Anodyne Town Halls are the Problem, Not Teabaggers

As Democrats fan out across the country to hold town hall meetings on health care, a small group of loud and angry "teabag" protesters have been shouting over speakers, disrupting proceedings, and grabbing the headlines.   In response, some Democratic strategists have called for the town hall organizers to open meetings with emotional testimonies from people as a strategy for heading off the teabag protesters.

It is sound advice, but switching gears will not work for Democrats in the town halls for a simple reason:  they have already decided that the way to win the health care debate and pass a reform bill is to make sure the debate stays as far from emotional arguments as possible.

Despite the Democratic communications strategy, the media victory of the teabag protesters is the clearest sign so far that the health care reform will not be won by quietly unrolling logical arguments about reducing costs by nudging all consumers to a more regulated market.  Victory in the health care debate will go to the side that leverages core American symbols to spark the passions of the people.

The question remains as to whether the Democrats leading these August recess health care town halls would even be capable of suddenly switching gears to a more emotional narrative?  The problem is that these same Democratic Party leaders are the people who long-ago decided that passing a health care bill depends 101 percent on making anodyne arguments that persuade people who (1) already have health care, (2) are too self-interested to want reform to help others, and (3) only care about reducing their monthly expenses.  That means the organizers of the town halls  see these meetings more like open enrollment information sessions than historic battles in the push for reform. 

In other words, it is the Senate, Congressional, and White House Democratic Party communication teams that have created the ideal, quiet conditions for a half-dozen fever-pitched teabaggers to shout "tyranny!" and disrupt the hushed sessions.

If, by contrast, the Democrats leading these sessions had gone into them with more passion, the political stage available to the teabag protesters would have been radically diminished, if not eliminated altogether.  Beyond just inviting people to kick off the town halls with a story of how their families have suffered as a result of the health insurance industry, Democrats could have followed communications strategy where the overall goal was to control the emotional symbolism of the town halls -- wherein everyone who attended would be so shouting mad and teary-eyed in favor of reform that there would be no silent vacuum that could have been filled by protesters.   

Because the Democrats treated the town halls as information sessions rather than symbolic stages, they left the emotional terrain wide open for a few voices to exploit, which is exactly what the teabaggers have done.

Rather than arguing for better financial practice or sound health care policy, the teabag protesters are treating the town halls themselves as opportunities to control the national debate on the meaning of American life.  Thus, while a vast majority of Americans, for example, want a new public option to replace their current health insurance, those same Americans do not see or hear that story being passionately argued in the media.

It is astounding that, even with control of the Congress and the Executive branch, Democrats still do not understand the symbolism implicit in these health care town halls, whereas a ragtag bunch of teabag protesters does get it.

So what should the Democrats do?

For starters, they need to splash some cold water on their faces and wake up to the fact that people do not go to town halls to get information.  When was the last time you or anyone else you know decided to buy health insurance based on a live one-hour presentation given by an elected official?  Numbers and details about health care coverage are better presented in pamphlets, on web sites, and via phone in systems that allow people to pursue answers to the specific questions they have. 

Second, Democrats need to see the town halls as symbolic arenas to be dominated, not mere meeting locations to attend.  To dominate a symbolic arena, Democrats need to literally fill the proceeding with the most compelling reasons for reform that exist: ending injustice, averting personal bankruptcy, eliminating the paralyzing fear of illness, preventing systemic financial collapse, ending the personal and economic humiliation of living with chronic illness in America.  Never before in the history of political debate have there been more passionate arguments to be made and more people willing to step up and make them than for the health care debate.

Third, Democrats need to bridge the gap between the town hall meetings and the media. They cannot stage effective town halls and then sit back and hope that the media finds it interesting enough in the dog days of August to cover them instead of covering power outages or lost kittens. Every elected Democrat in Washington, DC, has an office full of talented staffers with experience mobilizing the media to cover their bosses.  These staffers need to be enlisted to put the town halls on the front pages and in the lead position of every broadcast from now until September. 

Fourth, Democrats need to enlist and energize the grassroots of their party.  After the election, the Obama campaign left one of the greatest legacies in political history:  hundreds of thousands of Americans centrally organized via the internet and willing to turn out to push for real change.  These people need to be mobilized with the same passionate arguments that got them to turn out to walk door-to-door in cold weather to elect a President. They will not respond with arguments about lowering the general costs of coverage and forcing insurance companies to live up to their responsibilities.  By contrast, this grassroots will respond to arguments about a historic moment to end health insurance injustice, to fight health care inequality, and to put the United States on the road to a healthier, stronger future after decades of wandering in the wilderness.

