, a doctor, is exactly the kind of deliberative patriot all the Democrats keep idealizing as what's missing from the town hall rallies. And what does he get? A U.S. congressman pointing fingers and screaming at him for "hijacking" the meeting? Man, that's low. David Scott epitimizes not just what's wrong with the Dems, but what's wrong with the Democratic majority in Congress. Expect to see clips of him in upcoming debates, now and throughout 2010.

Democratic Party hypocrisy on democratic deliberation. Priceless.

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that Barack Obama shooting himself in the foot, and dooming himself to a one-term presidency. He'll be remembered as leaving one of the worst legacies of divisiveness in American history.

Missouri School District Cancels Claire McCaskill Event - Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez Holds 'Prayer Vigil' Instead of Town Hall!

Citing "security concerns," the School District of University City has cancelled the contract for Senator Claire McCaskill's town hall event on Tuesday. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:

A day after a Russ Carnahan event led to the arrests of five participants and a reporter, University City High School — where U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill was set to hold a similar event on Tuesday– announced that the forum has been canceled.

The school district sent a news release this afternoon stating that the “reasons for the cancellation by the school district are due to concerns for the safety and security of its staff, community members attending the event, and for the students who would be on campus during that time.”

There is no word on whether McCaskill will find a new venue or keep a second town hall forum scheduled for later the same day in Jefferson County.

Either way, its hard not to notch the decision as a signal of the growing influence of the Tea Party coalition, who had succeeded at heckling Carnahan at two earlier meetings.

Actually, St. Louis Tea Party indicates that McCaskill has another event planned for "2:00 p.m. on Tuesday at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, MO."

And yes, "the influence" of the Tea Party coalition is growing. I missed this somehow, but it turns out that Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez disguised her recent town hall last Sunday as a "prayer vigil." Here's this from the YouTube sidebar:

Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez and her Community Organizers held a Town Hall Meeting on 8-2-2009, disguised as a "Prayer Vigil" to avoid any protesters. Loretta Sanchez had a huge banner set up with her name on it. When she spoke, she attacked her political opponents and praised herself several times. She advocated a government single-payer health plan. Several of her Community Organizers also attacked her political opponents and praised Sanchez when they spoke. No one else with opposing views was allowed to speak. The Community Organizers started and stoked the applause as well. Loretta Sanchez and her gang of Community Organizers deceived the public and attacked President Bush,Governor Schwarzenegger and 5 local Congressmen at what was supposed to be a Prayer Vigil. Why would this church allow such a slanted political event to take place? Were they deceived as well?

Hat Tip: Hot Air.

CNN Smears 'Wingnuts on the Right'

First it was CBS slamming citizen protesters as "teabaggers." Now we have CNN smearing conservatives as "wingnuts." Actually, it's young wannabe commentator John Avlon, who is clearly way behind the curve on what's happening with town hall protests.

Avlon, parroting the widely discredited leftist meme, attacks regular activists and concerned citizens as unhinged extremists. Avlon's key piece of "evidence" is the linkage of the town hall protesters to the obscure local Connecticut activist Bob MacGuffie. As Avlon notes at the CNN piece, "The curtain was pulled back on these organized efforts in the form of a wingnut memo written by Connecticut grassroots conservative activist Bob MacGuffie." Avlon is simply recycling the bull we saw earlier this week at Talking Points Memo and Think Progress - that is, he's recycling leftist desperation.

Rick Moran eviscerated the left's line on the "McGuffie memo" a couple of days ago:

This is one of the most dishonest, despicable things I’ve ever seen in politics. TPM and Think Progress published a purported “smoking gun” memo from an anti-health reform group that they were pushing as a blueprint for action that protestors at town hall meetings were following to disrupt the proceedings.

There’s only one problem: The group that is responsible for writing the memo are a bunch of bush leaguers with no more influence than my pet cat Aramas on demonstrators protesting anything ....

There is no “memo” that tells protestors what to do. If anyone else besides this guys mother, grandmother, and maiden aunt saw this “blueprint” I would be enormously surprised. It was a wholly manufactured piece of “evidence” - along with the ridiculously tenuous connections - by TPM.

