sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
"This morning, Politico reported that Democratic members of Congress are increasingly being harassed by ``angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior'' at local town halls.
For example, in one incident, right-wing protesters surrounded Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and forced police officers to have to escort him to his car for safety.
This growing phenomenon is often marked by violence and absurdity. Recently, right-wing demonstrators hung Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-MD) in effigy outside of his office.
Missing from the reporting of these stories is the fact that much of these protests are coordinated by public relations firms and lobbyists who have a stake in opposing President Obama's reforms.
The lobbyist-run groups Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, which orchestrated the
anti-Obama tea parties earlier this year, are now pursuing an aggressive strategy to create an image of mass public opposition to health care and clean energy reform.
A leaked memo from Bob MacGuffie, a volunteer with the FreedomWorks website Tea Party Patriots, details how members should be infiltrating town halls and harassing Democratic members of Congress:
Tea Bagger Memo
- Artificially Inflate Your Numbers: ``Spread out in the hall and try to be in the front half. The objective is to put the Rep on the defensive with your questions and follow-up.
The Rep should be made to feel that a majority, and if not, a significant portion of at least the audience, opposes the socialist agenda of Washington.''
- Be Disruptive Early And Often: ``You need to rock-the-boat early in the Rep's presentation,
Watch for an opportunity to yell out and challenge the Rep's statements early.''
- Try To ``Rattle Him,'' Not Have An Intelligent Debate: ``The goal is to rattle him, get him off his prepared script and agenda.
If he says something outrageous, stand up and shout out and sit right back down. Look for these opportunities before he even takes questions.''
The memo above also resembles the talking points being distributed by FreedomWorks for pushing an anti-health reform assault all summer.
Patients United, a front group maintained by Americans for Prosperity,
is currently busing people all over the country for more protests against Democratic members. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the NRCC, has endorsed the strategy, telling the Politico the days of civil town halls are now ``over.''
Meanwhile, AHIP, the trade group and lobbying juggernaut representing the health insurance industry is sending staffers to monitor town halls and other right-wing front groups are stepping up their ad campaign to smear reform efforts.
The strategy for defeating reform -- recently outlined by an influential lobbyist to the Hill newspaper as ``delay'' then ``kill'' -- is becoming apparent.
By delaying a vote until after the August recess, lobbyists are now seizing upon recess town halls as opportunities to ambush lawmakers and fool them into believing there is wide opposition to reform.
Posts: 2507 | From lost in the maze | Registered: Aug 2006
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sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
breaking up democratic gatherings meant to enable dialogue between public officials and the represented?
by threats of violence, and the tactical use of shouting mobs?
IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR A ISM TO WORRY ABOUT, FACISM FITS THE BILL BEST...
------------------------- Teabaggers Try To Shout Down Health Care Reform At Town Halls By Rachel Slajda - August 3, 2009, 12:05PM
Angry teabaggers and other opponents of health care reform are heckling members of Congress at their town hall meetings back home in an effort to sway the debate and drown out reform supporters.
This weekend, a group of teabaggers showed up at a town hall in Philadelphia with Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA) and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
They shouted and booed to drown out remarks from both officials and questions from the audience. The Philadelphia Tea Party Patriots reportedly brought 40 people. Watch:
In Austin on Saturday, protesters followed Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) out of a forum at a grocery store, chanting "Just say no!" after he told the crowd he'd vote for a health care reform bill even if his constituents opposed it. Watch.
These aren't the first incidents of this kind, but we think it's a pretty safe bet they'll continue and intensify throughout August.
Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) has suspended town hall meetings after screaming protesters disrupted a June 22 forum in Long Island to the point where residents called the police to escort Bishop to his car.
Last week, a crowd erupted into thunderous applause after a soldier demanded an apology from Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) at a town hall with her staff. (The senator wasn't there.)
The meeting was moderated by Americans for Prosperity's Missouri chapter. AFP was a major organizer of the tax day "tea party" protests.
Make sure to check out the teabaggers' strategy memo obtained by Think Progress.
Late update: We'll be adding more incidents as we track them down.
On July 6, Rep. Dan Maffei (D-NY) held a town hall meeting that devolved into a shouting match, with tea party protesters loudly interrupting whenever someone mentioned a public plan.
Maffei threatened to break up the meeting, and has since said he plans to hold smaller, less publicized events with constituents.
Late late update: On Saturday, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-PA) showed up to a restaurant, where he was supposed to hold one-on-one meetings with constituents, to find 150 angry people who demanded it be a Q&A, town hall style meeting. Murphy and his staff obliged, and changed the format at a second event held later in the day.
The crowd "erupted in a chorus of boos and catcalls" when Murphy said he thought Obama was doing a "pretty great job." Murphy tried to keep the crowd cool, admonishing hecklers from time to time to be respectful.
