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Teabaggers: ‘Their Intent Is to Stop Conversation’ |
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The orchestrated, handbook-guided extremist disruptions of town hall meetings on health care reform being held by members of Congress are turning into “a series of shout-downs and freak-outs,” says Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo.
“…something resembling right-wing performance art. [It's] a well-orchestrated national effort to mobilize teabaggers to go and shut down these town hall events with raucous demonstrations and generally making it impossible for the members of Congress to talk.”
“Teabaggers” refers to the fact that many of the groups behind the manipulated chaos are the same outfits that staged the phony grassroots “Tea Party” tax protests earlier this year. Then, as now, Fox News and other right-wing media outfits are trying to portray the actions as genuine revolts. Many of staged tax “protest” events drew just a handful of people, but closeup camera angles and breathless, fawning coverage seriously exaggerated the scope of the protests.
But now, they are armed with a battle guide from the anti-government group Right Principles that tells them to disrupt meetings “early and often….Watch for opportunities to stand up and shout…rock the boat…stand up and shout.” They are being encouraged by a growing number of health care reform opponents, including Republican leaders trying to kill President Obama’s reform initiatives.
The main goal of these disrupters is to kill health care reform, not debate it, not refine it, not find a middle ground, just kill it. (For a more detailed look, check “Swiftboating Town Halls” at The Progress Report.)
In a conference call with state and local AFL-CIO leaders today, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, talked about her weekend experience in Philadelphia where a loud and vocal minority tried to shout down her and Sen. Arlen Specter during a town hall on health care.
She said about two-thirds of the audience was there to listen and ask questions, while the others simply wanted to yell.
Their intent is not to have a conversation. Their intent is to stop the conversation.
Sebelius said the nation is closer than ever to achieving real health care reform to provide quality, affordable care for all Americans. She pointed out that as health care activists get closer and closer to victory, the screaming protesters are becoming “more frantic” in their actions, as we have seen in the town hall meetings.
In Green Bay, Wis., on Monday night, Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen held a town hall meeting where, according to the Green Bay Gazette, protesters
repeatedly disrupted the event by shouting….Most of the crowd’s screams for three-quarters of the evening were incomprehensible.
In Houston, (see video), an Internet campaign by far-right activists urged people to attend and heckle Rep. Gene Green, reported Fox (sometimes, they get it right) Channel 26. Reporter Duarte Geraldino talked to the participants and found that “some attendees admit they don’t live in the district.”
TPM’s Marshall points out one of the more obnoxious stunts pulled at the recent meetings.
Then there was the case yesterday where a few folks at a teabag protest outside a town hall meeting in Hartford called on Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) to commit suicide as a way to cure his recently diagnosed prostate cancer.
That’s the kind of high-level discussion these folks specialize in. You can help counter the shrill shrieks. Visit our health care ally, Health Care for America Now (HCAN), and find a town hall meeting in your area where you can join union members in civilized health care reform activities.
Click here to send a message to your lawmakers to support comprehensive health care reform.
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Dear AFL-CIO Blog,
I am a proud union member (IBEW Local 97) and would only respectfully engage in an open and honest debate about health care reform.
I am also a tea-party protester, and I really think that your ridicule of people that do not want reckless government spending and bailouts using OUR money is disheartening.
Americans have lost our ability to spend 33% of our earnings, as it is taken from us by our government, then used for frivolous projects like AIG bailouts, cash for clunkers and to send a $1 billion nuclear powered satellite to Uranus. All this while the US government makes it easier for companies to send more and more manufacturing jobs overseas to horrible human rights countries like China and Burma.
Please do YOUR job of simply representing the working class, and stop politicizing and ridiculing those of us that wish for true reform and smaller government.
I am a proud retired retired member of IBEW 573.
The anti-union republicans do not want to engage in an open and honest debate about health care reform.
Reckless government spending was lying to start a war, giving tax cuts to the rich and the corporations, and allowing corporations to send jobs overseas.
The republicans have been fighting against health care reform for years because the want the insurance companies and drug companies to kept making their huge profits.
