Dueling Protests Converge at Pelosi’s Office – ‘Health Care for All!’ or ‘Kill the Bill!’
EmailABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports: Capping off protest day here at the Capitol are the competing protests that have converged on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's district office on Capitol Hill, leading to several more arrests and littering the hallway with torn copies of House Democrats healthcare bill. An protest of about 100 people supporting universal care – including some familiar faces from Lieberman's office earlier today – was already ongoing at Pelosi's office when a new group of about 100 people who oppose the bill showed up. Specifically, the new group of protesters is concerned that the health reform bill will put tax dollars toward abortions. Among the protesters against a health reform bill was Randall Terry, founder of the anti-abortion rights group Operation Rescue. Terry said one of the protesters who was arrested is Father Norman Weslin, a priest from Indiana. Weslin laid down in front of Pelosi's door until a group of police officers picked him up and carried him away. Up to four protesters (it wasn't clear from which group) were arrested when they started ripping up pages from the bill in the hallway. Chants of "Healthcare for all!" have been drowned out by chants of "Kill the bill!" Police are trying to clear the hallway. This is the office for Pelosi in her capacity as Congresswoman for the 8th District of California. It is not where she works – that office is in the Capitol building.
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Say NO to gov’t run health care. Say NO to cap and trade. If you don’t say NO to these two bills then you will see your freedom taken away and the end of America as we know it.
Posted by: Jill | November 5, 2009, 3:24 pm 3:24 pm
Protests of about 100 people? I saw a larger sit-in back when my high school pulled pizza from the ala-carte cafeteria menu.
Please. These kinds of numbers for either side are meaningless (literal) noise and only reported for the sake of ginning up some ‘conflict!’ headlines.
Posted by: jhw539 | November 5, 2009, 3:28 pm 3:28 pm
Jill,
Feaux news talking points, please come up with something original.
Posted by: paul | November 5, 2009, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm
I think they said 25,000 people
Posted by: jane | November 5, 2009, 3:56 pm 3:56 pm
25,000 people attended
Posted by: jane | November 5, 2009, 3:58 pm 3:58 pm
It’s about American against the health care bill!
Posted by: jane | November 5, 2009, 4:01 pm 4:01 pm
The point Americans are making here is “Please listen to me!” This is not about parties or winning or losing an election anymore. It is going to grow, it will be brother against brother before long. Remove the healthcare debate and insert another hot button. We will still be treated like mushrooms buy the Administration and Congress. The people are speaking and no one is listening. It is not extremists from the left or the right. They are main street Americans who actually carry other Americans on their backs every day. Look at the pictures of the “Mob” they look like us. Stop slinging mud at each other, it is not as simple as we won, you lost.
Posted by: Preston Benzinger | November 5, 2009, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm
I just spoke to a couple of people who went up to the DC rally today and they said it was close to 100,000 people there by noon. Both had also been there at Pelosi’s office when the cops arrested the people for tearing up the health care bill. If it had been a Bible, it would have been protected free speech, but not something as important as the trillion dollar document. You can tear up a Bible and the DC police will protect you from others trying to stop you, but tear up a Pelosi bill? That’s a crime.
Posted by: TexBork009 | November 5, 2009, 4:41 pm 4:41 pm
This bloated, over-reaching health care
“reform” is nothing but a power grab by the left. It creates something like 150 NEW government agencies, funds abortion
and will lead our country down the path to socialism. It MUST be defeated!
Posted by: Gary | November 5, 2009, 5:22 pm 5:22 pm
It’s amazing how angry people are with this new president. I’m all for the people making there voices heard in Washington today. We need JOBS, we need our taxes to be reduced, We need leadership. And the Dems want to ram a health care bill down our throats that will cost us alot of money. Is there anyone with a half a brain? People are saying NO to the health bill. NOW we are seeing shooting on our boys at Fort Hood in Texas. AGAIN, thank you to all the protestors that showed up to oppose the bill. And prayers to all the fallen,, frieds and family.
Posted by: Jim | November 5, 2009, 5:25 pm 5:25 pm
Lets get away from emotion and deal with the facts objectivly. Everyone needs healthcare ,let’s just make it resonable and end the debate.Right now it’s to high priced.
Posted by: john | November 5, 2009, 5:28 pm 5:28 pm
Let me be clear….without a health care bill, many more will lose their homes. Medical costs is the major reason good people who paid their mortgages on time but became ill or a member of their family became ill and they had to give up their home because with the bills,they could not pay their mortgate. This is reality folks…take it or leave it. For those without jobs, Cobra is limited and extremely expensive and eventually this becomes the same problem. We have needed health care for many years. To condemn it is a mistake.
Posted by: talmag | November 5, 2009, 5:47 pm 5:47 pm
For a start.
O.K. How much do you want taxes lowered?
I take it you want them lowered more than by the previous administration.
What do you want to defund? Highways railroads, schools, police, fire, the wars, the military veterans hospitals, prisons
Tell me about it. I want to hear so I can bring not a teabag but a teapot.
