Outrage begins to dog us
WASHINGTON — Maybe it’s the dog days, but three friends recently got in touch within a 24-hour period to catch up. Or more like it, to catch their breath.
One reported the onset of panic attacks. Another is seeking treatment for depression. The third began an e-mail asking for help with: “Reports of my employment have been greatly exaggerated.” The first two were women, 40-something and 50. The third is a man in his 50s. They all have one thing in common: No job.
No one is starving yet, but “yet” seems less remote than it once did.
“What if I can’t find a job? Ever?” asked “Sandra.” She laughed, but it was nervous laughter. Sandra isn’t at all sure things will work out.
Though mired in the unemployment doldrums, none of my friends fits into the categories of outraged citizens known as “teabaggers” or “townhallers.” Teabaggers are conservatives who staged tax protests earlier this year. Townhallers are those now confronting congressional leaders as they return home to chat it up with constituents.
Meetings have become explosive events punctuated with shouting. On Long Island, N.Y., Rep. Tim Bishop had to be escorted by police to his car out of concern for his safety. Subsequently, Bishop temporarily suspended town-hall events in his district.
Generally considered a small fringe group, the demonstrators have been described derisively by Democratic leaders. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi claimed that some were “carrying swastikas.” Sens. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Chuck Schumer of New York have dismissed the protesters as irrelevant.
It’s easy to disregard such people, especially as reports surface that some of the protests have been coordinated by FreedomWorks, the Washington lobbying group of Dick Armey, the conservative former House majority leader. Also, a Connecticut fellow named Bob MacGuffie and four friends who formed a political action committee last year have been distributing a memo instructing people on how to infiltrate town-hall gatherings and harass Democratic members of Congress.
Even so, I’m not so sure these protests are insignificant. Are my three friends really so far removed from such expressions of acute frustration? Lately, they have a new understanding of how uncertainty, complicated by unemployment and growing debt, morphs into anger.
And then, perchance, to rage?
Sandra feels it.
“Angst about health care is real because people are just anxious in general. They don’t have jobs, and those who do are worried about losing them. They’re saying, ‘Holy crap, I’ve got $10,000 on my credit card and you’re talking about change? Guess what, dude, I can’t handle any more change right now.’”
Some Republican opponents of health care reform can be justifiably charged with using fear tactics, such as allowing the elderly to think they’re going to have to pick a death date under Obamacare. Rush Limbaugh has said, for instance, that “people at a certain age with certain diseases will be deemed not worth the investment, and … they’d give them some pain pills, and let them loop out till they die.”
But it’s really not necessary to scare people with science-fiction scenarios to inspire opposition to an overhaul of health care that would add $239 billion to the federal budget deficit over the next 10 years (according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office). This would be in addition to the $11 trillion in deficits already expected between 2009 and 2019 under President Obama’s budget plan.
Why would anyone be upset?
The rest of August promises to be a battlefield of dueling ads for and against health care reform, all of which will likely add to the nation’s free-floating anxiety. The crux of this anxiety is a loss of trust, which may be reflected in Obama’s plummeting job approval. A new poll by Quinnipiac University shows that just half of those surveyed approve of the president’s performance, down seven points in the past month.
Here’s how a Florida real estate appraiser summed up the zeitgeist: “People don’t believe the politicians or the government stats when they know five couples who are losing their house and cars. … Basically, it’s a total disconnect from government, and government cannot influence their decisions unless they give them money, yet every giveaway reinforces their lack of faith.”
The town-hall protests might be orchestrated, but nobody had to manufacture the anger on display. With unemployment at 9.4 percent, the dog days are beginning to feel like the dogs of war.
Congress and Obama might want to take note.
Kathleen Parker is a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Her e-mail address is kparker@washpost.com.
Aug 11, 2009 at 8:33 p.m.
Suggest removal
darwin1 Aug 10, 2009 at 1:42 p.m.
..
The last time we had a Senator from Illinois become President, it didn't work out so well for the United States.
Aug 11, 2009 at 11:33 a.m.
Suggest removal
That's because they "care" about us. But apparently they "care" about themselves a lot more! Get them in the system, and either problems in the system will get fixed, or they can suffer from the results of this legislation along with the rest of us. Or better yet, it won't pass in the first place.
Aug 11, 2009 at 10:45 a.m.
Suggest removal
SuperDave, despite government officials and bureaucrats opting themselves out of every social entitlement program ever forced upon the citizenry at gunpoint, tens of millions of Americans remain convinced of their sincerity. (Wasn't this flaming red flag covered in Tyranny 101?)
Aug 11, 2009 at 10:19 a.m.
Suggest removal
I think the NUMBER ONE requirement for socialized medicine is that all government workers be required to be in the government system. This would include members of Congress. (They should also be required to be enrolled in Social Security, but that's another battle). We need to insist that any government medical insurance includes those who create such a system.
Aug 11, 2009 at 10 a.m.
