Health care protests stay cordial
 A couple hundred protesters showed up on Saturday to protest health care reform outside of Sen. Claire McCaskill’s office. At one point, Gateway Pundit blogger Jim Hoft asked the crowd, “Are we getting paid to be here today?” |
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 A few “billionaires” showed up to encourage the anti-health care reform protesters. Early on, the group chanted “keep us rich,” and “vote in Trump.” Later, one said, “we’re filthy rich in a kind of clean way.” |
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Audrey Spalding
Show-Me Institute
This week, Sen. Claire McCaskill will hold seven health care forums across the state. If her forum in Hillsboro is any indication, the forums will be well attended, a little loud, and won’t get out of hand.
Saturday, before those health care forums, a number of events were held outside of state elected officials’ offices to protest the proposed public option and the general expansion of government.
Those worried that the recent health care protests are threatening or violent should have seen what happened outside McCaskill’s office on Saturday. The most confrontational moment involved Kool-Aid.
Protesters against the reform stood on one traffic meridian, holding “Don’t tread on me” flags and signs proclaiming things like “Hands off my health care.” A large number of people had shown up, possibly as many as 500. The closest any crowd members came to being threatening was a woman who yelled anti–health care statements loud enough that she began to go hoarse.
John Stoeffler, a veteran, retiree, and weekly columnist for the Post-Dispatch’s Suburban Journal for south Saint Louis, said this was his first protest.
“I’m a columnist,” he said. “I figured I should get down here and see what it’s all about.” Stoeffler wore a T-shirt with a photo of the capitol and the caption, “Ahoy Americans thar be pirates in Washington.”
He said he was neither a Republican nor a Democrat, but was concerned with excessive government spending. The public option proposed wouldn’t be legitimate competition for insurance companies, he said, because the government isn’t concerned with making a profit.
“Government spells profit D-E-F-I-C-I-T,” Stoeffler said.
Stoeffler currently is on Medicare, but said that in the past he had owned a business and paid for his employees’ insurance.
On the adjacent traffic meridian, a much smaller crowd had shown up in top hats, bow ties, heels, and sequins. The self-proclaimed “billionaires for health care” were in character, claiming they favored making health care available only to those who could afford it.
“I’m supporting my fellow billionaires,” said a woman who identified herself as Laurie Ann, decked out in a sequined top, black skirt, and pink scarf. “We’re trying to help our little people help us keep what we’ve got.”
When asked if she had health insurance, she replied, “Health insurance? I own the damn company. I don’t have to struggle. Struggle is so … ugly.”
Midway through the protest, there was a confrontation between the groups. One man from the anti-reform group took what he had labeled as “100% Obama KoolAid” and offered it to the tongue-in-cheek “billionaires.”
“No, no, that’s okay,” said a bow-tied and bearded man. “We’re so rich, we’re never thirsty.”
Show-Me Institute Intern Caitlin Hartsell attended the Saturday protest at Rep. Russ Carnahan’s office on Manchester (this article’s front-page photo is from that protest). She reports that it stayed peaceful as well.