Democrats stoke grassroots healthcare campaign

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - From a living room in Kansas to a bagel shop in New York to an Alabama church, Democrats have started mobilizing support for President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plans.

Suburban housewives and social workers mixed with Baptist ministers, college students, retirees and many others at grassroots gatherings over the weekend. Spurred by the Democratic National Committee's burgeoning political machine dubbed "Organizing for America," thousands of such meetings had been planned for Friday through Monday.

Those attending the scripted two-hour events viewed a videotaped message from Obama, shared personal stories and made local battle plans to counter the expected stiff opposition.

"It's going to be a vicious fight," said 76-year-old Hank Putsch who attended an organizing meeting on Saturday at a Kansas City restaurant. "The insurance companies and healthcare companies are gearing up to oppose this. We've got to get our voices heard


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5570TN20090608

[Soylent Brice]

1. ATTN. TEABAGGERS:

THIS is how a REAL grassroots movement starts. not from the lap of some corporation and its self-serving interests.

[travelingtypist]

2. And watch it not that a sliver of the media attention the Tbgrs got.

Gawd, I really do miss Media Whores Online sometimes.

[AlbertCat]

11. Gawd, I really do miss Media Whores Online sometimes.

Me too!

[grannie4peace]

5. yeah, teabaggers, you poor misguided sons of the aristrocracy !!

why is it more pleasurable to fight than to truely accomplish something good for the community????:patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot: :patriot:

[nxylas]

7. Are you sure about that?

It looks like the campaign is for mandatory insurance, not single-payer. I don't think any corporation's self-serving interest is threatened by forcing people to buy their products.

[John Q. Citizen]

10. You are correct. The whole sham has been left wing astro turf. Read the Obama transition report

on the health care reform "listening" meetings.

Single payer is hardly mentioned. They don't quantify how many people said they support it in terms of numbers or percentages.

The whole exercise was a sham to reach a pre=determined outcome decided in a back room with the Obama transition team, the health care industrial complex and some key legislators.

The public option IS Romney Care. If we wanted that, we would have elected Romney for crying out load.

[nxylas]

14. "Romney care"

Like it. I think I'm going to use that from now on.

[John Q. Citizen]

15. I'm calling it, Romney Care; The Pubic Option. We get screwed, the insurance companies get stroked.

[bkkyosemite]

18. And since there was no mention in the emails I got I did not attend.

We need Medicare for all HR 676.

[Iowa]

28. Yep... this is going to be the mother of all sell-outs...

I was in renewing my driver's license a few days ago and changed my party affiliation from Democrat to Independent. I have come to the conclusion that the once-great Democratic party no longer exists, and I don't want to be affiliated with the disaster that it has morphed into over the past 30 years. So I am no longer a member of a party that has become as bad, or worse, than the Republican party my grandfather despised 50 years ago.

"Democratic-Underground" should change its name to "Progressive-Underground", because there is absolutely nothing "underground" about the Democratic party. Unfortunately, the term "Democratic" has become synonymous with plutocratic, status-quo, establishment, corporatism. "Underground" really doesn't fit anymore.

[girl gone mad]

26. This particular one is every bit as fake as the FOX sponsored teabagging parties.

A massive corporate giveaway in the guise of populist health care reform. I don't know anyone who is actually buying it.

[quidam56]

3. Sadly, Corporate Greed puts PROFIT CARE ahead of PATIENT CARE

in Tennessee and Virginia, plus they call it acceptable care. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62 Health care in America has gone the way of wall street. We must have health care reform this year.

[Psychic Consortium]

4. The people will overcome a corrupt congress....karma time. nt

[AllyCat]

6. Wanted to attend one of these, but had a birthday party to go to

at the same time almost every one of them seemed to take place. Anyone go to one? How was it? I have been pounding this in my FB posts for a month now. Have only had one RWer try to spout the talking points and was pleasantly surprised at the number of friends who pounded back on her! I hope if we make a lot of noise, they will have to listen.

[John Q. Citizen]

9. I went. Almost all the people were in favor of single payer but the organizers kept diverting the

conversation back to the public/private multi payer Romney Care Massachusetts model.

