Nine-Year-Old Forcefully Removed from Town Hall Meeting after Question

Removed by security after asking question about mother
Patricia Hamel
August 27, 2009

Farrell, Pennsylvania- Though the debate over Health Care has been spirited in the last few months, the recent Town Hall meetings held by elected officials have been the focal point of attention. Yesterday, August 26, Pennsylvanian Congressman Jason Altmire (D) held one of his own in Farrell, a city with a population of just over 6,000, to boost support for the President's plan.

Though the Representative of the Fourth Congressional District expected the gathering to be heated, he did not believe the biggest uproar would come after a child's question.

The meeting, which began at 4:30 p.m., respectively, had nearly one thousand attend. Rep. Altmire began the meeting by assuring the crowd that he did not believe that the government would take over the health care system, but that reforms were needed. After several minutes of talking, the Representative then fielded questions from attendees.

The first to ask a question was Linda Patrick, a fourth grader at a local school. She held an index card in her hand, asking, "My mother has to get medicine that costs a lot of money. Our doctor says it will make her better, but my mother is afraid that with changes, the government won't pay for it. Can you tell me if it will?"

The question was met with applause from some in the audience, but silence from many others. Altmire responded by asking where the girl's mother was, to which Patrick answered "at home."
The Congressman then asked if her father was with her, but she simply shook her head. "I'm all by myself," she said.

"You mean that you don't have any parental supervision while you're here," Rep. Altmire questioned. "No," she responded. The Congressman then asked security to remove the girl, stating that "she should not be here alone, please take her away."

As security approached, Patrick hid in the crowd, asking, "What about my question?" "I will not answer questions from little children who are places they shouldn't be," Altmire responded.

After several minutes, officers were able to find the girl and reportedly brought her home. Afterwards, the meeting went ahead as scheduled.


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Obama Weeps During Town Hall

President Barack Obama made a surprise visit to a town hall meeting in Racine, WI to help bolster his stalled health care plan. Surrounded by local elected representatives, President Obama made a quick speech followed by questions.

Members of the audience were surprisingly quiet, asking questions sparingly. The President then asked the crowd to "really challenge me."

After two more minutes George Johnston, a registered independent from Milwaukee, asked, "What is the hardest part about these town hall protests?"

At this point, the President sat down in a folding chair and started to respond:

"As President, it's my responsibility to mak sure that each and every American receives equal rights and dignity..."

At this point, the President began to choke up and placed his hand over his face. "I'm so sorry," he stated as a visible tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm sorry."

After an aide handed the President a glass of water, he continued in a tearful voice.

"It's my responsibility to make sure that all Americans are taken care of. And I think that it's so unfair that some of my enemi-- opponents are totally mischaracterizing my words. I know that under their plan-- the current plan,they would like many of the elderly to die rather than have private insurance pay for life support. I know that they would like to put the retarded into insane asylums rather than treat them like human beings.

"I know that they would rather ignore the problem than say that it exists. I know that they would rather blame me in order to save a mere $500 billion dollars to help save thirty million lives. I know that it seems stressful to be me, and it is.

"That's why it's so important that you email any fishy emails to flag@whitehouse.gov. Please, everyone. Help me save this country from the radicals."

The President was then answered with sparse applause. He then smiled and left the room. Some observers stated they saw him weakly throw the microphone to the ground and let out a large sigh.

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Part of So-Called 'Obama Enemies List' Leaked

Accidental release of information?
Susan Ackermann
August 13, 2009

Allegations have swirled that the Administration has been keeping an "enemies list," a rumor that began when the White House asked citizens to email them if they came in contact with "fishy" information about Health Care reform. Though the President has said this info was needed to dispel "misinformation," and that a list was not being kept, a partial catalog of names and complaints has been leaked.

The document, which seems to in stark contrast to the President's assurances, contains several pieces of surprising information.

The majority of the index simply contains complaints fielded by the Administration from received emails. At the top of these listings is written "Disseminator Unknown." This label is included when the person spreading 'misinformation' in unknown to the citizen who reported them.

However, a moderate percent of the entries have not only people's complaints, but also their name. If the name of the 'disseminator' is known, it is included with the concerns they have been voicing.

An even smaller percent of people, however, have much bigger entries. Not only does the list include these people's names and 'misinformation,' but also residence, gender, race, age, political party, annual income, size of family, and, in some cases, their social security numbers.

This leak seems to discredit President Obama's statements that no such list exists. It is also unknown what the information is used for, or why it was gathered in such detail. The document also raises questions on what information the Executive Branch should be allowed constitutionally to gather on individual citizens.

The release of this information comes at a time when support for the President's plan seems to be wavering. Also, Town Hall meeting have recently taken place in which opponents of the President's reforms have loudly voiced their opinions. It is unknown what effect this release will have on the bill and support for it.

The President could not be reached at the time of this release.


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Town Hall Protestors 'In Risk of Being Arrested'

Nicolas French
New York Reporter
August 10, 2009

With public opinion turning away from the health care reform effort, President Obama's political allies have become increasingly frustrated. In many cases speeches made by Democratic lawmakers have been picketed by what have been referred to as "angry mobs."

To help counter these demonstrations, some in favor of health care reform have agreed to media interviews to explain their position. Often these forays into the public sphere have been lambasted by conservative radio hosts and outlets such as FOX News.

Tensions have been rising steadily over the last month, with some in the President's own party shying away from the "public option" bill. Congressional leaders have also expressed their anger over the increased protests.

"These extremists are getting in the way of creating a cheaper and more accessible option for millions of disadvantaged Americans." said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD). "If these continue, public discourse will devolve into a pool of rage and fistfights."

To make matters more contentious, White House officials have acknowledged that it asked prominent unions to "police" some protests. Unofficial reports have also noted that up to $100,000 in federal funds were paid to the AFL-CIO to attend three Missouri town halls in July.

In addition, with tempers flaring and the potential for violence increasing, the White House and its political allies have struck a different tone. Vice President Biden told a reporter to the NY Reporter that if protests continued and the reform bill was stalled, some of the protestors would "face consequences." When asked to clarify, Biden stated:

"These people come to these meetings and start fistfights and yell down their elected officials. You can't do that and still consider yourself a patriot. You can't go around with swatstikas spreading hate. If you do these things after you're told to calm down, you're going to get arrested."

Some attending local protests have noticed increased police activity, includng officers from federal agencies. Whether these occurances have anything to do with the Vice President's comments are unknown.

Copyright 2009, NY Observer. All rights reserved.

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