Fifth, a real public option (not some phony baloney "co-op") must be put front and center of the debate by leading Democrats including the President.  Without the public option at the center of the debate, the very people who would be the most passionate voices in the health care discussion are hamstrung.  They cannot argue passionately for what they believe if the moral core of the debate has been stripped away.  This  means letting people speak passionately about "single-payer" systems or "medicare plus" or whatever language they feel best describes a real public option. 

Lastly, the President needs to cut his vacation down to size so he can climb back on the bully pulpit as only he can.  Nothing would speak louder to the urgency and passion of this debate than President Obama telling the country that he is willing to spend less time frolicking on Martha's Vineyard with his family because he believes so strongly in the  need for health care reform.  This would also mean no more "this isn't about me...I have good health care coverage" comments from the President.  He needs to tell everyone -- each and every day -- that this is the fight of his life.  That he cannot sleep at night because of the urgent need for health care reform. And he cannot stop saying that until every single media outlet in the world is either echoing his concern or fighting him tooth and n

If the Democrats put aside their anodyne approach and restart the health care debate with a level of passion worthy of the issue, neither the teabaggers nor any other protest group will have much peace and quiet to disrupt. 

Health care is a passionate topic.  If the Democrats lead the public in an intense debate that matches the emotions of the subject matter, by September they should have the political backing to pass the real reform that 70 percent of the public wants anyhow.

(cross posted from Frameshop)

Follow Jeffrey Feldman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JeffreyFeldman

Comments

[truthmachine]

"Not Teabaggers"

What a ridiculous, ignorant statement. And no competent "framer" uses a word like "anodyne".

[Alablanca]

EXCELLENT POST! I AGREE THAT PROGRESSIVE AND LIBERAL DEMOCRATS HAVE TO INTENSIFY THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE "BLUE DOG DEMOCRATS" AND THE REPUBLICANS. TV ADS ARE VERY EFFECTIVE. I THINK THIS NATION IS FALLING VERY FAST INTO A CORRUPT GOVERNMENT. BY THE WAY, WHERE DO THE TERMS "BLUE DOGS" AND "TEA-BAGGERS" COME FROM? ANYONE THAT CAN REPLY TO THESE QUESTIONS ARE WELCOME. THANK YOU.

[truthmachine]

Please stop shouting.

[krocklin]

Maddow's expose of a rightwing website encouraging protests against healthcare reform, which she gave last night, should be THE featured article on the Huffpost this morning.

[Alablanca]

KROCKLIN - AGREE WITH YOU. AND WHAT ABOUT RICHARD WOLFE NOT BEING WHAT WE THOUGHT HE WAS?

[Alablanca]

AGREE. MADDOW, OF MSNBC, WAS EXCELLENT LAST NIGHT, AS ALWAYS.

[redneck2]

I suppose that Liberals have "never" organanized any protest? The Vietnam war protests are just a figment of my right wing imagination. What's wrong with organizing protest? It seems that the only people who have the right to express their first amendment rights are Liberals. "All animals are created equal, just some animals are more equal than others." It's not that convervatives are against health care reform, we just want our voices heard and we have a lot of questions and concerns. And those peole out there that the President has called a "mob" only proves how disconected Washington has become from the people. The White House should stop the name calling and try listening for once! There should be no "rush to get it done". Both sides shoulld quite the name calling and debate this like mature adults. I hope that liberals will recognize that the true measure of a democracy is to allow debate and not to suppress it!

[LeftRight]

What's wrong with organized protest? Nothing. What's going on here, however, is not organized protest, it's organized DISRUPTION! If you won't let the debate even OCCUR, then you're not protesting, you're interfering!

[truthmachine]

You suppose a strawman.

"we just want our voices heard and we have a lot of questions and concerns."

Then why are you people screaming at the top of your lungs at these meetings, preventing anyone form being heard or comprehended? Your statement is, like most statements from right wingers, transparently dishonest.

[krocklin]

The quality of healthcare is not even being included in the debate.
Repetitive useless tests, overprescription of drugs and medical procedures that do more harm than good are driving up costs.
But the issue is too complex for the ignorant public to grasp.
And yet the solutions are simple. Just have what other countries have in the way of a healthcare system.
Costs would then go down and quality up.
At this stage it appears the lobbyists are just too strong and politicians and doctors are just falling in line with them, enriching themselves as they go at the expense of the economy.