Next what is socialist so we can desocialize it? Privatize Medicare?
Come on Out with it.
Posted by: Frank Lornitzo | November 5, 2009, 5:57 pm 5:57 pm
Actually Frank it’s not socialism it’s fascism. It’s in the dictionary. I want taxes lowered to a point that I don’t work three out of five days to support a lot of government programs that are un-constitutional and immoral. Medicare is not private. It’s federal government, overseen by the individual States. If you want to fund it there is no law forbidding you from donating to the US Treasury. You can send all you want. Stay out of my pocket. It’s hard enough taking care of my family.
Posted by: ScottInTexas | November 5, 2009, 6:23 pm 6:23 pm
It’s my opinion that the Tea Party Protesters who are on Medicare should get out of the Medicare system as it is a government run single payer system. If they hate the government I can’t see why on earth they would want to be part of a government run health care system. They need to get off Medicare and get out in the free market (since they love the free market so much) and purchase their own health insurance. Hopefully, none of them have a pre-existing condition and get turned down for coverage. If they can’t afford a health policy maybe, Michelle Bachman or John Boehner or Michael Steel could help them out with their premiums since these protesters are marching on their behalf to get a point across or they could just go without.
If you truly believe in what you are marching against and are on Medicare then you should get out of the Medicare system and let the free market take care of you. Don’t be a hypocrite.
Posted by: What Now | November 5, 2009, 6:28 pm 6:28 pm
Have any of you read the bill it plainly states that only those who do not have heath care or INSURANCE you will not be able to get this health care if you were to drop your present insurance you can not get this for 6 months without insurance, that is why those folks are crying health care for all because it only gives options to the uninsured it is a ploy to force people to buy insurance and it looks like it will be just as expensive if not higher than the private costs now.
Posted by: earl | November 5, 2009, 6:33 pm 6:33 pm
There were maybe 5,000 people at the rally. A solid crowd, very enthused. In a stretch, 8,000. I’ve been there for big rallys maybe 10 times over the years. The tearing up of the health care bill was done by people who came out of Pelosi’s office sit in. The police told them to stop multiple times, they continued, adding vocals, so off they went (banished, without handcuffs). Some came back soon after so I assume the paper tear people didn’t get arrested.
Posted by: Joan Stallard | November 5, 2009, 8:16 pm 8:16 pm
For those wanting to say no to gov. run health care… great, get your parents off medicare immediately.
Be sure while your at it to bend over and kiss everything you own away as the docs take it from you one piece at a time as they grow older.
Posted by: DewyB | November 5, 2009, 8:21 pm 8:21 pm
How can we not hear the voices who don’t want health care reform. But more importantly, how do they not hear the majority of people saying they do want reform? Is it because they are talking more than they are listening? Is it because they selfishly believe their minority voices should be heard over the majority?
Why vote and then refuse to respect the outcome of the election? And this is what we’re trying to bring to Afghanistan?
Posted by: Chuck | November 5, 2009, 9:13 pm 9:13 pm
What is sad aabout all of this is that our memebers of congress will not have any such worries with their health care plans.
We are headed toward 2 groups of people in this country, the ubber rich making the rules and the minions begging for government handouts to supllement our meager earnings.
These are sad days indeed!
Posted by: david | November 5, 2009, 9:47 pm 9:47 pm
Go for it Pelosi and Obama. We can see you are not self-centred. You do care for rest us, the small people, which by the way are in the millions.
Did you all see their leaders in action at their rally, had no idea what was coming out of their mouths. MSNBC show clearly how educated, well informed on what they were saying,…sad,sad,sad
Posted by: pana | November 6, 2009, 4:51 am 4:51 am
To Jill:
The one (the health care bill) removes the impediment of corporate America, namely the insurance and pharmaceutical industries) from interfering in the health of America’s citizens.
The other (cap and trade) removes another impediment to our overall good health, by removing, or reducing, air pollutants from the environment.
If those to things constitute freedom that you fear will be taken away and the end of “America as you know it”, then it’s way past time that these changes take place.
It is the business of government to protect its citizenry. In fact, that is the basis for having a government.
Posted by: John Locke | November 6, 2009, 6:46 am 6:46 am
The government needs to adhere to the KISS therory. Keep it simple stupid. With all the dem health care bill we can not understand what is in them because of all the enormity and complexity. I do believe this is by design to cover items which we will find reprehensible.
Posted by: John | November 6, 2009, 9:53 am 9:53 am
I get a real kick out of these losers talking about freedom, and socialism. The Socialism term they are using is being passed down from the Insurance company propogandists,and the “FREEDOM” they want is freedom to charge whatever they want, and deny service to anyone they please. These people are using a political strategy known as seeking a nobler cause, and the people they are using, are referred to as PUPPETS.
Posted by: Parma Hts Gary | November 6, 2009, 12:43 pm 12:43 pm