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Today in DC, thousands marched. Thousands rallied. And thousands stood up and showed Congress what fighting for what you believe in looks like.
Starting from a rally in Dupont Circle with words from Howard Dean, to a full on citizens’ posse down at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel where the insurance companies were having their conference and plotting to kill health reform, the direct action sent a forceful message. Security was out in force, and our people got hassled while the insurance companies hid. At the end of the day, we got into the hotel and served a warrant of arrest.
See what happened:
The insurance companies have taken enough from us. It’s time for Congress to listen to us and pass real health reform that works for the American people. We won’t stop. We’ll never let up. Congress must stop the insurance companies or we will. And in the end, we will win.
(also posted at the NOW! blog)
I’m proud to work for Health Care for America Now
12 Comments
But the reform they are looking at would give those insurance companies more power and more money and give us no option but to be their victims. Great publicity stunt, but meaningless if it results in the current templates being passed.
Maybe you could get DemocracyNow to have a story on this since the CMM ignored it.
Doesn’t seem like the warrant being served did much good despite being ‘deputized’ and it would have been good to see more of what was being pushed for as against.
And I’m reading where labor is going to target any Dem’s that vote against the passing of the legislation w/o a public option, like Kucinich.
I thought that was kind of stupid. Hopefully, what they really said was that they’d go after those who killed it for other reasons. If they actually were pushing for a public option in the past but then came around to punishing those who voted for a bill without an option, they’ll never get what they want. Hey, Unions, Kucinich is the Stupak who is fighting for you instead of the Catholic Bishops. The fact that they would say they would go after anyone who doesn’t vote for this excise taxed mess is also kind of stupid. They need better messaging, unless that message is accurate, in which case they need better common sense and consistency.
I despair of ever obtaining any progressive goals. Our allies against the most rich and powerful in this country are the keystone cops?
Not as much real time coverage as I’d have liked, but WaPo and LA Times had big stories this morning, and lots of packages on TV. But will get in touch with DNow.
What a goofy stunt. Arrest them today and mandate the masses to purchase their product tomorrow? If you want to reform health care, mandate health care and render the insurance industry obsolete. Insurance companies are corporations that have “taken so much from us” with the oversight and assistance of state and federal legislatures every step of the way and now “activists” are shocked and horrified that no one could have anticipated that this industry is in it for the profit alone.
It was only guessed at a thousand, and was way to little far to late.
Over three hundred million people in this Country and only a thousand can get off their asses to demonstrate.
Maybe that’s why we are getting stepped on by every major interest in this Country.
We have become a Country of ass sitters and complainers.
My problem is the organizers. Not that I would get up off my ass and protest daily if it were for all the right organizations, but I would be willing to sacrifice if I were sure that it was for my position. But when I get announcements about these events from the same veal pen inhabitants who are for whatever Obama wants, I don’t want to lend my voice. Why should my body be counted in the number of how many people want Congress to go ahead and pass that damn bill ASAP? I hope it fails if they insist on mandates with no price controls or even a joke of a public option or an easily outmaneuvered antitrust provision. They don’t even pretend to humor us any more. They just brazenly hold us up and then berate us for not lending our voices to the chorus cheering it on.
I was shocked to see a clip of Kos today acting for all the world like he not only jumped in the veal pen but had taken upon himself the job of whipping any poor animals that refuse to STFU, get in the pen, and be happy about their impending slaughter. Shocked and then incensed.
Awesome video. And I gotta say, the organizing around this was pretty awesome too. I got emails from numerous friends about it not to mention several emails from a handful of organizations. I think I was reminded about it some 15 times after putting it on the calendar.
wow. no good deed . . .
thank you Jason. thrilling to follow the twitter feed. so very many of us wishing we could have been there with you.
wish you would advocate for any policies that would actually stop the insurance companies instead of delivering us to them as forced customers via the mandates.
If Private Health Insurance Companies Are Evil, Why Are You Forcing Me to Be a Customer?
See we are blaming the lack of protest on Obama or whats happening right now.
Yet the insurance based for profit on the non health of the people healthcare system has been around for decades and the people seemed content.
The Congress and our government has been broken for decades and just like now the people have just went along with what has happened.
We as a people are content to just sit back and take what our government feeds us with no real response.
actually has been responses. not that you would read about them in the MSM or in the case of universal healthcare from HCAN.
i do think you are right to say we citizens have a responsibility. but so does obama and one of our responsibilities is to hold obama accountable as best we can.