[guilatty]

The debate on this site is invigorating. If Obama accomplishes nothing else he has given the American people a sense that their opinions matter. I love how everyone is weighing in and hollering their opinions at the tops of their lungs. If you don't like how loudly I am yelling, yell more loudly yourself! I love it. WIth a process like this we will get not only a healthcare bill, but a better country in every respect.

No one has a monopoly on ideas. Radical ideas today are conventional wisdom tomorrow. Rage on!

[dogdiva]

Don't confuse healthy debate with ginned up rage.

[UtahPatriot]

Don't confused ginned up debate with a march to socialism or the loss of your freedom.

[Mike Mansfield]

Utah Patriot, you obviously don't understand that we live in a society. That means, automatically that society is important. That's why we have fire departments for the public good, libraries for the public good, police departments for the public good, interstate highways for the common good, etc.

Every one of these things could be done privately. We had toll roads everywhere at one point. Here in central Kentucky there are a number of roads that were originally toll roads. In some countries you would have to have your own private security firm and your own fire protection because the public isn't protected, just the rich.

So don't YOU, Utah Patriot get confused about what this is: it is reclaiming our freedom to be healthy without losing our souls to the insurance companies & their lackeys. The only freedom you have right now is the freedom to fail should you be hit with major health care problems or lose your job etc..

We need to have health care reform, including a good public option. It has nothing to do with socialism. It has everything to do with being a just society. We are not that now. Beginning in the 80's the robber barons took over; and we need to eliminate them.

Selfish people always yell "socialism" or "communism" when something is about to happen that opposes their particular brand of capitalism. We don't have capitalism right now. We have robbery at the hands of the rich, the HMOs, the drug companies,

[redneck2]

"...a sense that their opinions matter."? Dude, what beach do you have your head buried in? OBama is at the top of the line of those who want to demonize anyone that doesn't agree with them. Let's set the record straight here and now. He called those dissenters a "mob". Please explain how this giving us a sense that "all" of our opininons matter? Or could it be the only opinions that really matter are the ones that you agree with?

[gabemill]

I am unaware of the President calling these people a "mob." If he did, however, it's because they ARE a mob. When you attend an event that is intended to be informational and you disrupt said event, you are a mob. Disturbingly, these people rail against their own self interest, while supporting the multi-millions that the unchecked insurance industry makes on the back of human suffering.

[DA12]

If health care reform with a strong public option fails and turns into health insurance industry bailout--which is looking more and more likely--expect economic disaster. Expect total control of your health and primary care doctor by HMOs and CEOs. Expect more bankruptcy. Expect more fraud and waste. Expect an even worse climate of unfairness and further disappearance of freedom and opportunity for Americans, while Wall Street exploits it all for obscene profits.

[Alablanca]

DA12: I AGREE WITH YOU TOTALLY. IT'S DESPICABLE THAT CONGRESS RECEIVES AWONDERFUL HEALTH BENEFITS, PAID BY US, CITIZENS, BUT HAVE THE NERVE TO DENY THE SAME PLAN FOR ALL AMERICANS.

[BocaMom]

I don't understand why it's wrong to dissent? I dissented against the war. Against Bush. Against the conservative policies. And if someone wants to dissent against the Health Plan, so be it! This is America!
You can't have it one way. For those who think dissenting is a crime, shame on you!

[jd29992]

You are so correct. The same freedom of speech that keeps this site open is the same freedom of speech that is offered to the so called tea baggers, the mob even the silly birthers they all have the same freedom. It is call hypocrisy.

[cheforacle]

Y'all fail to see the critical distinction. This is not about freedom of speech. Of course, they have that freedom just as we do on this site. But when I type a comment, I am not stopping someone from being heard. The purpose of town hall meeting are for lawmakers and constituents to have a conversation. You cannot have a conversation or discussion when people are screaming vociferously. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech. It has to do with the requisite civility necessary for a democracy to function well. Dissent is great but dissent in a fashion that does not rudely disturb those who go to meet their congressperson to ask legitimate questions.

[JustMyWords]

No one is saying that's dissent is wrong. I DO have a problem, however, with people that attend a meeting for the sole purpose of disrupting it, denying other attendees an opportunity to participate or to hear the information being presented. And it doesn't matter whether the disruption is coming from the right or the left.

And the second problem I have is that much of this disruption isn't intellectually honest. It's an orchestrated campaign by well-heeled corporations who want to preserve the status quo. They're deliberately spreading misinformation designed to upset and anger people, and then encouraging these same people to act out at public forums.

