More on the Pallone Townhall, With Videos

First of all, my friend Art was inside with the first group and here is his article. Tommy DeSeno also has a good report from the first session.

Again, I'm amazed at how many people showed up to oppose government-run healthcare. And I wonder, who was voting for this guy so far? Although Pallone's group seemed well-organized, there was no county Democrat involvement in the event, and no state participation as well. All the people writing questions, handing out signs and literature (who were very polite and civilized... to be expected when you're outnumbered 20-to-1) introduced themselves as representing Organizing For America. OFA's website is barackobama.com and they're Obama's field team for pushing his socialist legislation. So this had nothing to do with Pallone's local campaign and his grassroots supporters, it was organized from DC (or Chicago?)

Anyway, it was a good exercise in democracy. People were very civilized, there were no incidents, no shouting at each other, no loud arguments. We stayed in line for 2 hours, democrats and republicans, and we got along well, showing that this is not a personal matter, it's all about the issues.

Now back to the inside. As I said, a lot of people were cranky after waiting for so long. There was especially this group in the back corner who had some very funny remarks. Anytime a welfare recipient would come forward to read a statement praising Pallone, or praising the wonderful healthcare that China has (yes, there was a guy who said that), they'd shout "Get a job!". When Pallone said he supports federal funding for abortion, they yelles "Pelosi should've been aborted!". And when Pallone said that illegal immigrants, while not covered by his bill, deserve to receive free medical care, there was an outcry, and chants of "Send them home!".

But kudos to Pallone for standing up there through three sessions against a hostile crowd. Like one speaker said, he had a lot of guts to come in front of the voters, after the kind of bills he claims he wrote (healthcare, cap&trade).

Finally, here are some videos I took during the townhall meeting:

A constituent challenges Pallone to admit that the bill is all about Government controlling our lives:



A long-time Democrat voter tells Pallone that, due to the irresponsible spending he's supporting, he will not vote for him anymore:



A constituent asks Pallone how can government run healthcare, when Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are bankrupt. Pallone responds that Medicare and Medicaid are going very well.



A voter asks Pallone if he read the Cap&Trade bill and he answers he actually wrote it. Then the Congressman is challenged to answer why America is paying for Brazil to drill off its coast, but won't allow drilling here. Pallone can't answer this.