Health Care Protests in New Hampshire Part One
Rep. Paul Hodes representing Atkinson, NH and Sen Jeanne Shaheen, representing Hampstead, NH scheduled meetings Wednesday with their constituents about health care reform. Of course this meant staffers, not the actual Congresspersons. They are too scared to face us.
We lead off with Hampstead in Part One and some great video coverage by Andrew, independent journalist from Derry, NH. Despite what the woman in Video #2 thinks, Andrew is doing what journalists are supposed to do: expose both sides of the issue.
And expose he did.
(Disclosure: I was not at the Hampstead protest. I covered the Atkinson meeting. Their stories, concerns, and anecdotes will be covered in Part Two.)
To be fair, the only Health Care bill that has made it out of committee is in the House of Representatives, HR3200. There is no Senate bill on the floor. Not yet at least.
Funny how the people against the Health care Bill, Cap and Trade, etc. were willing to give their name as well as rational reasons for their opposition.
The pro side didn’t want to talk unless the mainstream media was there. I guess they wanted to see their name on television or in print as opposed to making their case for ObamaCare.
If they wanted to change our minds they sure have a funny way of doing so.
A woman mentions that the Carriage Towne News already interviewed her, dismissing Andrew as a relevant journalist. We are talking about a weekly newspaper that is distributed via snail mail every Thursday. In order for that to happen the edition has to be finalized probably Monday or Tuesday at the latest.
Her interview will not show up in print for another week. Andrew’s videos were available hours after the event. She had the chance to have her voice be heard on endorsing the health care plan right away as opposed to eight days later but she let her arrogance get in the way.
Way to go. And I thought liberals got it about media exposure. It seems they have still have a lot to learn.
On a side note is the guy holding the “Thanks Sen. Shaheen” sign a citizen of the United States? He isn’t even a resident of New Hampshire.
The guy in the blue/purple shirt, very-loud tie, and tan sport coat that shows up in the second video to take over sign-holding duties is State Rep. Timothy Horrigan.
Timothy was vying for one of six legislative spots competing against…wait for it…nobody in the 2008 elections. Six people ran and six people won including him. So he basically ran unopposed and won a Rep. spot as a result.
Horrigan is also the one saying “The insurance companies are already acting as the government…” I can’t hear what else he said but I do know that while there are problems with said companies they are at least profitable. If they were a government they would be losing money.
I will say this: Tim was a lot more vocal in Hampstead than he was in Atkinson.
In the Atkinson gathering he did not say a lot except to complain his Per Diem did not cover the expense of traveling to Concord to carry out his duties as an elected official of the State House of Representatives.
At least he got the legitimacy part about Andrew’s journalism right. Jump in front of the camera when the red light is on to get exposure.
Tim must have gone to the Al Sharpton School of Promotion.
Coming Friday: Part Two from Atkinson, NH.
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Chris Cameron is a writer for Radioactive Liberty. In addition to his weekly Quick Hits column and posts here you can also read his odd humor at Angry Seafood as well as his take on things on his serious political blog Clearly Political.
Category: Political Humor Tags: Hampstead, Health Care, Humour, Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire, Obamacare, Paul Hodes, Political Humor, shaheen nh insurance changes
2004–2012
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Six people ran and six people won including him. So he basically ran unopposed and won a Rep. spot as a result
New Hampshire elections are like the Special Olympics. Everyone is a winner.
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Hey be nice Fiar. This is is my home state we are talking about. Despite the fact that six people ran unopposed does not mean people here do not care deeply about politics and know their stuff.
That said a lot of local elections in many states are easier to win because the competition is not as intense as on the national level.
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[...] we talked about the activism that happened at Shaheen’s Hampstead NH Town meeting. Today we cover Wednesday’s Atkinson [...]
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…his Per Diem did not cover the expense of traveling…
Carpe Per Diem! When can I get some taxpayers money?
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I just want to clarify that my statement about the status of the Senate version of HR 3200 is only to be factual about the technicalities, not to say voters were wrong for questioning if Shaheen read the bill which she will eventually have to vote on.
If it was misconstrued as such I apologize.
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Carpe Per Diem…good one!
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I’d like to think I “coined” that phrase some years ago, but probability didn’t.
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I just noticed that Tim Horrigan was not wearing his State Rep ID pin in the video. He was wearing it in Atkinson.
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[...] Glenn. Now Les, when you get to Pennsylvania, goose step along with other people from the bus to a Town Hall meeting. The subject will be about anything but health care [...]
