A Note On Mobs

Ben DeGrow has an excellent overview and link roundup of the Democrats' attempt to paint tea party protesters and anti-ObamaCare advocates as an unruly mob.

Only A Test

**Update: 1200 In Colorado Springs; Fort Collins, Colorado Springs See Hundreds Rally Against ObamaCare, Outnumber Pro-Obama Factions

**Update 3--Media bias? Colorado Springs Gazette ignores the anti-ObamaCare rally completely

**Update 2--Americans for Prosperity has video and several more photos up from the Colorado Springs rally

**Update 1--Approximately 1000-1200 anti-ObamaCare rallyers showed up in Colorado Springs, easily eclipsing the incredible turnout in Denver yesterday (video); tons of photos from the rally; 9NEWS has more from Fort Collins

Continued from yesterday's overwhelmingly successful anti-ObamaCare rally in Denver:

Hundreds more in Colorado Springs rallying against government-run health care, where only a "handful" of ObamaCare supporters showed up--photos/video from the rally on the way.

NoCOPolitics attended the earlier Fort Collins rally as hundreds voiced their opposition against government-run health care, outnumbering pro-Obama supporters 3-1; slideshow of the rally is up at the Coloradoan:

Hundreds Attend Anti-Obama Care Rally In Denver

Hundreds (500-700) attended yesterday's anti-ObamaCare rally in Denver during the lunch hour.

**Update 8--Hundreds more in Colorado Springs rallying against government-run health care, where only a "handful" of ObamaCare supporters showed up

**Update 7--Hundreds attend rally against government-run health care in Fort Collins, outnumber pro-Obama supporters 3-1; slideshow of the rally is up

**Update 6--speaker highlights:







**Update 5--Joshua Sharf captured revealing pics of the decidedly underwhelmingly attended pro-Obama rally later in the day, featuring supporters sporting union-made signs and t-shirts; Face the State has an update on Michael the Hutt of ProgressNow doing a little projection of his own, Kim Jong-Il style; the geniuses at ColoradoPols can't count.

**Update 4--Instalanche, sweet! Thanks Glenn.

**Update 3--Face the State has a comprehensive report and a slideshow of the rally, and estimates that upwards of 700 attended.

**Update 2--Obama's supporters are staging their own rally at 6pm in Denver, and there is already a planned counterprotest:

What: Socialized Healthcare Counter-Protest

When: July 28, 2009 6:00 PM

Where: Colorado State Capitol Building
Colfax & Lincoln West Steps of the Capitol Bldg
Denver, CO 80203

The White House's own activist group "Organizing for America" is holding a rally in support of nationalized health care at the Colorado State Capitol this evening, July 28th. A coalition of 9/12 and Tea Party groups is banding together to form a counter-protest from 6pm to 7pm!

If you were unable to make the rally against socialized medicine at lunch today, this counter-protest is a way to make your voice heard and to let the politicians and the anti-liberty groups know we oppose what they are trying to do.

Because anti-liberty activists may very well try insult us or force confrontations with us, it is VERY important that we remain civil and professional - don't sink to their level!

Obama's astroturfers (unions/SEIU) vs. true grassroots, should be fun! Obama's union thugs supporters better hope for a larger turnout than their own counterprotest earlier today:


The large contingent of Obama Care supporters rally across the street.

**Update 1--Democrat Rep. Diana DeGette (CD 1), who represents Denver, puts forth the ObamaCare line:

Perhaps DeGette should take the time to listen to her constituents. And read the bill . . .

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Denver Post:

"This is not the kind of health care change we want!" shouted Jeff Crank with Americans for Prosperity, which organized the rally. "We demand something different."

Instead, protestors advocated for tort reform to cut down on malpractice costs and making health insurance "portable" from job to job.

Crank said national health care reform proposals being debated in Congress call for rationing care. He told those at the rally to think of the hot dogs and T-shirts as liver transplants — "if we run out, we run out."

CBS4Denver had pre-rally coverage (video).

Photos are up (click to enlarge)--


Co-sponsored by the Independence Institute and Americans for Prosperity.


Sentiment was strongly against President Barack Obama's plan.


Ominous.


Rationing is a primary concern.


The posters were creative and not mass-produced.


Just a portion of the large crowd gathered, probably 500 or so.


Major media outlets were there as well.