Posts: 2507 | From lost in the maze | Registered: Aug 2006
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posted
How BADLY do the Wealthy and Powerful HMO Lobbies NOT want to see reform?
LOOK at the kind of MONEY they're throwing at Congress! Wow. I found this staggering... Site Link at Bottom:
"For some individuals, how Congress aims to reform America's health care system is literally a matter of life and death.
For some industries, it could mean the difference between weathering the economic storm or shuttering their businesses. Nobody knows yet what the shape or scope of the final bill will be.
It may not even make it to President Obama's desk. But one thing is certain:
The American health care system is set to get a lobotomy and diverse special interests are spending big bucks to make sure they're in the surgery room when it happens."
posted
It's a shame. All the people they could help
but would rather spend a fortune preventing it.
-------------------- 3 Strains Mycoplasma and Chlymedia 2001. After treatment fine for all 2004. Major symptoms since 2005. Diag Aug 2008 Lyme. 400 mg/d doxy 500 2/d Ceftin Posts: 164 | From Texas | Registered: Jun 2008
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lymie_in_md
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14197
posted
Our society won't be free until we outlaw lobbiests. Plus, all elections can not have special interest money, and yes we need to control elections and how they are funded. All elections should be funded by the people through taxes.
If our representatives purely represented the people we wouldn't be fighting the IDSA. For a change they might be fighting for us.
We need to spread the message of taxing for representation as a way to get rid of special interests. It is the only way to start cleaning up our government.
The only way to do this is at the grass roots.
Very few will agree with me because no-one believes they should be taxed for their representation. I'll say if I don't pay for my representation someone else will!
-------------------- Bob Posts: 2150 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2007
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posted
I agree 100%! Our current Congress is unconstitutional, as they are not even close to being by the people, for the people, of the people.
They lie, give soundbites, and rig elections to get elected, just so they can obtain power enough to enrich their pocketbook.
We are a necessary evil they have to play up to in order to sell us out to the highest bidder.
I do have hope after seeing how the internet helped get Obama elected through grass roots efforts.
I think a good start is to trade every Congressman in for a new one at every election.
The more experienced ones keep this farce going. It is so entrenched we need to get all new blood in there.
-------------------- 3 Strains Mycoplasma and Chlymedia 2001. After treatment fine for all 2004. Major symptoms since 2005. Diag Aug 2008 Lyme. 400 mg/d doxy 500 2/d Ceftin Posts: 164 | From Texas | Registered: Jun 2008
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seekhelp
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 15067
posted
This article sums it up in a nutshell IMO..great read!
luvs2ride
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8090
posted
I agree with Bob. Janis I thought of one term as a solution too but then I realized they would just line up a string of them to tag team and keep the corruption ball going.
The insanity of campaigning for 2 yrs and receiving $600,000,000 in contributions is scandalous.
Lets give a very reasonable sum to each candidate and 3 hrs of free air time to review their records and lay out their plan of action to us. No debates.
Sad truth though is that congress is right now discussing a bill that will remove the limitation currently limiting how much corporations can contribute to campaigns. The average citizen doesn't stand a chance. And that is with a democratic congress so don't kid yourselves into thinking they are for the little guy.
Definitely outlaw lobbying.
We need to start holding them accountable to us for their spending and their voting records. We need continuous townhall meetings and democrats can't skip out on them.
Obama is going to cut the waste in medicare....good! And he can do that in every other area of govt spending too. I bet if someone would manage the current tax income better, we could pay off our debts without raising taxes at all.
-------------------- When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, there will be Peace. Posts: 3038 | From america | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Luvs said:Lets give a very reasonable sum to each candidate and 3 hrs of free air time to review their records and lay out their plan of action to us. No debates.
My husband and I have been saying that very same thing for years now. There should be limits on how much they can spend and give for campaigns. It's crazy what they spend and raise for these elections. I feel this way about all party's.
I sometimes wish there were no party's just people who got up there and talked about their own platform(like that's gonna happen). Oh, well wishful thinking huh?
-------------------- aka: Lyme Warrior
In order to do "real" science, you have to have a "real" conversation with nature.
Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History!
"Just Demand your Rights" Posts: 869 | From nor - cal | Registered: Apr 2008
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posted
Wow, so much to say, so little time to say it.
Just a couple of quick thoughts;
I'm not sure Politico is a very convincing source of unbiased reporting.
If you want to find a more middle-of-the-road publication to quote, you might get more people to sympathize with your position.
Lastly;
Is there anyone who has fought the Lyme vs Medical establishment (CDC, Medicare, Health Insurance, etc) battle for any length of time really believe that placing our healthcare anywhere near even the influence of the federal government is going to help our Lyme patients one iota?????
If you do, please PM me immediately I would really like to unload this AIG and General Motors stock I have for sale.
Posts: 681 | From California | Registered: Oct 2005
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