Josh Marshall bragged to high heaven about the George Polk Award for journalism he received. I am going to write the award committee and ask them to rescind it. This isn’t even yellow journalism. It is propaganda, as Marshall and the rest of the left (who are, in fact, the ones who receive instructions on a daily basis about how to frame issues through their exclusive email list) can’t be bothered with the facts, can’t be bothered with the truth, and are only concerned about demonstrating their rank partisanship and shocking demagoguery.

Well, Avlon's pretty much scraping the bottom of the barrel along with Marshall.

Avlon's a regular writer at the far-left Daily Beast, and yesterday he attacked the right for hammering the administration as "socialist." See, "The GOP's Ugly Jokers." Actually, the latter piece makes a couple of decents point, but Avlon's leftist agenda is totally transparent, and his more absured smear-marketing certainly goes over well on CNN.

Dunked Nuts? CBS Goes Urban in Slamming Citizen Protesters as 'Teabaggers'

From Doug Ross and Gateway Pundit, it turns out that CBS News has smeared regular Americans as "teabaggers." See, "Teabaggers Shout Down Tampa Bay Town Hall":

So, for those not hip to the urban jive, "teabagging" is to "dunk one's scrotum into the open mouth of another person."

Dunked nuts. That's real classy, CBS.

See also, Newsbusters, "CBS Online Editor Refers to Town Hall Protesters as 'Teabaggers'."

Javonne Spitz: Democratic Insider Claims to Be Carnahan Staffer

Conservative Nation asks, "Who Is Javonne Spitz?"

It's a good question. Spitz is cited on the Organizing for America website, in a post dated March 2009, as the host of an event called "Canvass for Economic Stimulus (Pledge Project Canvass)."

Spitz is in the middle of the story coming out of St. Louis and the Russ Carnahan town hall melee. The first video below shows Spitz's arrest yesterday. The second video shows Spitz identifying Kenneth Gladney as a "black man" (at about 50 seconds); and the third video shows Spitz claiming that "I work for Carnahan":

However, Dana Loesch has a statement from Carnahan's office denying Spitz's employment:

No member of Congressman Carnahan’s staff was arrested last night.

Further, the LegiStorm Blog lists all the staffers for Representative Carnahan, past and present, and Spitz's name is not on the list.

So what's happening? She might not be lying, actually (check Moe Lane's post).

It's likely that Spitz has been involved in Carnahan's campaign activities. Members of Congress run inside operations, often in tandem with local Democratic Party officials. Depending on the strength of the local party organization, Carnahan may have a ready pipeline of volunteers who work phone banks and walk precincts during election years. Tomorrow morning Carnahan has scheduled a volunteer organizing meeting, "Carnahan Crew Summer Update":

Last year, Russ Carnahan in Congress launched a program called "Carnahan Crew", a precinct captain program that encourages people to make a difference by getting involved in their own community. Since then, Carnahan Crew has built a team of neighborhood leaders throughout the 3rd Congressional District.

We invite you to attend our next Carnahan Crew Summer Update & Training session being held on August 8, 2009 at 9am. The goal of this meeting is to bring together current Carnahan Crew leaders and individuals who are interested in getting more involved in the District's political activities. The meeting will include an update about the Carnahan Crew precinct captain program, a training on the use of new media in campaigns, and a legislative update from Congressman Russ Carnahan.

Such activities are pretty routine, and someone like Jevonne Spitz could be involved in Carnahan's organization at any number of entry points. Folks on the scene might want to request from Russ Carnahan's electoral director the volunteer lists from all of the organization's precinct captains. Considering that Ms. Spitz hosted the "Organizing for America" function, it's probably likely that she's got inside connections to the local St. Louis party machine.

There's more information on Jevonne Spitz at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Also, check Gateway Pundit, "Pajamas Media Article: 'SEIU Thugs Teach Health Care Protesters the ‘Chicago Way’ of Politics'."

I'll update if I get more information.

