Town Hall Debate

Let's Talk: Democracy Depends on Civility

Jennifer Gennari | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: Town Hall Debate, State and Local Government, Town Halls, Town Hall Meetings, Global Warming, Local Government, San Francisco Government, City Planning, Bay Area, Protesters, San Francisco News

These days, self-government is under assault. Unfortunately, a minority faction is overtaking town halls around the nation and suppressing any discussion at all. In the Bay Area the problem is particularly acute.

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The Tea Party's 10 Ways to Survive Town Hall Meetings

Andy McDonald | Posted 07.31.2011

Read More: Gop, Town Hall Debate, Teabagging, Teabaggers, Debt Ceiling, Budget Cuts, Deficits, Deficit Spending, Tea Parties, Tea Party Movement, National Debt, Town Hall, Talking Points, Medicare, Town Hall Meetings, Tea Party, Tea, GOP Freshmen, Comedy News

A Tea Party group known as FreedomWorks has provided new GOP congressmen and women with talking points that will help them survive budget-focused town hall meetings which have recently been very confrontational for conservatives.

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WATCH: GOP Lawmaker Faces Tough Town Hall Questions

HuffingtonPost.com | Amanda Terkel | Posted 06.29.2011

Read More: Town Hall Debate, Debt, Video, National Debt, Town Hall, Debt Ceiling, Rick Crawford, Town Hall Meeting, Tim Geithner, Rick Crawford Town Hall, Debt Limit, Town Halls, Tax Cuts, Politics News

WASHINGTON -- When Congress returns from its two-week recess, one of its top priorities will be voting on whether to raise the federal government's de...

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Tea Party Movement Split On New Town Hall Push

CQ-Roll Call | Ambreen Ali | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Tea Party Movement, Health Care Town Halls, Town Hall Debate, Town Halls, Tea Party Town Halls, Town Hall Meetings, Town Hall Tea Party, Tea Party, Politics News

The town halls are back but with far less hype. The fiery outbursts that replayed on national media during last August's town hall meetings on heal...

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Inspired Democracy: The Debate Table

Alexia Parks | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Paul Simon, Town Hall Debate, Obama, Afghanistan, Town Hall Meetings, Barack Obama, Healthy Living News

"What have you done in your own community since Obama was elected president?" they challenged the audience. So I picked up the card and wrote down: "I hosted a Democracy Debate Table."

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What A Real Town Hall Looks Like

Alex Green | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Town Hall Debate, Waltham-Massachusetts, Town Hall Meetings, boston.com, Christopher Hitchens, Waltham Daily News Tribune, Barney Frank, Politics News

Can this be done anywhere? Yes. Is it without difficulty? No. But is it easier than we think to organize 25 political figures over four weeks with a small group and no money? Yes.

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Billy the Kid and the Town Hall Meeting

Susan L. Travis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Racism, Town Hall Debate, Town Hall Meetings, Obama Health Care, Health Care, Politics News

Despite the political backdrop, our town hall meeting was mercifully spared the guns and swastikas of the six o'clock news.

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Health Care Reform is the New Gay Marriage

Morgan Warners | Posted 05.25.2011

Gay marriage and our increasingly obvious interconnectedness present threats to traditions and ways of doing things that many of us think should change. In that regard, health reform is the new gay marriage.

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The Republican Death March on Health Care

Susan J. Demas | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Town Hall Debate, Health Care Town Halls, Birthers, Obama Healthcare, Jennifer Granholm, Sonia Sotomayor, Health Care Reform, Obama Poll Numbers, Republican Health Care Reform, Town Hall Meetings, Obama Health Care, Health Care, Barack Obama, Republicans, Obama Health Care Reform, Politics News

Thanks to the town hall turmoil from bigots, birthers and assorted miscreants, Republicans can savor a sugar-high on health care -- a decadent and ultimately short-lived victory.

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Health Care & Town Halls

George Mitrovich | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Town Hall Debate, Susan Davis, Town Hall Meetings, Politics News

I drove to a middle school in the Spring Valley area of San Diego to moderate a "town hall" meeting on health care.

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"...And to the Republic for Which it Stands..."

Gary Hart | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Government, Public Policy, Town Halls, Town Hall Debate, Pledge of Allegiance, Town Hall Meetings, Politics News

Shouting at town hall meetings may vent anger, but it is not sufficient to eliminate corruption in American government. Exercising popular sovereignty through constructive civic duty, though, would be a start.

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Two Ways To Be A Part Of The Health Reform Debate

Morgan Jindrich | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Town Hall Debate, Letter to the Editor, Volunteering, Town Hall Meetings, Healthy Living News

You can make a real difference right now by attending a town hall meeting (there are hundreds across the country) or by writing a letter to your local paper and setting the record straight.

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Mark Kirk To Host Health Care Townhall

Daily Herald | Russell Lissau | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Town Hall Debate, Mark Kirk, Kirk Townhall Debate, Town Hall Meetings, Health Care, Chicago News

As the battle over President Obama's health care reform plan continues to roil, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk today will hold the Northwest suburbs' first town ...

