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Thanks to Albion Wilde for the ping to this thread and these post:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2313064/posts

“Nearly 2,000 Show Up to 500 seat Town Hall meeting in Maryland (Post your Pics here!)
Explore Baltimore/Inside Charm City | August 10, 2009 | Multiple links and eyewitness account”
Posted on August 10, 2009 7:19:45 PM PDT by icwhatudo

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2313064/posts?page=180#180

was on the inside, with Cindy-True-Supporter and Maica. Having spent several years on the front lines of protests elsewhere, we had agreed to keep a low profile — just observing what would happen with this meeting, after so many others nationally had resulted in heated exchanges and violence. We got there three hours early and, luckily, they opened the building to let people line up inside, since it was 95 degrees out front.
The earlybird crowd appeared mostly white middle-class, middle-aged or slightly older, and mostly (by appearance) socially conservative — those most concerned that expensive changes to Medicare, inflation or taxes will mess up their retirement. One couple in their early 60s lined up behind us had driven down from Pennsylvania, because there was no town meeting in their area. Their daughter has a severe chronic illness. There was a cursory bag search (no metal detectors) but contrary to rumor, no ID check. We were allowed in about 1/2 hour before the meeting — we entered an empty, but rather small room with a capacity of 500.

Inside the TownHall Meeting
Once inside, constituents who wanted to filled out cards with names, addresses and their questions for Senator Cardin, which were collected by staff. Beginning promptly, the Senator’s presenter, Gary Rubin, Towson University’s VP for University Advancement, so closely resembled Senator Cardin that they looked like brothers. He was obviously in Cardin’s corner, as well — and it was clear from Rubin’s first announcement of the agenda and “rules” for the meeting that Cardin was there primarily to flack Obamacare. He would only stay until 8:30; and he would give a long presentation first. The groans from many in the crowd started immediately, while others were hissing, “Shhhh!” to try to keep order.

The announcement that Cardin would first trot out a young mother with a sick child to tell us “her story” was met with groans at the imposition of an obvious sympathy ploy, although people did shut up while she spoke. At last, Senator Cardin got up to give his bona fides about the health-related pork he had forked out over the years in the Maryland legislature and the U.S. Congress, while the crowd barely managed to keep order. “Answer the questions!” people shouted. A large, loud older guy in the center of the room had obviously come there determined to boo, hoot and catcall every syllable, never giving Cardin a chance. The majority turned on his too-early outbursts and repeatedly told him to sit down and shut up.

The Senator had a prepared slide show with the usual Democrap talking points about uninsured Americans. Since any government solution to universally insuring the uninsured is socialism, his attempt to rehash these phony statistics was met with immediate rejection. “We already know all that!” someone near us yelled. “Answer the questions!” others continued to shout. Some black-clad cops strode down to the front.

After Cardin’s frequently-interrupted ObamaSpam, it was almost 8:00 and he finally opened the floor for questions. About 50 people lined up in the aisles behind two microphones — with only 1/2 hour left, obviously they wouldn’t all have a chance.

The Largest Points of Outrage
The most prolonged, loud applause or outraged reactions centered around a few points:

1. Tort reform. The crowd roared to know why tort reform wasn’t part of the bill, and one man asked, “Is is because more than half the members of Congress are lawyers?”

2. The Constitution. A man asked, “Be specific — under what Article of the Constitution does the Congress have a right to set up a universal healthcare system?” Cardin’s response, “Uh, the First?” (Yeah, that’s the ticket!) Here is the First Article, which he is clearly taking out of context, since powers not specifically granted by the Constitution to the Feds are to remain with the States: “Article I, Section 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.” People yelled, stood and applauded the question, not the answer.

3. Get Government Off Our Backs: A lady asked Cardin to name just one other government program that had succeeded in reducing costs. As other news accounts have noted, he claimed the National Park System (eye-rolling, groaning) and Medicare (shouts of derision). Another man cited the $68 billion in medical fraud each year under our present system, asking how an even larger system could be expected to stop an even larger outflow of abuse. Cardin’s leftie answer, typically, blamed doctors, rather than the bloated regulatory bureaucracy that has grown up around “managed care.”

4. Trust. It was clear that the crowd mistrusted the claims of this representative of the bloated, elitist U. S. Congress. Cardin was asked to commit to receiving the same kind of care for himself that he was proposing for others; and he was met with frequent shouts of “Read the bill!” “Read it first!” “Why don’t you read the damn thing?” The largest shouts of derision accompanied his admission that “We haven’t worked out yet how we are going to pay for it.”

Holding Cardin to His Promises
Americans spend $2 trillion annually on healthcare. One of the most disingenuous parts of this entire debacle of a President trying to pass within a couple of weeks a takeover of one of the largest, most vital areas of commerce in our economy is the assumption that liberal, big-government proponents will always be in power. If this bill succeeds, it will signalling the end of private enterprise in this enormous sector of the economy, force a crippling, permanent socialism and a plummeting standard of health care, and set up a massive bureaucracy of unelected administrators who will outnumber medically-trained personnel. The proposed healthcare takeover is an act of war on our entire history as a free nation and the free-enterprise system, and the people in the room knew it.

Secondly, no matter what Senator Cardin said, he could slide out of accountability by referring to the several bills in proposal now. One is in the House; another in the Senate, with differing components. Cardin could, and did, say what he would or would not vote for; but that is no guarantee what will actually happen if our betters in Congress continue on their present course of demonstrating to us American serfs that our opinions are of no concern to them.

But for the record, these are the things Cardin said he would and wouldn’t vote for:

1. He said there would be no change regarding abortion — that the bill would be “neutral” about abortion. We heard him say it.

2. He said there would be no cuts in Medicare, even though the crowd gave several examples of how loading up the system with many new customers would certainly drive up costs and result in rationing and increased taxation. People spoke up for their children with Down syndrome, their elderly and their children under 2 years of age (which the proposed bill does not consider fully viable “productive” citizens). Attendees were not buying the Senator’s bromides in response.

3. He said that he would not vote for a bill that forces the taxpayers to pay for the insurance or care of illegal aliens. (Crickets.)

4. He said he would sponsor a provision enabling small businesses to pool together to secure more favorable rates of insurance.

5. And he said he would be 65 next year, so he himself would go onto Medicare. (Which we doubt, since if he stays in Congress, he will have their upgraded alternative.)

As he wrapped up his promises (and bearing in mind that he is only one of 100 Senators and 435 members of the House), someone shouted out, “We’ll be watching!” and a growl rose up to a prolonged jeer and hoot.

I do want to note that Cardin did, with sincerity, man up to face what he knew would be a difficult audience — he seems to be a hard worker and is clearly a true believer in the liberal religion. But the crowd, by contrast, had seen too many utopian government promises lead to expensive, socially catastrophic consequences.

It was clear that this crowd were not thugs, but educated and responsible job-holders who had contributed to society of “we the People” all of their lives, and do not want to encourage future generations to look at government as a giant piggybank into which others will make all the deposits. It’s also clear that a sleeping giant has finally been awakened to its duty to hold Congress’ feet to the fire. We can only pray that it’s not too late.

180 posted on August 11, 2009 9:27:40 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (”Media: quit making things up.” —Sarah Palin)