I spent only a short time at the event, but it was incredibly well attended, by people on both sides of the issue.  It was attended by around 700 to 1000 people.  They moved it from a conference room to an outdoor knoll between City Hall and the High School.

People were vocal, but, they were not combative (too much).  The "sides" were not clustered against each other, but intermingled within the crowd.  The crowd was not as rowdy as it sounds in the video, because people did go silent at times, but it was definitely not a polite crowd.  The right-wingers were particularly crude with their cussing.

Some people got into debates and discussions.

This is reminiscent of other heated political events that have happened in Alhambra, and that I've experienced.  One group has a demonstration, and a counter-organizing effort brings opponents.  They yell support for their own side, but individuals and small clusters of people also talk to each other. Though people are politically polarized, many want to engage discussion as well.  This is something that's rarely acknowledged in the press, but it's been happening a lot. 

The moderates and liberals pulled out the "shhh be quiet and polite card" (figuratively and literally), and were pretty sedate.  The crowd was about evenly pro/anti reform, maybe tipping a little more to the pro side.  The HR 676 folks made only a small showing, and that was too bad because a larger contingent of single-payer advocates would have helped the "public option" supporters.

The victory goes to the pro-reform side, because this was a last-minute mobilization and they got little press.  The anti-reform side had a longer lead time and got more press from the Pasadena Star News. 

Another winner in this was Adam Schiff, who is a centrist Blue Dog, pro-defense, pro-war, pro-business guy.  He's practically a Republican.  He's locked in some progressive votes with this event.  The reform side also won, by keeping Schiff in the reform camp.  Imagine what would happen if no liberals showed up!

Logistically, the cops and the city, and Schiff's office did a good job.  They moved the meeting outside so everyone could get in. Being indoors in a small room would have sucked.

------------------------
A very good post from Craigslist

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/pol/1318749085.html

Date: 2009-08-11, 9:25PM PDT
Reply to: comm-ztkd8-1318749085@craigslist.org

Summary: About 1,000 attendees (media personnel, add another 40)

Make Up of Attendees: 50%=Obama Supporters, 40% Visibly Shaken Conservatives, 7% Undecided, 3%=Single Payer Supporters(Medicare for All)

Alhambra Police presence was low(~50 officers) and impatient; they walked out one handicap young man(~age 25) who interrupted at start of Meeting by yelling out mixed right-wing rhetoric(I hope he was paid, b/c he was dressed badly).

Media was reserved and they interviewed people mostly angry w/the Obama Reform(s) for Health Care. Low Union turnout; college students low in turnout; Senior Citizens Turnout was great! They are the most relevant crowd tonight! And finally, Adam Schiff WILL NOT oppose Health Care Reform(s) by Brand Obama.
And sadly, Single Payer Action activists were nearly invisible, as Dr. Bruce Hensel described an invisible patient he, "couldn't see in his office" at the start of the night.

29th District Organize!

-------------------------------
LA Times Blog

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/...health-care.html

Pasadena Patriot - a right-wing anti-reform group

http://pasadenasubrosa.typepad.com...apparatchiks-.html

The so-called Health Care "Town Hall" sponsored by Congressman Adam Schiff apparently is not a town hall at all - it is a discussion among selected health care policy wonks, all of them on one side of the issue and with ties to the Democratic Party.

[Actually, this event was like a reverse town hall - a campaign event.  It's similar to what Bush did to promote Social Security Reform (aka, Repeal).  The difference was, at those meetings, he failed.]

After the meeting:
http://pasadenasubrosa.typepad.com/...agitprop-townhall.html

[A strange post, but, my two real quarrels with it is that there were not 4,000+ people there, and I think that preventative care and a better diet to help avoid a heart attack is a good thing.]

They're hijacking the term "mutual aid"!

WTF is this about? Did you confer with Mr. "Repeal Medicare" to come up with this sign?

The O-man says you're on point sir.

HR3200 is similar to the MA plan, which is effectively the corporate-favored option. It's supported by bigger HMOs like Kaiser because it simultaneously rasies the bar for selling health insurance, and pushes people to buy insurance. That said, it's better for more people to be insured. The public option is a bone thrown to folks who want single-payer.

Here's a summary of the bill: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h3200/show

Also, here's a summary of HR676, single payer. http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h676/show
This is "off the table" because insurance industry money has touched too many politicians. The politicians do the voting.

The whack-jobs the right-wing turn out for these events shows how desperate the right-wing leaders are. There's little popular opposition to these reforms.


The right wing puppetmaster strategies:

- Concoct numbers by conducting irrelevant and illogical polls. For example, asking people if they want the government involved in running health care: the bill would not do that, and, the government already regulates doctors and medicine.

- Find key issues for single-issue self-identified-conservatives, and build a coalition based on these pseudo-issues. The issues are: abortion, tax increases (any increase), anti-communism, growth in government, advanced directives (an anti-abortion side issue), (closet) Nazis, opposition to progressive taxes, anti-Obama (birthers), anti-ACORN (anti-poor-Black). Somehow, they also got the gun nuts involed too, despite the fact they cost insurance companies a lot of money. They also got a lot of support from people already on Medicare -- that's a real coup, to get people benefitting from "socialism" to oppose insurance reform.

