The Homa Files

Since Georgetown’s hoops season had come to an abrupt end … and since the weather was beautiful … and since I take this healthcare stuff seriously… I went to the Capitol mall to be part of the citizens’  rally.

I’m glad I did.  First, I felt really democratic (small “d”), and second, the experience was very revealing.

Here’s what I saw and heard:

1. It was a big crowd … filled the entire grass area in front of the Capitol … spilled over some across the street to the Mall.  I’m not a crowd estimator, but I know there were more than the 2,000 people that CNN reported.  There were at least as many people as were at the Verizon Center for the Duke game (my crowd estimating yardstick) … so, the crowd was at least 20,000.
2. The crowd was very orderly. I only saw one Capitol policeman walking the crowd.  Not a single shouting match or fight or anything like that. I overheard several “where are you from ?” conversations.
3. The crowd was all sizes and shapes and ages.  The latter surprised me some — I expected an old folks skew — while folks in their 50s were prevalent, there were plenty in there 40s, 30s, and even 20s.
4. There weren’t any “for pay” organized groups — no conservative equivalents to ACORN or SEIU.  There were plenty of couples, many family groups, and some church groups from around the country.  No organized bus caravans.
5. I saw several people identifying themselves as nurses and doctors. 
6. My wife Kathy spotted one logo shirt from a local country club.  Beyond that, there weren’t many readily identifiable “fat cats” in the crowd.  I expected more since they’ll be footing much of the ObamaCare bill. I guess they protest in a different way  [more on that to come]
7. Big deal: the crowd was all white.  I don’t recollect seeing a single non-white person, except for a doctor who spoke — and claimed to be Obama’s cousin.
8. The intensity level was VERY high.  Obviously, people who trekked to the rally are more engaged than the average citizen, but I was still struck by the passion in the crowd — individually and collectively. 
9. The words “civil disobedience” were evident — not prevalent, but evident.  On the Metro heading in, the guy sitting in front of us said “If this thing passes the country will be torn apart by civil disobedience”.  I hadn’t noticed that expression in years.  At the rally, there were signs calling for civil disobedience.  They didn’t spell out what kind of disobedience, they were just planting seeds.
10. The applause line that got the biggest reaction: Do what Rush advises ‘just deem your taxes paid’. The crowd went nuts.

* * * * *

Here’s what I took away:

1. The stark reality is that the tax payers who will be funding ObamaCare are  passionately opposed.  Why ? Well, it is their money, and — while they are OK supporting the genuinely down-trodden — they don’t want to carry slackers, drug addicts, and illegals.
2. The ObamaCare opposition is almost entirely tax payers who consider themselves increasingly victimized by “taxation without (adequate) representation“. They’re frustrated and looking for a meaningful way to channel their emotions — and their money.
3. My bet: April 15th is going to be an unusually interesting day this year.For sure, there will be protests galore.

   More important, there are plenty of folks scratching deeper this year to “remember” tax deductions and pursue any legal gimmick that can lower their tax payments.  In the past, for some, it wasn’t worth the effort.  But now, it has gotten personal. 

   And, it wouldn’t shock me if a statistically significant number of citizens heed Rush’s call to “deem their taxes paid”. 

   This has the prospects of getting very ugly, very fast.

This entry was posted on March 22, 2010 at 7:59 am and is filed under Health Care / Medical Insurance, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.