[jd29992]

How many time must I say watch the entire videos! Not the little sipets the media or the blogs give you. As far as orchestrated I don't know if they are or not but UNITL you can prove that statement beyond a resonable doubt YOU are spreading lies and propoganda. I thought we were inocent until porven gulity seems to me when you liberals are in charge it is the other way around.

[dogdiva]

I just find it interesting that no one ever carries out the 'freedom of speech' argument all the way. It's a simple question really. What happens when American citizens who feel strongly about the need for a public option exercise their right to 'freedom of speech' with the same energy as the teabaggers etc? What happens when those equal rights are exercised at the same time over the same issue?

I think it is fair to say I've seen a lot of neck jutted out, jowl flapping, spittle flying, finger jabbing energy in those protesters. Certainly not illegal in any way. NOW....put my face in front of that exhibiting the same intensity in favor of health care reform. Add my "JUST SAY YES!" shouts to the situation. American's all...exer­cising their right to free speech. Then what?

[redneck2]

I am also a fan of BocaMom. BocaMom, you're against Conservative policices and I am a Conservative---but I agree with everything you said concerning dissent. BocaMom is a very cool Liberal. You go girl!

[Raphi]

Agree. Akin to the Democrats' strategy beginning in the late 70s. The systems analysts, with few ties to working people, the party base, decided to ignore them and go for the few undecided suburbanites in the middle. No more mobilization of ordinary people. Platforms became the minutia of boring policy wonks. The result: an economic system dominated by non-productive finance, exacerbating the growing divide between the very wealthy and everyone else.

Howard Dean's 50 state strategy and the mobilized citizenry of the Obama campaign with issues speaking to average Americans, reversed that. The result: winning.

Health care for all is a moral issue. Do we or do we not care for "the least among us?" Or for that matter, the most among us; since average people no longer have job security, they cannot be sure of health insurance. Begins anew with different employment and excludes preexisting conditions. The rich can still have their Mercedes medicine. Think they owe other Americans nothing? Have they benefitted by technologies or pharmaceuticals developed at universities from public funds? Or the financial bailouts? Or the military?

Lets call this tea-bag terrorism what it is. An attempt by the ultra-privileged extremists bankrolling this astroturf campaign to deny the rest of us security. Having us anxious and distracted keeps us from doing anything about the slide into a system where the workers are "competitive" ie get 3rd world wages and working conditions. While the 1% becomes the dictatorship of the financial elite.

[jd29992]

I have been reading most of the posts here and there is something I don’t understand why is it when anyone disagrees with Obama they are angry mobs, operatives, racists etc. and then there is this on the Whitehouse web site under facts are stubborn things.

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 whitehouse.gove.gov.

If Bush had done this what would you say? You would call him a fascist and you would be correct so what will you call Obama? They are asking you to turn in people that disagree with the administration my goodness how Orwellian is this? This screams of violation of the first amendment by the Whitehouse. Is this what you liberals want to totally shut down freedom of speech, to take away peoples rights to openly demonstrate against the government? Freedom of speech is a double edge sword it cuts both ways and if you take it away from one group that you disagree with it is only a matter of time before they take yours.

[cheforacle]

See my above comment.

[justicia]

This is a strange comment; it sounds paranoid. The White House is entitled to seek to counter disinformation that is being generated, cynically or ignorantly. The request for information about wild charges has none of the sinister implications being claimed in this comment; the message says nothing about dobbing in dissenters, it's more about enabling appropriate responses to be put out. The dissenters aren't being muzzled, but it's fair enough to refute unfounded claims. The USA will never have decent, affordable health care for all (or even a majority) while even potential beneficiaries of reform are frightened into mindless opposition.

[jd29992]

Paranoid? Did you actually READ the web site that Whitehouse put out? So you are saying the administration asking people to turn others in “or though casual conversation” is not a little bit (as the Whitehouse says) fishy here? You still did not answer my question if Bush would have said report all e-mails that are anti war what would you have said? This is totally about freedom of speech. You say “wild charges” what I originally printed is from the actual Whitehouse web site. So reading that what does it mean to you? The government asking you to snitch on people that disagree with them? Does not ask “about dobbing in dissenters” so what does “Since we can’t keep track of all of them” “send it to” and they give the e-mail address? So YOU tell me what they are asking? You say the Whitehouse is entitled to seek counter disinformation that is being generated, cynically or ignorantly” I say NO THEY DON”T! If someone called your statement cynical or ignorant if you protested Bush’s war would you be outraged?