- Hide the fact that the funding is coming from big insurance companies. They're paying to run the polls and come up with the talking points.



The right-wing/bad-insurance-industry alternative to HR 3200 (or HR 676)?

- Get rid of Medicare, on ideological grounds. Not real popular, even with Republicans.

- Do nothing. This works for people who already have high-quality insurance, but for the majority who have not-very-good insurance or none at all, it's not feasible. The number of uninsured grows annually.

- For the uninsured: High Deductible Health Plans with an Health Savings Account or Health Reimbursment Arrangements (HDHP + HSA/HRA)

What are they?
http://www.kaiseredu.org/tutorials/CDHP/Consumer-Directed.ppt
(See slides 7 and 8 for HRA and HSA differences)
(see slides 23 and 26 to understand that HDHPs are growing)

HDHPs are health plans that put a burden on workers to do more bookkeeping, to make decisions on what health care to get based on how much they can afford the deductible. Workers are supposed to put money into an HSA savings account to pay for the deductibles.

For healthy middle class people, HDHPs can work as an investment tool. Money put into the HSA account can be used for investment in a mutual fund. So the HDHP is also an investment scheme that benefits the finance business.

See these for more information:
http://www.arcusfinancial.com/hsa-investment/
http://www.primarypc.com/products_services/hra_hsa.cfm
http://www.healthinsurance.com/hi/Help/?c=2&i=21

The reason why companies are considering HDHPs is rising premium costs. An HDHP has a lower premium. Insurance agents sell companies on the idea of switching to an HDHP, and then establishing an HRA. The company will put money into an HRA, and use it to pay for the worker's deductible. That way, to the worker, it'll feel the same as full-coverage health insurance.

To the insurance salesperson, HDHP is an opportunity to also sell the HRA savings account. That money can be invested in mutual funds or other investments -- before taxes. You can bet that insurance agents are getting kickbacks from brokers to push specific investments. The HRAs will grow, over time, to be hundreds-of-thousands of dollars, maybe millions. All tax free.

Not ony that, but, the company doesn't have to fully fund the HRA - they start with a goal to reach, and start saving.

If the money runs out too soon, or an investment fails, the boss may tell all the workers that the "full coverage" for the deductible is being reduced. The worker pays for the bosses failures.

If the investments do well, then, the owners take the profits by not putting so much into the HRA.

(You can see why Kaiser is supporting HR3200. HDHPs threaten the Kaiser model of insurance combined with health care. HDHPs are more like fiscal products than health insurance.)

This was posted to the LAAMN list by Ed Pearl:

From: Anthony Saidy
To: Ed Pearl
Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 11:43 PM
Subject: Fw: Congressman Adam Schiff's town-hall

Hi,

I attended Congressman Adam Schiff's town-hall meeting in Alhambra this evening. I would estimate that the crowd size was 1,000 to 1,200 people. The crowd appeared to be evenly split on the issue, judging from Schiff's first few questions: Who opposed health-care reform? Who supported health-care reform? and Who was there to learn? Very few applauded the last question.

For the most part the crowd was well behaved; however, there were a few times at the beginning when the Far-Right tried to disrupt the proceedings. Each speaker spoke for several minutes, and the Far-Righter Wing-nuts (Let's call them them Deathers because the Death Panel theme was a popular sign) shouted and hooted "Questions!" Schiff and the others simply kept talking. If you have ever been to a city council meeting, then you know how boring such discussions can be. Also, more democratically-minded citizens told them to shut up. At one point, "Read the Bill" was chanted loudly. The speaker replied, "I have read the bill." I doubt that many who chanted have actually read the bill.

Schiff made several important points regarding his position: He is in favor of health care reform, and, generally, in favor of Obama's plans. The most important answer he made in response to question was that most of his constituents supported health care and that he intends to vote for reform.

The most disgusting aspects were some of the signs. To say that some signs were offensive is an understatement. The Lyndon LaRouchers (If misspelled, I don't care.) were there. They equated Obama to Hitler. One poster had Obama looking at himself in a mirror. He wore Hitler's mustache. The cover for a pamphlet that they were handing out took a Nazi picture of Hitler and Photoshopped Obama standing next to him. The most outrageous was an image with white-pancake make-up covering his face à la Al Jolson. Imagine black face with white make-up. One of people screaming "Questions!" Questions!" was standing next to a man waving this placard. I simply turned around and called them racists. These people are dangerous. They are fanatical and they are organized. I was talking briefly with a woman who pointed out that her husband was over arguing with these goons. She said that he was a director at the Simon Wiesenthal Center. The man reported that these goons were from Detroit.

I guess that the best news is is that the extreme right-wing did not win this evening. Health-care reform and democracy won.

I generally mingled and spoke with health-care reform supporters. I did have a minor encounter with an anti-choicer (Obama wants choice). A man 60 or older who made it a point to put his face about three inches from my face. In our culture that is very aggressive behavior. I told him that was rude. He backed off a few inches. His story was that well he qualified for VA benefits he preferred to pay his medical bills himself. I told him that I was glad to pay for his VA benefits. Once he realized that he could not get me to scream at him, he walked away mumbling. How could he argue?