**********

UPDATE! Gateway Pundit provides this video, featuring local radio personality Jamie Allman, who gained entry to an apparently secret press conference Congressman Carnahan held to repond to his town hall melee:

Plus, Dana Loesch links!

'Disinformation': The GOP's New Ad on Health Care

Via Steve Bartin, "Disinformation: The GOP's New Ad on Health Care":

Also, Charles Krauthammer, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, responds to those who say the GOP has no plan, "Health-Care Reform: A Better Plan":

The administration’s defense is to accuse critics of being for the status quo. Nonsense. Candidate John McCain and a host of other Republicans since have offered alternatives. Let me offer mine: Strip away current inefficiencies before remaking one-sixth of the U.S. economy. The plan is so simple it doesn’t even have the requisite three parts. Just two: radical tort reform and radically severing the link between health insurance and employment.

More at Memeorandum.

'Nobody is Collecting Names' - Obama Truth Squads Alter the Truth!

The White House blog entry is still up, "Facts Are Stubborn Things." Here's the key quote:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

The implication is not hard to discern: Name names. The White House wants them for a political enemies list. And after the ObamaCare truth squads identify political opponents, well, obviously the names will go into a database along with other identifying information on the administration's political enemies.

What's so hard about that? That's what any authoritarian regime would do.

It's thus surprising that the truth squads are out to jigger the truth. Here's the classic line from Steve Benen:

The very idea that the White House would be "collecting names" is about as legitimate as the idea that the president is a not a natural-born citizen. As nutty Republican conspiracy theories go, this was even more headache-inducing than most.

Hey, Benen, duh, THE OBAMACRATS PUT OUT THE CALL FOR NAMES, AND THEY POSTED A WHITE HOUSE E-MAIL ADDRESS SO OBAMALINGS COULD NAME NAMES!! THEY'RE GOING TO DO SOMETHING WITH NAMES!!

Also, from my comments Dr. Ahmadinejad Chavez Biobrain fires up the truth-mobile:

If you guys could find even ONE indication that they were gathering names, I would still think you guys were nutcakes. But you can't. They're NOT collecting names. This ISN'T about the people making these claims. All they did was request that people forward the disinformation that they're seeing, and it's not about reporting the people behind it. And this is the same thing they did last year during the campaign.

Okay. Right. Like last year, when critics of the Obama campaign were threatened with prosecuation for "intimidation insults."

Hey, at least they never actually set up those camps .... or, did they? Gosh, who knows the way the White House is working to crackdown on opponents. It's like Ed Morrissey says, "WH: We’re Not Collecting Names, We’re Storing Your E-Mail Addresses":

The administration clearly wants to activate millions of snoops across America to get tips on what people say about Obama and his health-care plan. One can parse whether that amounts literally to “taking names,” but its design explicitly demonstrates a desire for the White House to track its political opposition. If all Obama wanted was a chance to respond to the debate, it could keep its own tabs on arguments made on Capitol Hill during the Congressional actions on ObamaCare bills. They can also easily keep an eye on lobbying groups and their public campaigns without creating a vast network of snitches to do it.

Ain't that the truth!

Image Credits: The People's Cube.

'Obama Throws a Match on the American Powder Keg'

From Blake Yount, "Obama Throws a Match on the American Powder Keg":

Soon after powerful members of the Democrat party began lying about the interests of the people at recent town hall meetings, President Obama released an email to members of his group Organizing for America. This email told people to attend town halls and "fight lies with truth." The emails that the President is sending out contain information on Republican town halls and they encourage members of Organizing for America to attend.

This strategy is clearly a retaliation against regular Americans who showed up at town halls on their own volition to ask questions and expose lies.

President Obama has chosen sides, lit a fire, and even inspired violence. Yes, reports are coming from St. Louis about a 38 year old black conservative that was beaten so badly by SCIU union members, that he was forced to spend time in the emergency room. People are getting roughed up by union members at town halls in Tampa Bay, Florida. These union punks didn't act because they are passionate about health care, they were told to "punch back twice as hard" by none other than the white house itself.