To answer your question about government health care I only have history as a guide Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, AMTrack, $500 toilet seats ,it appears to me, historically speaking that is, the government does not have a very good track record on being economically responsible. But I guess looking at the facts I am just mindless, cynical and ignorant.

[DA12]

I have life experience under government health care and govt. health insurance provided by the US Military Health System which has existed for about 50 years and serves about 9 million people. It worked well for me and my family.

G. Lakoff:

The American government has twin moral missions: protection and empowerment - equally for everyone.
Protection includes not just the military and police, but also consumer protection, worker protection, environmental protection, safety nets, investor protection, and health care.
Empowerment is what enables Americans to make a living and have a good life if they work at it. It includes systems of public road and buildings, education, communication, energy, banking - and health.
No one can make a dime in America or achieve their goals in life without protection and empowerment by America's government.

[Gil Roschuni]

There's no point in trying to be rational with the Obama administration about this subject. This is a totally illogical proposal to fix a problem that can only be truly fixed by tort reform. However, the lawyers that run Washington will never even consider that. If my doctor's office didn't have to pay over $200,000 a year just in insurance, (actually I think it's more and they have never been sued, so that's probably the cheapest insurance they can get) they would be able to provide services for less. It's much worse for surgeons. If you really want to lower health care costs, the best way to do it is to follow Texas' example. Research it. This is not as big a problem as Obama would like to make it out to be. Plus the vast majority of the people in this country want to keep the insurance they have now and do NOT want a public version. I don't know where this author gets his facts but all the polls verify that single payer public health care is not wanted. The fact that many democrats and independents, according to the polls, are coming to this conclusion is lost on the democrats who are emotionally attached to a total loser of an idea.

[Elephantinroom]

Gil- I agree, tort reform would greatly reduce healthcare costs.
Also, why aren't we able to purchase insurance across state lines? THAT would add competition and lower healthcare costs.
I asked my representatives that question and got only "form" responses, no real answer to my question.

Also, you're right, the polling numbers are not in favor of this plan.
Obama Health Plan Draws Majority Disapproval in Poll
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aM56e_kb2m9Y

[UtahPatriot]

I have asked the same question and got silence and deer in the head lights.

Right and left need to demand tort reform

[garystartswithg]

i am inclined to think birthers and teabaggers are a democrats best friend -- people are leaving the gop in droves just to get away from the crazies. if they had only figured out the gop was full of crazies in 1980 can you imagine how far we might have progressed by now?

[libwingoflibwing]

Here's the problem with your article.

Congressional Democrats don't want a real health care reform.

Grassroots Democrats do.

Of course Congressional Democrats weren't going to organize town hall meetings as events intended to mobile emotional support for real health care reform.

It's up to Grassroots Democrats to do that and take back the discussion from the astroturf tea-baggers being bussed in with prepared scripts by the plutocrats.

Congress is in a bubble. The plutocrats' media keeps them in the bubble, afraid of a "silent majority." The tea-baggers aren't about changing the national point of view. They're not even about changing the point of view of the Congress in its bubble. They're about shutting up the rest of us so we can't break through the bubble.

So what's the result? "Health Care Reform" will pass, but it will be the bait and switch garbage that the plutocrats actually want. (Subsidies to the insurance companies, mandates, and a weak public option that will die in no time.) The tea-baggers aren't being mobilzed to shut it down, despite it seeming that way, they're being mobilized to distract us from what's really going on. (Of course they don't know that, but the plutocrats' marching soldiers are always fooled into thinking it's about their agenda, not the greed of the plutocrats­.)

Oh well.

It's a big shell game. It's a con. It's a long con.

[UtahPatriot]

libwing,

Sorry to burst your bubble, but the talking points are wrong. No astro turf here. I know Tea Party folks. I am one. I have not seen any organized bused groups yet. Nor paid operatives, or any other lies you been told.
Nor are the people racist, I have not heard anyone refer to the Presidents race....it is just is not done. I’m certainly not saying it hasn’t happened but I’ve not heard it. In fact I have never heard anything approaching the vile spewing about Bush from the left…and I am no fan of Bush.
You might be surprised; most of us agree that we need reforms. The discussion is truly about paying for it, we are broke as a nation and printing money. We do not want the government involved; don’t trust them and plenty of history to back that concern up. We do want transparency, which absolutely lacking in this administration.
Politicians cause most of the dissention among us, to their benefit; for it does not benefit the American people one iota.