KCAL reported that the police estimated the crowd at 3,000. That is too high. However, KCAL's conservative bias was show when the reporter only showed one anti-choicer and no pro-health-care reformer.

They did follow up with a story about a free clinic downtown LA.

The 11:00 o'clock news starts in 20 minutes. I hope I can stay awake to watch the coverage.

Arch Miller

by BAR managing editor Bruce Dixon

With the corporate media relentlessly distorting the public discussion around health care reform, it time for some clear, bright lines to help us tell who is doing what to whom, and whether any of it leads to health care for all of us. Here are ten of them.

Top Ten Ways To Tell Your President & His Party Aren't Fighting For Health Care For Everybody

by BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon

Barack Obama and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate were swept into office on a promise they would deliver affordable and accessible health care for all Americans. But the corporate media journalism limits the national health care conversation to what insurance companies, drug companies, for-profit health care professionals, their executives, lobbyists and politicians of both parties and other hirelings have to say. So it isn't as easy as it ought to be to tell what the politicians are doing about accomplishing health care for everybody. Hence we offer these ten points. This is how you can tell whether your president and his party are fighting for the health care you deserve.

click the link to read the whole article

Most of the left, I too, is for the single-payer health care insurance, and no for that health care plan that Obama and the congress are trying to sell us.

So why the left is so outraged about the right shouting at the town hall meetings? I thought we, the left, didn't like that plan either.

We should re channel our energy and ask for Single-Payer not fighting those right wings nuts.

The link at the bottom is to a story by Larry Gross of CES.

The fight's been brought to these Town Hall events, and the opposition should show up.

Single Payer, HR676 is way off the media radar. These events are the only place where 676 activists can even get coverage. Not only that, but you have a chance to inform the Obama-heads that HR3200 is not single payer, and it's not what they want.

The general direction of things is not just bad, but really bad. The Wall Street Journal just published an editorial by the founder of Whole Foods, and it opposed health care reform. It straight out promoted the HDHPs (above) and he patted himself on the back about having a well-funded HDHP for his employees.

There are people organizing online to oppose Whole Foods. I hope we have a picket in L.A. and that a diversity of health-care issues are represented. Everything from HIV and AIDS funding (cuts), to Single Payer, to access to GMO free food, to health care worker issues, to reopening King. It's a system, not a single issue.

Larry Gross on Alhambra
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=94740&id=571254440&ref=nf

Boycott Against Whole Foods
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=119099537379&ref=nf

Why Aren't Progressives Disrupting ObamaCare Town Halls?

By DAVE LINDORFF at COUNTER PUNCH

Many progressives are getting all bent out of shape over the "brown shirt" rabble organized by health industry PR firms to disrupt the so-called "town meetings" being organized all over the country by Democratic members of Congress.
MORE: http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff08112009.html

The gist of the health care fight is between the traditional HMOs like Kaiser (or any insurance tied to a hospital system), and HDHP - High Deductible Health Plans. HDHPs are described in a comment above.

Single payer is considered a faction that should support the HMO side.

There's no comparable position on the HDHP side. That's why the Republicans are resorting to scare tactics and thuggery. They want to create a lot of noise, to distract people from the real fight.

Obama keeps ignoring single payer because he wants the support of the Kaiser-like HMOs. These are the ones where you pay a high premium, and get care with small or no copayment, and no deductibles. The law is written to protect their businesses, at the expense of HDHPs.

If he went with a single-payer position, the HMOs would align with the HDHP vendors and attack the single payer plan. So it's necessary to split the opposition.

In exchange, the supportive insurers are remaining quiet about the public option, but behind the scenes are probably trying to kill it. It's the "job" of the left to fight to preserve the public option.

The point of the public option is to serve as a platform on which to build a real public health system.

So a lot of conservatives booed at non-answers and a few heckled. Everything the Federal government touches is a fiscal train wreck. Think Medicare, Amtrack,Social Security. We don't yell at our elected officials nearly often enough. Any Congressman, Schiff included who spends a trillion dollars and dosnt read the bill deserves to be shouted at, at a minimum.
The level of hypocrisy coming from the left is amusing. Code pink, answer coalition, gente unida bring drums and noisemakers to conservative meetings. Some 90 year old guy with a walker boosat a townhall and he becomes a terrorist. Cry me a river.

Loved that insane Republidiot pile of Christian loon holding the sign "No Nazi Health Care." LOL!

That's what Republicanism has come to, folks. That's all the Republinazi Party has left. They're all frothingly insane Christian right wing extremists and domestic terrorists. There are no normal people left in the GOP.

Sorry Fredric, the guys with the Obama/ Nazi signs all had Lyndon Larouche shirts and signs. Lyndon Larouche has been running for the Democratic Presidential nomination since 1980. He dislikes Republicans almost as much as you, although he dosnt call people he disagrees with Nazis nearly as much as you. He won 11% of the vote in 2000 in Al Gores Tenn. He's been a democrat since the sixties.

Actually you two would have much in common.