The democrats are trying to help the American people and our unions ARE doing their job by helping the Democrats.
G H W Bush and G W Bush signed Executive orders banning PLA’s on government jobs. Those were direct attacks against union construction workers
W Clinton and B Obama signed Executive orders reinstating PLA’s on government jobs, directly helping union construction workers.
If anybody like the anti-union republicans so much they do not have to belong to a union, they can go work for the ABC contractors that endorsed McCain.
Union members who support our unions by voting for the union endorsed Obama also support health care reform.
I am retired on disability and collect Social Security, Medicare, and IBEW pensions.
I thank FDR and the Democrats for Social Security.
I thank LBJ and the Democrats for Medicare.
I thank the Democrats for helping our unions.
The anti-union republicans and anybody who votes for them can KMA.
I just read in Huffington Post that AFL-CIO members will be attending town hall meetings to counter the “screamers”. That’s wonderful!! Here’s the link.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/06/unions-to-take-on-conserv_n_252720.html
Hopefully, we can “get our act together” and attend Congressman Jihn Dingell’s Town Hall meeting tonight (Aug 6) at 6:00 pm at the Romulus Athletic Center, 35765 Northline Rd, Romulus. Please pass the word around.
About 25 years ago I was a member of the teacher’s union in a northern Chicago suburb (AFL-CIO Local 263). I went on strike when the school board refused to negotiate in good faith and wouldn’t pay for our health care. More that 250 teachers were fired for our union strike activities. After three weeks and a legal challenge by the parents in the community the strike was settled and we got our jobs (and health care) back. This should never be allowed to happen again.
I hope to see you at John Dingell’s Town Hall meeting tonight.
I am a proud Union Member (IBEW1340), and apparently Brother Candrus forget all the “TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS” the Cheney/Bush Adminstration during Reign of Terror. If You are a Tea-party protester or not, that’s your problem. The Right Wing Republican Party and Lobbyist for the Health Insurance Companies are trying to Kill the Health Care Reform Bill.
If you like most Republicans has a bad case of “SELECTIVE AMNESIA”, you tend to forget the “BILLIONS”, WASTED by the Bush Crowd, not to mention all the UNION MEMBERS, who have been KILLED, in that FAKE WAR in IRAQ.
Brother Candrus, before you come on this website trying to “JUSTIFY”, your position, you might want to check the people you Associate with. If the Republican Party had their way, UNIONS would be OUTLAWED in all 50 States.
This Country needs a better Health Care System than we have now, which is a JOKE, and an INSULT.
The AFL-CIO and all Unions need to get involved, in this Debate because you can rest assure the Insurance Lobbist,, and the GOP..are not looking out for our best Interest. Brother Candrus, “PLEASE TAKE THOSE SCALES OFF YOUR EYES…”
It is my understanding that an amendment to quantify one’s eligibility for benefits under the ‘reformed’ health care this bill is supposed to bring about was voted down. And what that means to the American taxpayer is more illegals sucking off the system! As long as that’s possible under this bill I am against it. If it’s going to allow illegals the same benefits as citizens and other legal residents of tis country then how good can the rest of the bill really be?
Dear Brothers The Snake and austininc457,
There’s plenty of blame to go around on both “sides” of the political spectrum, and trust me, my eyes are not scaled over.
My post didn’t put blame on any particular side, and I respect your opinions on the two sides.
My point is simply that by continuing to point blame on the 2 big political parties and the presidents, and ridiculing those that don’t want gargantuan government taking our money for ANY frivolous use (war, nation-building, the China-loving Clintons AND Bushes, Union-Busting jerk legislators, etc..) won’t get us anywhere constructive.
Some people just want to argue, and ridicule and point fingers at everyone else - let’s not continue it!
I do not want a more expensive government. I do want the uninsured to have more options to become insured. I want us to bring back responsible manufacturing from China, where it has since been flooding our markets with their poor-quality junk, and really hurting our employment rolls AND union membership.
