All across the country, legislators coming to their home districts in attempt to sell the health care plan to constituents are being met with fierce opposition:
• Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., was confronted by self-described Democrats who accused their representative of lying about health reform and protested, “Why would you try to stuff a health care plan down our throats in a couple days when the president took six months to pick a dog for his kids?”
• In Mehlville, Mo., protesters lined up around the block of the Bernard Middle School gym where Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., had planned a public forum. When hundreds were left standing on the street, they remained outside into the evening. Eventually, a man reportedly assaulted one of the protesters, leading to six arrests, including a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter.
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• Rep. Tim Bishop, D-N.Y., has called off further events after a June 22 event he held in Setauket, N.Y., in which protesters dominated the meeting by shouting criticisms at the congressman for his positions on energy policy, health care and the bailout of the auto industry.
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• Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., got an earful, too – especially on the health-care issue.
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• Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., heard from a very well-informed veteran – to the enthusiastic applause of those gathered.
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• Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., also heard from the crowd when he made a gaffe by saying the work needs to be done “fast.”
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• U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., tried to explain at a town hall that people “don’t know” how much they’re already paying to cover the uninsured, but his reasoning was drowned out by protesters.
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• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., visited a Denver, Colo., clinic for the homeless to raise support for Obama’s health care plan, only to be met by streets lined with protesters opposed to the measure.
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• Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-TX, went out to meet constituents, only to be met with protesters shouting in opposition to the health care bill, “Just say no!”
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• At a health care town hall event in Syracuse, N.Y., in July, police were called in to restore order, and at least one heckler was taken away by local police.
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• Close to 100 sign-carrying protesters greeted Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., at a late June community college small-business development forum in Panama City, Fla.
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• Danville, Va., anti-tax tea party activists claimed they were “refused an opportunity” to ask Rep. Thomas Perriello, D-Va., a question at a town hall event and instructed by a plainclothes police officer to leave the property after they attempted to hold up protest signs.
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• Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., was chased by a crowd saying the Pledge of Allegiance.
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• The constituents of Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn., unable to access their representative through a town hall meeting, created a video charging that Tanner has met with Michael Moore and Fidel Castro, “But he won’t meet his constituents in the 8th District to talk about health care.”
The biggest source of protests are the health-care bill, the $787 billion economic stimulus package and the cap-and-trade legislation. They’re also angry about Barack Obama’s refusal to release his birth certificate to prove he is a “natural born citizen” and constitutionally eligible to serve in the White House.
kudos wnd.com
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Rep Chris Murphy got 200 people to oppose him at Simsbury on Wednesday in Connecticut
Rep Joe Courtney held a small townhall meeting filled with out of state Union workers and supporters who did not live in his district at the Woodstock Town Hall on Thursday.