We will be bailing out the health insurance companies if we don't collectively say NO!

Here's the White House switch board number call abnd be heard 202-456-1414

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. Will do.

Thanks!

[bkkyosemite]

19. Or White House 202 456 1111

[AllyCat]

31. Had a feeling that is what would happen.

I'm so sick of Big Insurance and Big Pharma attacking everything we do. keep on fighting! Thanks for attending!!

[John Q. Citizen]

8. Left wing astro turf being peddled as grassroots. We want single payer. Not Romney care

like Massachusetts got.

[L. Coyote]

13. "scripted two-hour events" = Grassroots my ARSE! More Reuters propaganda.

This is top-down corporate propaganda peddling the for-profit option.

[earcandle]

16. Will there be a nation wide public peoples vote on this?

[L. Coyote]

22. That's a good idea. How about an online election/poll?

[avaistheone1]

21. I am afraid so. But guess what at the conclusion our local meeting

we all voted unanimously that the current health care system is not working AND that single payer is the solution.

Given the scripted event was weak on followup, we formed our own yahoo group for advocacy and the enactment of single payer health care system for all in the U.S. modeled upon HR676.

[L. Coyote]

23. Why don't they send out a VOTE form or opinion poll, instead of just begging for $$$$

They send lots of e-mails asking for more money, more money, more money, but never for an opinion response!

Given the e-mail addresses are unique, they would have a scientific sampling if you had to respond in an e-mail and could not vote twice.

[avaistheone1]

25. Ah...maybe because they want more money.

I just wish they would be upfront about it.

[RufusTFirefly]

17. Nice. An entire phony corporate-sponsored narrative

So inspiring!

1. White House and Senate throw single-payer under the bus in favor of insurance companies and Big Pharma
2. Grassroots kick up a fuss. Demand something that benefits patients, not corporations.
3. Democrats acknowledge uproar and then, doing a clever bait and switch, signal a willingness to entertain a Romney Care solution.
4. Reuters lauds power of the grassroots.

If you weren't paying attention, you might actually believe them. This whole thing is as "real" as a reality show.

[rurallib]

20. This is the fight of our lives and for our lives

Our meeting was all single payer backers.
Just sent off another LTTE on Senator Grassley and health care and their $1 mil + contributions to Grassley

[Romulox]

24. "Grassroots" efforts to promote mandatory, for-profit insurance? LOL. nt

[Wednesdays]

27. K&R

:kick:

[ooglymoogly]

29. Bait and switch with Orwellian overtones.

RomnyCare....I like it.

[New Dawn]

30. A mass movement will be required to achieve universal health care.

Something on par with the anti-Vietnam War or civil rights movements.

[eridani]

32. Report from two events in Normandy Park and South Seattle.

I went to the one in South Seattle, which was very hard to find. Probably why only 8 showed up. Every single one of us was for single payer, but willing to live with a decent public option. (That includes me--I still don't think it's time yet to back off on advocating single payer, especially with the House hearings scheduled.) We all filled out the proferred sheets with our horror stories.

My friend attended the Normandy Park meeting, which had 25 attendees and was much easier to find. She found quite a few people not up to speed on the health care debate, and with her literature and persuasion skills brought every one of them over to advocating single payer except for one, who worked for an insurance company.

I sure the hell hope that Obama pays attention to the feedback he is asking for.

[ProudDad]

33. Unintended consequences in Tucson, AZ

Every meeting but one in Tucson was SOLIDLY single-payer and spent most of the time discussing strategy about how support our representative who is a co-sponsor of HR676 and how to make our blue dog toe the line.

The one was still solidly reporting that a viable public option -- the beginning of the migration to single-payer -- MUST be enacted.

It's pretty wonderful that the Obama "teams" organizing tool is backfiring on them and is being used to promote TRUE Health Care as opposed to more money shoveled at the for-profit sick-care industry.

Let's hear it for unintended consequences.

Hey, Barack, you'd better get on board or the train's gonna run you over...

[Abq_Sarah]

34. With all due respect to Mr Putsch,

The insurance companies are loving the idea of mandatory insurance.