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Thank you for posting this. We would like Shaheen, Hodes and Porter to meet with us face to face and for Shaheen to retract that bogus presser. We did not intimidate anyone from seeing staffers, were only inside for 10 minutes… neither in Hampstead, Atkinson or Grafton.
People who want more info on these necessary protests should head over to the NH Tea Party Coalition website and sign up for eblasts about when and where and all that.
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http://www.nowhampshire.com/20.....t-1804Jeez Louise…This is “journalism?” Attack your target with weirdos and inflammatory signs about tyranny and god…Yeah, thats really credible.
Your video guy spent a lot of time with the wackos, then marched to and attacked the other side with strange religious signs, in confrontational mode, and no conversation was expected or looked for. Just a weird attack.
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How much was Andrew paid? * Smirk*
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Can we have such a thing as critical thinking here? Perhaps from people who believe in science?
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Just a few facts about that day, from someone who was there:
Everyone in the Pro-Public health care option group that day was from NH; the individual that the “reporter” accused of being from Mass. is actually a selectman in Manchester, NH.
The “reporter” never identified himself, but launched himself with guerilla attitude.
The “reporter” (who refused to provide press credentials) spent two hours with the Anti group, then came over to the Pro group with two of the Anti people (including the Tyranny/God sign-holder,) all three of whom were immediately belligerent. This “reporter” was obviously not there to listen, but to challenge. That’s not journalism.
A legitimate reporter from the Tri-Town News had already respectfully interviewed both sides.
At one point, a woman joined the Pro group and stood chatting and sign holding for about ten minutes, before she realized that she had intended to be in the Anti group. Go figure.
There were several senior citizens on the Anti side, yet not one of them complained about Medicare, which is a PUBLIC HEALTH PLAN.
There is so much mis-information swirling around: A Public Health Care Option provides options.
The overall tone of the Anti groups at town hall meetings and events across the country is just that – anti. They are not interested in a dialogue or civil debate. They shout their questions, and don’t wait to hear an answer.
Ultimately, all Americans should be helping to craft a public policy that benefits as many people as possible. Is that a bad thing? We all want the best for all of us; a discussion about public option is a step toward a good policy for all of us.
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@NHTPC:
You are most welcome.
In Atkinson no one stopped anyone from speaking to staffers. In fact people made sure everyone had their turn. It was very civil and people based their turns on when they arrived.
Too bad for Hodes that everyone there showed up to talk health care.
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@Janet: How much were the Pro people paid to be there? If they were volunteers you can’t call out Andrew either.
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@freedomfury:
While you posted the exact same comment on NowHampshire.com ,which shows your ability to copy and paste I will none the less address your “facts”…
“Everyone in the Pro-Public health care option group that day was from NH; the individual that the “reporter” accused of being from Mass. is actually a selectman in Manchester, NH.”
So who is he? A name please. Or is he like Tim Horrigan who takes his ID pin off so he cannot be identified?
“The “reporter” never identified himself, but launched himself with guerilla attitude. The “reporter” (who refused to provide press credentials) spent two hours with the Anti group, then came over to the Pro group with two of the Anti people (including the Tyranny/God sign-holder,) all three of whom were immediately belligerent. This “reporter” was obviously not there to listen, but to challenge. That’s not journalism.”
Andrew probably spent more time with the Anti group because they had a lot to say against health care reform, unlike the Pro side. The Anti people were willing to give their name, the town they lived in, and their reasons for opposing health care reform.
All the Pro side did was berate him for not being legitimate as well as not giving actual reasons why the Pro side believed in reform. Why didn’t you say what you did in your comment above on camera when you had the chance? If it was that important why did you wait five days to make it known in the comment section here?
Again you health reform liberals have a lot to learn about promoting your cause. You had the perfect opportunity but you let it slip by and instead chose to question whether Andrew had the proper press credentials.
How the hell are you going to convince Americans to back health care reform if all you do is be combative when the cameras are on you? Isn’t it about getting your message across? Does it matter if the camera taking footage of you isn’t from MSNBC or CNN?
It is online where everyone can see it. Hello!
Hell even Tim Horrigan knew to get involved when the camera was rolling and at least he made a statement while the red light was on.
“A legitimate reporter from the Tri-Town News had already respectfully interviewed both sides.”
So where is their interview? Tri Town is legitimate yet as I look at the online website for the newspaper I can not find the interview you speak of. If anything I question if you were actually interviewed which reflects badly on you and at the same time puts Tri Town in a bad light for being called out by you.
