Healthcare in America

[HoonDing]

Democrats express safety concerns after protests

 

Mar 24, 3:25 PM (ET)

 

By JIM ABRAMS

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Democratic leaders on Wednesday said they are concerned about the personal safety of lawmakers because of threats linked to intense opposition to the health care overhaul law.

 

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the FBI and Capitol Police briefed Democrats on how to handle perceived security threats and that those who feel they are at risk will be "getting attention from the proper authorities."

 

Hoyer said more than 10 Democratic lawmakers have reported incidents, but he did not whether any are now receiving added security. Normally only those in leadership positions have personal security guards.

 

Protests swirled around the Capitol during debate on the health care overhaul last weekend. Protesters hurled racial slurs at several black lawmakers and one protester spat at a black lawmaker.

 

Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the Democratic whip and a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said he has vivid memories of history and that the scene on the street Saturday was "very reminiscent of our history."

 

Bricks were thrown through windows at two Democratic Party offices in western New York, including a district office of Rep. Louise Slaughter, who played a key role in getting the health care bill through the House.

 

The Tucson, Ariz., congressional office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was also vandalized a few hours after the House vote.

 

Hoyer said there were incidents such as people yelling that Democratic lawmakers should be put on firing lines and posters with the faces of lawmakers in the crosshairs of a target.

 

While not directly criticizing Republicans, Hoyer said that "any show of appreciation for such actions encourages such action."

 

Several Republicans stood on the second-floor Speaker's Balcony overlooking the West Front of the Capitol cheering on the protesters and waving signs such as "Kill the bill."

 

Hoyer said Democrats were talking to the Republican leadership and hoped to come up with a united front on the security issue.

 

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio said in a statement that while many Americans are angry over passage of the health care bill, "violence and threats are unacceptable.

 

"That's not the American way," Boehner said. "We need to take that anger and channel it into positive change."

[Gfted1]

You seriously find that amusing?

 

 

Kinda. In that too-bad-it-had-to-come-to-this-while-I-shake-my-head-in-dissappointment-over-my-country kinda way. And KK, just shut up. You dont know me nor are you capable of understanding, well, anything.

[Gorgon]

It's those tea party lunatics, can't really do anything about those except tough it out. Well except a hole in the ground and a firing squad.

[Killian Kalthorne]

While I may not know you personally, Gifted1, but I know your type. I understand a great deal of things as well. I know that when the time comes there will be a fight between people like you and people like me, and it will be bloody and no one will win. You seem to be the type to fight and kill for what you deem to be right. I know I am. What we both believe to be right are irreconcilably opposed. There can be no compromise. So, what does that leave us?

Edited March 25, 2010 by Killian Kalthorne

[Pidesco]

A life of debating on the internets with strangers?

[Killian Kalthorne]

There is going to be a time when the debate is over. That time is fast approaching. The use of threats and breaking windows is just the beginning. The use of bricks is the beginning. Next will be the use of guns and the flying of bullets. It is just a matter of time of which side will shoot first.

[Rosbjerg]

Kinda. In that too-bad-it-had-to-come-to-this-while-I-shake-my-head-in-dissappointment-over-my-country kinda way. And KK, just shut up. You dont know me nor are you capable of understanding, well, anything.

 

I'm disappointed, you guys (republicans in particular) value your liberty so much.. So why resort to, or condone, these very undemocratic acts? Should you not instead fight back within the letter of the law, instead of making threats and celebrating violence?

 

 

You seem to be the type to fight and kill for what you deem to be right. I know I am. What we both believe to be right are irreconcilably opposed.

 

Only a Sith deals in absolutes..

[Killian Kalthorne]

Absolutes is all we have. There are no shades of gray. You are either for the health care law or you are oppose it. You are either Pro-Life, or Pro-Choice. You are either for stricter immigration reform, or for amnesty.

 

In the realm of politics, you are either for something or against it. The polarization of opposite ideologies leave no room for compromise. Only absolutes.

[Pidesco]

There is going to be a time when the debate is over. That time is fast approaching. The use of threats and breaking windows is just the beginning. The use of bricks is the beginning. Next will be the use of guns and the flying of bullets. It is just a matter of time of which side will shoot first.

 

 

Are you trying to get the role of a seer in a bad post apocalyptic movie?

[Killian Kalthorne]

I will call it The Book Of Hades.

[vault_overseer]

As an immigrant to US, I find it extremely amusing how much people get worked up over these things. Domestic violence and terrorism in the land of the free, because someone doesn't agree with you is very lulworthy.

[Gorgon]

No, no, he's not getting ahead of himself at all. Doom, doom I say.