Ari Armstrong of FreeColorado.com argued that government is responsible for getting health care into this mess in the first place.


Health care choice vs. government control.


But but but . . .


Where there are cameras, ProgressNow's paid hack Michael Huttner is sure to be weaseling his way through the crowd.


Jon Caldara, President of the Independence Institute, demands that elected officials, you know, actually read the bills they are expected to vote on.


The large contingent of Obama Care supporters rally across the street.


Winner for best use of props and allusion to pop culture of the day!


The rally wraps up and the crowd enjoys complimentary food.


Sums up the mood and message of the day.

Obama’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009: What You Don’t Know May Kill You

By Julian Dunraven, J.D., M.P.A.

Honorable Friends:

Yesterday, the people of Denver demonstrated that they have far more sense than their Congresswoman does when 700 of them rallied on the State Capitol steps to voice their opposition to President Obama’s health care bill.

The President has been working hard in recent weeks to persuade us that such opposition is unfounded. In his recent prime time press conference, he soothingly told us that this legislation would help reduce the costs of health care. He went on to assure us that we would all be able to keep our current health care plans and would not be forced onto government programs. In conclusion, he promised that health policy would be free from congressional meddling, as it would be overseen by a nonpartisan committee of medical experts whose recommendations would have to be accepted or rejected in their entirety by Congress. He said all of this with a straight face. None of it is true.

As a former Constitutional Law instructor, Mr. Obama knows that Congress’s legislative authority cannot be limited in such a way. Had Mr. Obama actually read the text of the bill, he also would have known that it allows people to keep their own health care plans only so long as they stay with their current plans. If they try to change their plans, they are indeed forced onto the government’s program. He certainly knew, though, that the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Elmendorf, estimated that the bill actually increases costs of health care and enlarges the federal deficit by billions of dollars.

Denver Representative Diana DeGette, apparently a very credulous person and far too busy to read the 1000+ pages of the bill for herself, has taken the President at his word and maintains that there is a need to pass the bill immediately. Unfortunately, the arguments she uses to support the urgent need for legislation are rooted almost entirely in myths about our health care system; myths Dr. Clifford S. Asness easily and entertainingly debunks in his essay, “Health Care Mythology.” Fortunately, the American people are not so easily duped.

Money Morning and Stephen Hyde both point out some of the most egregious financial problems with this bill. As Hyde asserts, “The bill requires virtually all employers to offer minimum health benefit plans that far exceed anything most of them offer today.” This will necessarily increase insurance costs. As Money Morning shows, it also has a more devastating aspect. Under the legislation, any business that cannot afford to provide the extensive coverage the bill requires will be taxed up to 8% of its payroll. This will almost immediately result in severe wage reductions and layoffs as businesses attempt to defray that cost. This hardly seems like the best idea as the nation struggles for economic recovery. Yet, this is not the worst the bill has to offer.

Peter Fleckstein (aka Fleckman), has diligently combed through the legislation and assembled a brief, line-by-line cheat sheet. His full analysis, “The HC Monstrosity-All 1,018 Pages,” can be found at his blog. While somewhat cursory, Mr. Fleckstein successfully highlights some alarming details in the legislation. To list just a few, the bill provides for:

• Nationwide government access to our private healthcare and financial records, as well as our bank accounts.
• Exemption from judicial review of the prices government sets on health care.
• Government wage controls over physicians, as well as limitations on physician ownership of hospitals and other health care providers.
• Mandates for end of life care and consultations without benefit of legal counsel.
• Government interference in marriage counseling and childcare.
• Government appointed standards and rationing for what treatments we may receive.
• No private option if you leave your current insurance carrier.

These are just a few of the many devilish details hidden within Mr. Obama’s Affordable Health Choices Act. It seems unlikely that any sane person, after reading this bill, could support its passage. That may be exactly why Mr. Obama and the Democratic leadership in the House and Senate wanted to push it through so quickly.

The American people need to know the horrors contained within this bill. Health care represents 20% of our economy. That economy is now suffering a soft depression. If we truly desire health care reform, we deserve much better than what Mr. Obama is offering. This bill’s financial aspects alone have the potential to drive us into an unbearably hard depression, to say nothing of the damage it does to personal liberties. We cannot afford to make such massive changes to such a large portion of our economy with so little knowledge or time to review. All concerned Americans should contact their congress people and demand an end to this abominable and irresponsible legislation.