Giving bailouts and taxpayer-funded loans to fat-cat CEOs and companies that prey on people at the base of the American economy, or ruin their own companies with their phony-baloney derivative trading does not help us. That’s what the Tea-Party movement is protesting about. The Tea-Party Movement is not a republican OR a democrat thing, it’s a Liberty and Justice FOR ALL thing.
There’s lots to do, Brothers and Sisters, so let’s be constructive and respectful, and not get sidetracked by the political games of the 2 big political parties.
“The most sacred of the duties of a government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all citizens.” —Thomas Jefferson
The AFL CIO’s teabagger group are using GANGSTER tactics and are denying citizens of the right to have dialogue and share concerns/ideas with politicians.
The BEST tactic would be to do everything to AVOID a “show-down” approach between union members and the teabaggers. How? Use SHAME!!! The very start of each meeting should have a REAL person in the district share his/her story as to how they were DENIED coverage . . or the COST of getting coverage. Why a “covered” insured person? This will have greater impact because they are saying that the status quo is acceptable and because they don’t care about the uninsured (for whom they say it’s their “choice” to be uninsured) it will be harder to point blame at the person telling the story, who is insured, as being at fault. Think how bad it will look if teabaggers try to disrupt the speech of a mom whose child died because there was a lengthy wait for the child to get the recommended medications that his/her doctor recommended, and although insured, the insurance company was sluggish in providing authorization, or denied authorization?
Please THINK about this idea. I really think it could work!!!
Our unions keep track of the voting records of all of the politicians. The AFLCIO website has a page to check the voting records of all of the politicians.
There is a reason that the IBEW and almost ever other union endorsed the Democrat Obama and the antiunion contractors, ABC, endorsed the republican McCain. The reason is their past voting records of the politicians.
Part of our union dues go to pay full time employees of the AFLCIO to keep track of the voting records and keep track of which politicians have been pro labor and which politicians have been anti labor. The AFLCIO does not flip a coin, or get paid by lobbyists, or get paid by corporations to endorse political candidates, and they do not listen to the politicians promises.
I do not listen to politicians or their promises.
I look at what they have done in the past. Their voting records.
Our enemy yesterday is not going to be our best friend tomorrow.
Unions work for working people.
The choice is not between the republicans and perfection.
The choice is between pro union and anti union.
I support my union and I vote union.
President Obama may fail over Health care, because the Democrat leadership of Sen Harry Reid, Speaker Pelosi added these services free-of-charge to the 20 million plus illegal immigrants and their families. The cost is trillions of dollars according to Robert Rector, top analyst of the Heritage Foundation. All these money will be further accentuated by the cornucopia of other welfare entitlements, that will keep attracting millions more illegal aliens. These mandatory federal laws are enforced on taxpayers by the IRS, which has drained state, county treasuries for absolute decades. America cannot have a government run health care system, until restrictions are placed on anybody who are unable to prove their citizenship status or residency. Like Europe, America has been invaded by mass hordes of legal and illegal immigrants, with consequences of a overburdened government health care system.
The Heritage Foundation is a right-wing think tank based in Washington, DC. Any analyst from this foundation critical of President Obama’s health care plan has a definite political agenda for the right-wing against his plan, so the “trillions” cost is already suspicious. Another fear tactic, if you will.
With regards to the illegals in this country…what would Jesus do?
To the guy that claims to be a tea-bagger, I will love to tell him that he cannot have both ways. The same people that are encouraging the “tea-baggers”, “birthers”, “grass-roots”, etc, are same ones that also are opposed to unions. They are the same people that was telling President Obama that he could not bail out the Auto industries and he did so, he should get the unions to give up the benefits their baragined for; but, yet, these same folks did not make the same demand from corporate America financial institutions because there employees by a vast majority are NOT represented by unions. The Republican party takes pride going around America boasting to be union busters, just ask all those Reagan supporters. Be careful what you are getting into. All these so called groups are also bigoted, and biased against people of color.
Town Hall Meeting: Grants Pass, Oregon, Wednesday, August 12, 5:15 PM.
The meeting will be with Rep Peter DeFazio. It will be at the Anne Basker Auditorium.
Labor: SHOW UP!