If your interview was truly important they would have posted it online where most people read their news.
And further did you call out the Union Leader, Foster’s, and the Eagle Tribune for not showing up? I didn’t in either post. Just saying.
“There were several senior citizens on the Anti side, yet not one of them complained about Medicare, which is a PUBLIC HEALTH PLAN.”
Did you ask them if they joined Medicare? You can’t call others out for not being journalists if you do not ask people on the anti side if they in fact were on Medicare.
“There is so much mis-information swirling around: A Public Health Care Option provides options.”
But yet you say nothing to back this claim. This is why conservatives and people opposed to health care reform have a problem with the issue. Liberals in favor of it rarely back up the rhetoric with actual legitimate arguments.
“The overall tone of the Anti groups at town hall meetings and events across the country is just that – anti. They are not interested in a dialogue or civil debate. They shout their questions, and don’t wait to hear an answer.”
They are anti because they do not want health care reform as it stands in HR 3200. They tried to tell their Congresspersons but said pols won’t listen. That is if they even show up.
It is okay for the left to shout down politicians when they are not being listened to but God forbid the right does the same damn thing. Have you forgotten the people in our government work for us and not the other way around?
When our leaders won’t listen to us we have no choice but to raise our voice.
“Ultimately, all Americans should be helping to craft a public policy that benefits as many people as possible. Is that a bad thing? We all want the best for all of us; a discussion about public option is a step toward a good policy for all of us.”
The public option does nothing but provide free health care at the expense of the taxpayer. It does nothing to address tort reform or the amount of middlemen/non-health care people that get paid under the current system.
Until these two things are actually addressed health care reform is nothing more than a payback for special interests like SEIU and lawyers.
How the hell you are in favor of this is beyond me unless you are a lawyer, an SEIU member, or someone looking to be a freeloader at the taxpayer’s expense.
Perhaps you should actually talk to the constituents in the community as opposed to those who share your biased opinion about health care reform. Unlike you I did.
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Why is “janet conner/freedom fury” using two different names? Is this a case of multiple personality disorder?
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wtf? publishing “redacted” yet still public emails? doesn’t this violate the website terms? what are u doing???!
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wow you have three personalities.
The publishing isn’t redacted. All you did was fail to enter a website which made your name unlinked. You still entered an email address which can be seen by the admin but it is not public.
If you do this in the comment section of any blog, even ones you like the same thing will happen. Thankfully for you we do not ever sell those addresses but we can not say the same for other sites.
The best thing to do is exactly what you did the third time-do not leave your real email address in any comment on any blog.
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[...] don’t know. ObamaCare is just sounding better and better isn’t it? “I’m sorry. We really want to treat [...]
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I don’t think I was quoted accurately at the Atkinson event. I think I said the opposite: my per diem is in fact enought to pay for my gas and even a lunch at the State House cafeteria. (I did puncture a tire when I hit a curb on my most recent trip,which cost me $184, but I am still ahead in the long run.)
I stand by what I said about the insurance companies. They are essentially part of the government. And their profit is made by ripping the public off, not by providing a useful service. The fact that insurance companies are profitable doesn’t mean they are doing anything worthwhile: crack dealers are profitable, American Idol is profitable, etc.
The reason the 6 of us ran unopposed in Strafford District 7 is because the Republicans were unable to find anyone who wanted to run. None of the conservatives in my community took the opportunity to run.
I am sorry I voted for your stupid HCR6 after reading your article: I took a risk in voting for it and I still have to be sneered at by you anyway. However it was the right thing to do and I plan to vote for— and hopefully sponsor– similar bills in the future.
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I don’t think I took off my nametag either. With or without the nametag, I am an identifiable personality. If I didn’t want to be indentifiable I wouldn’t sport the loud ties and the ponytail.
You apparently failed to identify another state rep who showed up in Hampstead.
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To call a piece of important legislation like HCR 6 stupid based on my op-ed piece of you on health care reform is taking the criticism a bit personally don’t you think?
We both have to have a thick skin in what we do. It is all part of the process, you as a politician and me as a reporter/columnist.
Just don’t take it personally Timothy, it’s just politics.
That said I give you a lot of credit for coming here and addressing my points. Many Democratic politicians these days like to hide out or disparage their critics with ad hominem attacks.
Aside from the stupid comment, you stuck to the issues this post raised and you should be commended for that.
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[...] Okay. Moving along. Many people are concerned about the proposed changes to the health care system. Many have dubbed it ObamaCare and feel that the bill will ultimately limit the availability of [...]