Astroturf Disrupters are Afraid of the Facts

August 5th, 2009 by Karina

Health insurance reform Opponents are trying to stop the debate. Those disrupting constituent town halls and other public events know that if Americans hear the facts about America’s Affordable Health Choices Act the insurance companies and special interests will lose the debate. Here are the facts they are trying to drown out:

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act means Stability, Security and Quality for all Americans:

No Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions, like diabetes, a heart condition, or cancer
No Dropping Coverage Because of Illness
No Refusal To Renew Coverage, if insured is paid in full and becomes ill
No More Job or Life Decisions Made Based on Loss of Coverage
No Need to Change Doctors or Plans, if happy with existing coverage
No Co-pays for Preventive and Wellness Care
No Excessive Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays
Yearly Caps on Payments
No Yearly or Lifetime Cost Caps on What Insurance Companies Cover

Astroturf disturbers and special interest opponents are spreading myths:

Myth: The bill will lead to out-of-control deficit spending.
FACT: America’s Affordable Health Choices Act is 100 percent paid for.

Myth: The bill rations care.
FACT: There is absolutely nothing in the bill that would lead to rationing of care. In fact, right now, insurance companies are making those decisions for you.

Myth: The bill ends private health insurance and crowds out employer coverage.
FACT: CBO analysis shows that America’s Affordable Health Choices Act increases the number of people with private health insurance through their employer over the next decade.

Myth: The bill includes damaging cuts to Medicare programs.
FACT: Improvements to Medicare in America’s Affordable Health Choices Act work toward making the Medicare program more sustainable for the future and will reduce Part B premium growth in the coming years.

Myth: The bill promotes euthanasia—making Americans choose how they will die.
FACT: If a doctor and patient choose to have a conversation about end-of-life care and advance care planning, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act simply provides Medicare payment for the doctor’s time.

Astroturf Disrupters’ Tactics and Backers Exposed

While the special interests and Congressional Republicans have been encouraging disruption of public events to try to stop real conversation about health insurance reform, Democrats continue to use the August district work period to communicate with constituents about health insurance reform and America’s Affordable Health Choices Act.

Exposed: Tools of the Special Interests and Republicans

Politico’s The Huddle:

The inevitable backlash against the town halls gone wild has begun, as national conservative interest groups like FreedomWorks and Conservatives for Patients Rights are taking some credit for the hostile crowds, undermining the notion that these are purely local grassroots uprisings…

Think Progress:

Fox’s local Houston affiliate reporter, Duarte Geraldino, reported that he talked to the participants and found that “some attendees admit they don’t live in the district.” How did they get there? Geraldino noted “an internet campaign” by far right activists urging their allies to attend and heckle Democratic Representatives.

Roll Call:

… the groups’ more dramatic tactics… have included the display of Nazi signs, a hanging effigy of Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.) and a tombstone bearing the name of Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas)
Republicans have openly fanned the flames of the protests…
Grover Norquist, president of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, said… his group is just one of several organizations, including Americans for Prosperity and the National Conservative Union, that have encouraged members to attend town-hall meetings…

Washington Post:

Conservative activists, though relatively small in number, have disrupted events… Some have been organized by the group Conservatives for Patients’ Rights, whose public relations team helped mastermind the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacks against Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) in his failed 2004 presidential bid.

ABC World News Tonight:

Clearly, some of [the demonstrating] is organized. Bob MacGuffie, grass roots conservative activist wrote a widely circulated memo to put the congressman “on the defensive with your questions and follow-up. The congressman should be made to feel that the majority and significant part opposes the socialist agenda of Washington. The goal is to rattle him…”
… One official from Freedom Works-run by corporate lobbyist Dick Armey says his group is organizing…

Republican Leaders Chose to Encourage Disruptions

Roll Call:

The National Republican Congressional Committee has been sending out e-mails titled ‘Recess Roastings’ that link to news articles and video clips of protesters at local health care events.

The website of Republican Leader John Boehner applauds and links to clips of disruptions and promises “a long, hot August for Democrats in Congress.”

Wanted: A Real Debate
The Post Standard (New York) Editorial:

Central New York isn’t the only place where the debate over health care reform is getting testier than it has to be.
It turns out that the same kind of nonsense is being played out across the country as members of Congress on recess travel through their districts…
… for anyone who treasures a functioning democracy, where ideas from all sides are respectfully debated, it’s a pretty ugly development.

Green Bay Press Gazette (Wisconsin):

The second of two forums U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen hosted this week to explain the health-care bill and get public feedback was hostile but more orderly than a gathering Monday night in Green Bay.
… Tactics used at Monday’s forum at the Brown County Central Library in Green Bay followed the strategy outlined by Bob MacGuffie of the Tea Party Patriots.
Esther Hartzheim of Green Bay said she wanted to have some important questions answered Monday night but left after a half-hour.
‘I couldn’t take it anymore,’ she said. ‘It was clear people weren’t going to allow him (Kagen) to speak. The whole process was ugly. I’m very concerned and angry because this is an important issue.’

Herald Times Reporter (Wisconsin) Editorial:

What appeared to be an organized group of protesters continually shouted [U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen] down as he attempted to press on with his health care message at the Brown County Central Library.
It appeared by all accounts to be an organized protest… It appears some groups are urging aggressive turnouts at congressional listening sessions to protest government policies.

Little was accomplished at the Kagen health-care session, other than disruption. Viewpoints did not receive a proper airing…
Kagen expressed his frustration throughout the event, attended by about 300 people.

He’s absolutely right. There’s no place for mob behavior in these kinds of situations, and it shouldn’t be tolerated. We always can agree to disagree, but shouting down an adversary won’t accomplish anything.
Let order — not unruly mobs — rule the day.

Salisbury Post (North Carolina) Editorial:

Beware of staged disruptions.
With funding and staff support from advocacy groups opposed to health-care reform and to the Obama administration, organized groups have been showing up at congressional town-hall meetings held mostly by Democrats in favor of health-care reform.

… Memos that have cropped up on the Web show that these protests are not intended to be any kind of dialogue but purely disruptive, preferably ending with the member of Congress forced to retreat… The idea is to make opposition to health-care reform seem more widespread than it really is.

… the fact is, what happens while the lawmakers are in their districts for the August recess is critical to what happens this fall.

… The campaign smacks of what political operatives call “Astroturf” — fake grass roots.

Napa Valley Register (California) Editorial:

Monday night’s health care forum in Napa grew unruly and wild, with some critics of the current health care proposals seeking to derail the event, harming their cause and nearly destroying a meaningful forum on a critical topic for Napa and the nation.

The display was unwelcome — and unsuccessful if it was meant to move health care reform supporters toward considering the concerns of the critics. Several callers to the Register on Tuesday reported they were repulsed by the aggressive tactics of some members of the crowd.

To the degree the catcalls, chants and shouts were organized — and it appears from events around the country that they were — we strongly suggest that the organizers find more constructive ways to get their message out.

Posted in Affordable Health Care, Correcting the Record 

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