instead, what i clearly see here (the debate, not this site) is not a genuine concern for health care, but the same old republican vs. democrat poltics. the democrats have made one of the most politically dynamic moves in the country. this should be agreeable enough. they done so after an inversely embarrassing campaign and presidency for the republican administration. now they are determined to stop ANY legislation that comes out of the democratic party from going through because it wouldn’t be good for them. if democrats came up with a bill saying every family gets ten thosand dollars a year tax free, they would slam it.

also, this is not an argument about whether organized rallies are un-democratic or not. of course they are democratic. what is not democratic is the way they go about it. these “rallies” are mobs. there is no justification in such action. we look like a third world country out there because of this. i agree with the more sedate. there are other ways to express extreme disapproval. restrained protests in the street instead of at political forums meant for intelligent discussion and compromise.

lastly, there are things that bother me about this bill also, but i am not clouded in the fact that this is not a simple problem. regardless of what ANYONE tells you, there is no simple solution. lower the costs of medicare??? the whole concept is that these are privately owned insurance BUSINESSES. i never understood how it was allowed in the first place that people who are motivated by the need to accumulate and maintain a profit margin are placed in charge of the countries basic health care needs. to a business, you are not the PRIMARY concern. profit is the initial factor. economics 101.

i think people also mis-interpret a governemnt-run health care as some over-powering dark tower dominating all the land. much propaganda has been put out to promote this bill, and i found it a bit shaming that respected House members are actually on TV doing so. a governemnt-run health care does not mean the dissolving of all private health care. what it means is that it gives people a basic CHOICE. the current situation is that under the current program of PRIVATIZED health care, people already find themselves ousted out of their plans, their plans changed, they are unable to afford health care, or they find themselves bankrupted by it. how many of you have this exact problem?

what a government-run health care does is introduce a low-priced option for many of us who don’t have the gas to ride to work. you still have the option of going to the more expensive health care providers if you want, or can, but they make the option for you to buy a cheaper, affordable plan. health insurance companies don’t like this because if someone is providing health care at a lower price than you, you must lower your prices in order to compete. this cuts into the profits they are making. they may not be huge profits, but that doesn’t mean they like watching them fall.

this is how that system works. there are no vampires waiting to cast judgement on your elder loved ones. no one is placing “death boards” in charge of your health care. i mean seriously. we are not dumb people. i don’t say that there aren’t things wrong with the bill, but i urge a more rational, more thought out argument than the one’spresented when i turn on the tv. seriously. i’ve gotten beatings for similar behavior when i was a kid

So yeah, keep telling me how good I have it. While you’re busy doing that, I’ll sit on hold while my customer service representative tries to figure out how tell me they won’t cover that test on a family member that my doctor says is needed.”

And people like you think that the GOVERNMENT is going to be cheaper and better? Have you even looked at healthcare outside the US? Do you think that taxes won’t be paying for this inferior service or do you think we should just add to unpaid liabilities of Medicare/Medicaid? I’m using the VA for medical care. Trust me.Gov’t run health care is….adequate… at best. If I need a test, it may be months before I can get one. Heck, even on active duty, on medical hold after deployment, it was a month before I was even evaluated. Good thing injured disc isn’t that important…..Their attitude was, “Here, take a pain pill.” Hmmm, I’ve heard that somewhere else lately….

If you wish to think that the majority of all the protests of the Democratic congress and Obama is ginned up by the GOP, corporations, etc then go right ahead. Ignore all the polls that show Obama’s popularity is dropping. Ignore all the polls that show that ObamaCare is unpopular. Call all the moderates and independents who are fiscally conservative and turning on Obama a bunch of shills and plants and fakes - don’t worry no one has noticed Obama has already broken most of his campaign promises.

It’s all just fake and made up - you’ve got nothing to worry about - your Unicorn is on the way.

I think the spontaneity of the angry people showing up to chew out their representatives is due more to the co-occurance of
(1) Government spending massive amounts of money we don’t have
(2) Government planning on spending massive amounts of money we don’t have - which will inevitably lead to higher taxes for the rich and the middle class, inflation and prolonged high unemployment rates and prolong the recession.
(3) Congresscritters are returning for their August break.

Look at #3 and read it again. You admit that there are people who are legitimately angry at their representatives - so when else are they going to express their displeasure? Are they supposed to fly out to DC to tell their representatives what they think? The first opportunity for people with legitimate gripes with their representatives to speak to them in person has been this week…this explains the spontaneity. Representatives were not holding town hall meetings until recently.

Astroturfing and mud-slinging are not the unique appanage of the Right, but of late they have been using such tactics - as well as argumentum ad hominem and straw man attacks - with a deliberate glee that should disgust anyone that really believes in freedom and justice – as opposed, say, to well-crafted sophisms, lies and half-truth design to manipulate the public opinion.

Did you go and scream down everybody that didn’t chant?

@Bald Ninja:
“Seriously, you think that the amount of anger and protest being seen around the country is being generated by corporations like this? Really!?!”

Are some people angry? Absolutely. Do I think that some/alot/all of these “spontaneous” protests are being ginned up? Absolutely.

As you point out, Teh Evil ACORN and others have made it a point to attend TownHalls . . . do you really think Repubs (or in this case, corporate lobbyists) are “above” that? What about the Republican Aids “protesting” at the Florida recount?

I’ll ask it again — do you think that people disrupting town hall meetings across the country spontaneously and independently all got the idea at the same time, all by themselves, while at the same time a group was pushing this exact tactic? That seems pretty . . . uncredible.

btw, I wasn’t aware ACORN was in the habit of shouting down people asking questions at town halls. Any video or proof of that?

For the past 8 years the lefty groups like ACORN, Move-On, Code Pink etc have been amassing protests and demonstrations and ‘infiltrating’ townhall meetings and so forth and this has been called ‘grass roots’ and the organizational skills of these ‘concerned citizens’ has been hailed as democracy in action…but as soon as hard core liberals are asked some tough questions at townhall meetings something nefarious has to be behind it. The double standard is not astounding but that you don’t see it is.