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Bill O'Reilly vs. Jon Stewart: Howard Kurtz's Reliable Sources On Description Of Protesters (VIDEO)

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Howard Kurtz, Town Hall Debate, Video, Reliable Sources, Jon Stewart, Cnn, Fox News, Health Care Protesters, Bill O'Reilly, Politics News

The recent spat between Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart over FOX News' handling of health care reform protesters got some air time Sunday morning on CNN...

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Guns, Guns, Everywhere

Dennis A. Henigan | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gun Violence, Town Hall Debate, National Rifle Association, Concealed Carry, Health Care Reform, Town Halls, Gun Control, Nra, Health Care, Town Hall Meetings, Barack Obama, Guns, Timothy McVeigh, Guns at Town Halls, Second Amendment, Gabrielle Giffords, Politics News

It is important not to treat these incidents of public gun-carrying as merely the misguided behavior of a few. It is more than that; the acting out of central tenets of the extremist "gun rights" ideology.

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The President Belongs To All Of Us

Paul Helmke | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Gun Violence, Town Hall Debate, Rahm Emanuel, Janet Napolitano, David Axelrod, Secret Service, Gun Control, Jim Brady, Hillary Clinton, Robert Gibbs, Barack Obama, Eric Holder, Guns, Politics News

Robert Gibbs' cavalier response to protesters carrying guns to presidential events was tone-deaf. This isn't a political issue and it isn't about the Second Amendment.

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Teabaggers Are To Congresspeople What Union-Busters Are To Workers

Mike Elk | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Efca, Birthers, Town Hall Debate, Teabagging, Unions, Betty-Castor, Politics News

The right wing is creating a climate of fear in which no logical argument can be made.

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Bogged Down By Special Interest, Health Care Reform Becomes a Political Tool Instead of a People's Right

Dr. Erika Schwartz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Health Care Reform, Cinergy, Big Pharma, Town Hall Debate, Obama Healthcare, Healthcare System, Healthy Lifestyle, Universal Healthcare, Health Insurance Industry, Health Insurance, Pharmaceutical Industry, Primary Care, Special Interest Groups, Doctor/Patient Relationship, Town Hall Meetings, Politics News

Do not allow America to continue being manipulated by special interest groups and help the people of America understand that they must control their own fate.

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Our Existing Public Option

Terry Curtis Fox | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Public Unversities, Public Health Insurance Plan, Public Option, Public Health Care Option, Democratic Health Care Plan, Town Hall Debate, Obama Healthcare, Healthcare System, Universal Healthcare, Public-vs-Private-Universities, Healthcare Debate, Private Insurance, University, Harvard University, Healthcare Reform, Private Insurance Industry, Healthcare Costs, Politics News

Private insurance companies don't want to be good capitalists and innovate. They fear competition because they are in a position where they don't need to provide a better service.

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Health Care: I Hate Everyone, Part 1 in a Series

Nato Green | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Town Hall Debate, Mental Health, Nazis, John Kerry, Health Care Reform, Universal Health Care, Right Wing, Adolf Hitler, Town Hall Meetings, Barack Obama, Politics News

The anti-health care stormtroopers demonstrate that you can get a long way with no argument if you sell it. It seems like the Town Hallers are all seeking revenge on an uninsured ex.

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No One Wants to Talk About Their Idiots

Bill Shireman | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Town Hall Debate, Americans for Prosperity, Sean Hannity, Barney Frank, Town Halls, Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, Socialism, Health Care, Town Hall Meetings, Barack Obama, Idiots, Politics News

We need a third political movement in this country -- not today's ideological right or left, who pander to idiots, but a group of radical centrists who step past their initial ignorance, fear, and prejudice, and actually think through solutions to our problems, borrowing ideas from all sides.

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The Dangerous Joining of the Far Right and Far Left

Lanny Davis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Obama Healthcare, Liberal Blogosphere, Blogosphere, Town Hall Debate, Healthcare System, Demonization, Democratic-Party-Ideological-Divide, Universal Health Care, Healthcare Reform, Town Hall Meetings, Extreme Right Wing, Ideological-Divide, Healthcare, Politics News

When the far left and the far right join in the Politics of Hate and Demonization, it is time for the vast center-left and center-right of this country to speak up and call them out equally.

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RIP Robert Novak

Ron Mwangaguhunga | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Robert Novak, Catholic Church, Town Hall Debate, Jack Kemp, Catholicism, Capital Gains Taxes, George W. Bush, Born-Again-Christians, Republican-Values, Republican Party, Town Hall Meetings, Media News

Novak, aware of that natural weakness in his personality, never tired of seeking a more harmonious sense of being. That, I think, is what made Novak ultimately a good man.

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Dear President Obama: A Modest Medicare Proposal

Thom Hartmann | Posted 05.25.2011

Most of us will do damn near anything to get out from under the thumbs of the multi-millionaire CEOs who are running our current insurance programs. Sign me up!

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Do Progressives Have What It Takes To Win?

Tom Sullivan | Posted 05.25.2011

Conservatives believe -- with justification -- that if they get angry enough and loud enough, liberals will back down from fights like this one.

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