Up to two million people marched to the U.S. Capitol today, carrying
signs with slogans such as "Obamacare makes me sick" as they protested
the president's health care plan and what they say is out-of-control
spending.
The line of protesters spread across Pennsylvania Avenue for blocks,
all the way to the capitol, according to the Washington Homeland
Security and Emergency Management Agency.
People were chanting "enough, enough" and "We the People." Others
yelled "You lie, you lie!" and "Pelosi has to go," referring to
California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
Demonstrators waved U.S. flags and held signs reading "Go Green
Recycle Congress" and "I'm Not Your ATM." Men wore colonial costumes
as they listened to speakers who warned of "judgment day" - Election
Day 2010.
Richard Brigle, 57, a Vietnam War veteran and former Teamster, came
from Michigan. He said health care needs to be reformed - but not
according to President Barack Obama's plan.
"My grandkids are going to be paying for this. It's going to cost too
much money that we don't have," he said while marching, bracing
himself with a wooden cane as he walked.
FreedomWorks Foundation, a conservative organization led by former
House of Representatives Majority Leader Dick Armey, organized several
groups from across the country for what they billed as a "March on
Washington."
Organizers say they built on momentum from the April "tea party"
demonstrations held nationwide to protest tax policies, along with
growing resentment over the economic stimulus packages and bank
bailouts.
US President Barack Obama sports a mustache famously worn by German
dictator Adolf Hitler
US President Barack Obama sports a mustache famously worn by German
dictator Adolf Hitler
Demonstrators hold up banners on Capitol Hill in Washington on Saturday
Demonstrators hold up banners on Capitol Hill in Washington on Saturday
Many protesters said they paid their own way to the event - an ethic
they believe should be applied to the government.
They say unchecked spending on things like a government-run health
insurance option could increase inflation and lead to economic ruin.
Terri Hall, 45, of Florida, said she felt compelled to become
political for the first time this year because she was upset by
government spending.
"Our government has lost sight of the powers they were granted," she
said. She added that the deficit spending was out of control, and said
she thought it was putting the country at risk.
Anna Hayes, 58, a nurse from Fairfax County, stood on the Mall in 1981
for Reagan's inauguration. "The same people were celebrating freedom,"
she said. "The president was fighting for the people then. I remember
those years very well and fondly."
Saying she was worried about "Obamacare," Hayes explained: "This is
the first rally I've been to that demonstrates against something, the
first in my life. I just couldn't stay home anymore."
march
Like countless others at the rally, Joan Wright, 78, of Ocean Pines,
Md., sounded angry. "I'm not taking this crap anymore," said Wright,
who came by bus to Washington with 150 like-minded residents of
Maryland's Eastern Shore. "I don't like the health-care [plan]. I
don't like the czars. And I don't like the elitists telling us what we
should do or eat."
Republican lawmakers also supported the rally.
"Republicans, Democrats and independents are stepping up and demanding
we put our fiscal house in order," Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the
House Republican Conference, said.
"I think the overriding message after years of borrowing, spending and
bailouts is enough is enough."
Other sponsors of the rally include the Heartland Institute, Americans
for Tax Reform and the Ayn Rand Center for Individuals Rights.
Recent polls illustrate how difficult recent weeks have been for a
president who, besides tackling health care, has been battling to end
a devastatingly deep recession.
Fifty percent approve and 49 percent disapprove of the overall job he
is doing as president, compared to July, when those approving his
performance clearly outnumbered those who were unhappy with it, 55
percent to 42 percent.
Just 42 percent approve of the president's work on the high-profile
health issue.
The poll was taken over five days just before Obama's speech to
Congress. That speech reflected Obama's determination to push ahead
despite growing obstacles.
"I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that
it's better politics to kill this plan than to improve it," Obama said
on Wednesday night. "I won't stand by while the special interests use
the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are.
"If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we'll call you out. And I
will not accept the status quo as a solution."
Prior to Obama's speech before Congress U.S. Capitol Police arrested a
man they say tried to get into a secure area near the Capitol with a
gun in his car as President Barack Obama was speaking.
Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said Thursday that
28-year-old Joshua Bowman of suburban Falls Church, Virginia, was
arrested around 8 p.m. Wednesday when Obama was due to speak.
'Parasite-in-chief': The title given to the American President during
the demonstrations on Saturday
'Parasite-in-chief': The title given to the American President during
the demonstrations on Saturday
Bowman's intentions were unclear, police said.
Today's protests imitated the original Boston Tea Party of 1773, when
colonists threw three shiploads of taxed tea into Boston Harbour in
protest against the British government under the slogan 'No taxation
without representation'.
The group first began rising to prominence in April, when the governor
of Texas threatened to secede from the union in protest against
government spending. Waves of tea party protests have crossed America
since.
Today's rally, the largest grouping of fiscal conservatives to march
on Washington, comes on the heels of heated town halls held during the
congressional August recess when some Democratic lawmakers were
confronted, disrupted and shouted down by angry protestors who oppose
President Obama's plan to overhaul the health care system.
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