Suggest removal
Darwin: I think I have stated that I know Obama is in office. When I stated that he should man up and do something about this mess and stop blaming the previous administration! Believe me I know he is there and we are in a mess and he is not doing anything except spend spend spend! Stop gloating and do something besides rip on everyone who does not agree with you.Obama is president, I get it, and I'm not happy with his "change you can believe in!"
Aug 11, 2009 at 7:14 a.m.
Suggest removal
If you think it's ugly now, just wait until the Social Security, government pensions, and medicare is cut. The government has over a 50 Trillion liability they can't pay. January 1, 2012 10,000 baby boomers a day sign up for Social Security for the next 20 years.
Aug 10, 2009 at 11:51 p.m.
Suggest removal
I would like to share some insight that I have about "free" health care like Canada has. My cousins live there and talk about not being able to get care. The baby is 15 months and has a very serious heart defect needing surgery immediately. Not happening? When? They don't know and have no date for surgery. My uncle got absolutely no treatment for Lymphoma. He just died. My cousins wife with MS. No treatment and only occasional appointments. She is not doing well. Is that what we want?? Not me.
I will work to pay insurance so my family can get care.
Aug 10, 2009 at 2:51 p.m.
Suggest removal
Last November,there was a massive shift towards eradicating all incentives for people to work hard. Why work hard when the government can take care of you? That's the message. A change we cannot believe in.
Aug 10, 2009 at 2:33 p.m.
Suggest removal
We need a real president not a community organizer turned Arab world apologizer.
Aug 10, 2009 at 2:30 p.m.
Suggest removal
I guess you like having less money in your pocket. Are you on welfare?
Aug 10, 2009 at 1:42 p.m.
Suggest removal
Hey this is where Lincoln came from, figure it out.
whonellie, you think but you don't know. Let's take a vote, oh we did and Obama won. Grow up.
Aug 10, 2009 at 1:12 p.m.
Suggest removal
This is where Obama came from, you figure it out.
Due to the poor national economy, Illinois' Fiscal Year 2010 revenue is projected to continue to decline to near Fiscal Year 2004 levels. In addition, increases in Medicaid costs, social services, employee benefits, and other required costs mean that spending would be $34.3 billion in fiscal year 2010 without reform and cuts. For Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010, Illinois would have a combined $11.6 billion budget deficit.
Aug 10, 2009 at 12:50 p.m.
Suggest removal
I do not think that all these are from the FAR right. I think it's citizens with legitimate gripes. It's from every spectrum from the small business man to large businesses. When will the lefties stop blaming bush for all their troubles and really see that Obama has made it much, much worse with all his spending?? Time to man up and take responsiblity for your actions Mr. President. While I didn't agree with all bush did he is not in office anymore, do something to fix things and stop spending with no way to pay it back except tax us to death. And I would like to see the pictures of the people with swastikas and things at this meeting. There are none and Pelosi made it up to cause more problems. With every meeting that has some disruptions there, are another 10 with just concerned citizens voicing there worries. But you will only here about the ones where they get a little noisey because it's the main stream media.
Aug 10, 2009 at 10:45 a.m.
Suggest removal
Prepare for Obamageddon!
Aug 10, 2009 at 10:16 a.m.
Suggest removal
This is the Obomafaction that you guys voted for. Take it and like it
Aug 9, 2009 at 9:11 p.m.
Suggest removal
I suppose Bush will get blamed for this fiasco also.
+
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12498606...
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:58 p.m.
Suggest removal
I do wish that I was a CEO of one of those struggling banks Obama bailed out.
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:42 p.m.
Suggest removal
With obama running up our national debt to unimaginable amounts this country will be ruined by 2012. I can honestly say that I believe I made a mistake voting for this spending machine. Spend spend spend spend spend with no plan on how to repay all the debt.
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:39 p.m.
Suggest removal
Good comment, ms_sassy_wi. One final note, if Rush comes over to your place for coffee, lock up your medicines!
Aug 9, 2009 at 6:20 p.m.
Suggest removal
I agree that these opinions are from the far right. Obama is working on health care, which may or may not prove to be a landmark move. But the reality is that too many people are blaming the current administration for trying to clean up the mess left behind from the former one.
I firmly believe that most Americans who are (or might be) facing the loss of their job would work more diligently, longer hours, prove that they are worth keeping. Why don't we see that from our representatives? They take the month of August off, have health care benefits many would "kill for" and vote to give themselves significant raises while the rest of the nation faces financial disaster, yet we see less and less action from them every year...things that make you go, "hmmmm".
On another note, I think Rush is jealous. He wants to "loop out" on pills for the rest of his life
Aug 9, 2009 at 5:30 p.m.
Suggest removal
Well written article. Although I think most of these protest are to the far right, I do believe there are some legitimate concerns. Concerns Obama and the Democrats must not completely disregard. My fear is that once the cash for clunkers runs out and these road projects are finished, we'll be left with no long term jobs. There needs to be more investment in small businesses, which create the long term jobs in this country.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.