Motivations of the "Mobs"

Commentators and politicians are clearly taken aback by the level of emotion being displayed at these health care town hall meetings. Various explanations for this outpouring of interest abound, and some have been quite ridiculous, including claims that these people were sent here at the request of big business or that they are merely expressing racism. However, I think it is quite easy to understand why people are ticked off. I will tell you why in bullet point format:

• More so than almost any other legislation, this health care bill would impact virtually everybody, and in a big way. People get fired up about illegal immigrants or taxes, but even those issues don't have the potential impact of this one.

• People are tired of the way Washington operates. One-thousand-plus page bills are written, "debated," and voted on in a span of days, and people have almost no ability to learn about and then speak up about these issues in such a short time span. This is an especially acute problem after the bailouts were rushed through Congress earlier this year. Remember, if the Democrats had their way, this bill would already have been passed and signed.
  

• People are sick of politician-speak. President Obama says, "If you like your health plan, you can keep it." But people have every reason to suspect that this will be true for no more than a year or two, as the "public option" swallows everyone up as employers respond to incentives to drop health coverage for employees. In response to a question about government funding for abortions in its plan, Senator Arlen Specter said, "You can get a plan that doesn't pay for abortions, and someone else can get one that does." That's a ridiculous answer, because it clearly means that the government plan will pay for abortions. I also hear people like Rep. Chet Edwards in Texas say, "I will not support a Canada-style, single-payer plan." Sure, that sounds good, but it doesn't address whether or not he'll vote for the plan currently working its way through the House. People are tired of this obfuscation.

• People don't trust legislation to work like it is supposed to. The TARP bill wasn't intended to provide bailouts for auto makers, but it did. The stimulus bill wasn't supposed to pay for ridiculous pork projects, but it did. The Bush Medicare drug bill was supposed to cost X, but it cost much more. Health care reform will undoubtedly have similar unannounced consequences (I'm not sure if they will be unintended).

• People are sick of elitist politicians. Voters know Congress won't subject itself to whatever plan it passes, just like Congress doesn't use Social Security or commercial airlines.
  

For these reasons, I fully support citizens who yell at and boo their Congressmen. While the politicians may publicly dismiss these people, privately they know that the anger expressed at these meetings could also manifest itself next Election Day.