[dogdiva]

I'm just really curious. Are any of you who think we need health care reform and a good public option auditing teabagging and conservative sites all day long?

I guess it's a good thing the majority of progressives are passive (or working, or busy elsewhere) or we really would have Internet anarchy.

[PostModernPatriot]

Well said. Single payer aint gonna happen, neither is a strong public option.

We're going to get mandated private insurance that's going to benefit the insurance companies and burden struggling families who don't have employer provided insurance. And possibly those with employer provided insurance will be taxed on it.

[epcraig]

When a tea-bagger demands single-payer I might believe tea-baggers represent me.

[huffity]

Check out this blogger's hysterical take on the teabaggers' protests:
http://thatsrightnate.com/2009/08/02/a-patriots-guide-to-disrupting-health-care-townhalls/#comment-5716

[fourpatts]

Let me get this straight. When health care industry, hospitals etc spend money to try to influence the debate, they're nasty, selfish and corrupt. But when labor unions, teacher organizations etc spend money to influence the debate, they're on the side of the angels.
By the way, I don't know any "teabaggers" but on television they look like people with jobs who pay taxes.

[Bobzmcishl]

They look like middle aged white people who are still piss-- off that a black man became president. They come across as imitation brownshirts who would rather yell and scream than ask intelligent questions. They come across as very selfish people who don't give a damm about less fortunate American's. They come across as "ugly Americans". They come across as people I would not want to associate with.

[jd29992]

I have been watching those people on U-tube and the ones I saw did at first ask good question and were quite composed but it seemed like they only got frustrated when the politicians they were asking the questions to gave them the typical Washington two step answer. And “ still piss-- off that a black man became president” no I think they are upset because a communist is president it has nothing to do with color. Oh and “don't give a damn about less fortunate Americans” hmmm oh really? To quote Jefferson “A government big enough to supply you with everything you need is a government big enough to take away everything that you have…The course of history shows that as the government grows, liberty decreases.­” So if you don’t want to associate with Americans that are using their first amendment rights to freedom of speech well I have a solution, move.

[redneck2]

Sir, I'm proud to say I would not associate with you or you racists remarks!

[Economike]

They look like refugees from a Bingo hall to me.

[UtahPatriot]

Actually many just got off work, something that you probably are unfamiliar with.

[redneck2]

You're either trying to be humorous or else you're getting caught up in the same smear tactics that you claim to detest so much.

[indy100]

Let me get this straight, you believe that insurance industry execs, pharmacy execs and hospitals represent "us" (you know the American taxpayers), but that labor unions and teacher unions don't? Are you serious??? Bassackwards.
I don't watch FAUX News, but was forced to view it in the workout room today, (fortunately I had my Ipod so I didn't have to listen to that garbage) and all I saw was a bunch of shouting, redfaced, angry 50-60ish white people. I'm 47, mixed ethnicity-but considered "white", a working mother of four and grandmother of 4. I pay taxes, as does my small business owner husband and my three adult children. Those people don't speak for or represent us.

[redneck2]

I'm just curious, if you don't watch Fox News how do you know what they're saying is garbage? Is it because they lean to the right and you go the other way? I don't mean to be rude but it's quite arrogant to assume that your political views must always be correct and anyone that desents must always be wrong. The truth is that both sides are represented by good people and nutty people. But if you truly want to expand your understanding of what's going on try LISTENING to another side. You may discover that no one person or ideology has a monopoly on the truth. Sometimes the other side might just have it right.

[professor]

But labor unions, teacher (sic) organizations etc are right and the health car industry, hostpitals etc, let us say, to avoid censorship, have every reason in the world to misrepresent the facts..

[fourpatts]

Let's face it, right or left, when we agree with a particular point of view we think it represents "the people." When we disagree with a viewpoint we dismiss it as coming from a "special interest group." I don't think anyone is really objective, "fair and balanced," if you will, about these Big Issue debates.
It's hard to get things changed in our noisy representative democracy.­..maybe that's good.

[jdunaway65]

Well, the difference is the union, etc. spend money to INFLUENCE the debate (as you stated), but these Health Care, etc. groups are sending people to DISRUPT the debate, and prevent any true discourse. They yell out their scripted rants, and when anyone answers or tries to ask a truly pertinent question, they drown them out with more shouting/chanting.

BIG difference!

[Elephantinroom]

Why would people agree to be "sent" to thwart healthcare that would benefit them?

[UtahPatriot]

Pure BS...