[Wrath of Dagon]

Yeah, the rhetoric needs to be cooled a bit. The way some are talking is it's like the end of the world. Some of the more unstable individuals don't understand it's just political theater.

[Killian Kalthorne]

Political theater? We have had a president killed in a theater.

[Calax]

Yeah, the rhetoric needs to be cooled a bit. The way some are talking is it's like the end of the world. Some of the more unstable individuals don't understand it's just political theater.

It'd probably help if the protesters weren't hand fed their opinions by the Conservative news networks, who tell them that this is the start of socializm and that Obama will turn into a black Vladimir Lenin within 2 years and we'll soon all be working in state run factories or living in gulags while our economy crumbles under the weight of socialism.

 

Or basically being told that this is the future of their society. (well, that was the 2004 version anyway).

Edited March 25, 2010 by Calax

[lord of flies]

'Health reform': A victory for the insurance companies

About 23 million to remain uninsured nine years from now

 

With much fanfare and hoopla, President Obama on March 23 signed into law the misnamed

Edited March 26, 2010 by lord of flies

[Oblarg]

'Health reform': A victory for the insurance companies

About 23 million to remain uninsured nine years from now

 

With much fanfare and hoopla, President Obama on March 23 signed into law the misnamed

[Humodour]

You're right, it's a load of crap. It's absolutely ridiculous that Americans didn't get universal healthcare.

 

But no matter how you paint it, this bill is many leagues above what America had before. It insures tens of millions more Americans and criminalises the worst of the dodgy practices that were being purveyed by America's horribly unethical insurance companies.

[Wrath of Dagon]

Or basically being told that this is the future of their society. (well, that was the 2004 version anyway).

Sounds like a great plot for a video game.

[213374U]

If more news media was like this, people might be inclined to pay more attention.

That's interesting, but I'm inclined to believe it actually works the other way around: media outlets are more popular the more they say what people want to hear the way they want to hear it... being EXTREME is usually a synonym of being biased. Or that's the common perception, anyway.

 

Nobody's preventing anyone from going to the party for somethingorother website for their news, right? But they'd rather browse the NYT...

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

There is going to be a time when the debate is over. That time is fast approaching. The use of threats and breaking windows is just the beginning. The use of bricks is the beginning. Next will be the use of guns and the flying of bullets. It is just a matter of time of which side will shoot first.

And then... zombies.

[Tigranes]

I don't have a clue what's going on with the bill, but I can still tell that article is hugely biased bollocks. So without the bill would that figure of 23 million be lower, higher, the same? The 12 million 'undocumented workers' (illegal immigrants?) are given this huge sympathy paintjob just to add numbers to the argument. Pfft.

[lord of flies]

That's interesting, but I'm inclined to believe it actually works the other way around: media outlets are more popular the more they say what people want to hear the way they want to hear it... being EXTREME is usually a synonym of being biased. Or that's the common perception, anyway.

 

Nobody's preventing anyone from going to the party for somethingorother website for their news, right? But they'd rather browse the NYT...

Well, first of all, the PSL news doesn't update as often as the NYT. Secondly, the NYT is rich and wastes/uses money on advertisement. It also has "good faith" value as a consequence of its long-term existence (i.e. "the New York Times" is a recognizable name).

 

No PSL article is the sort of thing you get bored with in the middle as a bland, corporate journalist attempts to disguise his bias with the use of too many words and too little information while trying to convince himself that his job is real, complete and unbiased education with long, tangentially related explanations of things that happened years ago.

I don't have a clue what's going on with the bill, but I can still tell that article is hugely biased bollocks. So without the bill would that figure of 23 million be lower, higher, the same? The 12 million 'undocumented workers' (illegal immigrants?) are given this huge sympathy paintjob just to add numbers to the argument. Pfft.

"Hugely biased bollocks"? Perhaps in backwards world. Who gives a **** if the figure would be higher? Maybe we could try doing the right thing instead of some very slightly marginally better thing? If there was a law which would effectively reduce lynching to half its prior levels, would you go "Oh yes, this is a fantastic law and I am highly supportive of it" or would you push for a law that actually outlaws lynching?

 

PS: The PSL is not giving them a "huge sympathy paintjob just to add numbers to the argument," the PSL genuinely believes in that undocumented workers deserve full treatment as citizens and move around due to economic reasons, the root of which is US imperialism.

Edited March 26, 2010 by lord of flies

[Tigranes]

BTW: Merged, we already have a healthcare topic.

[lord of flies]

BTW: Merged, we already have a healthcare topic.

Yeah, but this one sucks. De-merge them plx.