According to a recent New York Times article, the majority of protests on health care reform have come from conservative interest groups.  However, democrats will begin protests of their own at town hall meetings run by republican representatives.  Thus far, angry crowds have gathered at town hall meetings held by democrats across the country.  Senator Arlen Specter and heath and human services secretary Kathleen Sebelius were booed on Sunday in Philadelphia when Specter admitted he hadn’t read the bill in its entirety. 

At the meeting with Specter and Sebelius, one constituent who opposes the plan said, “I look at this health care plan and I see nothing that is about health or about care. What I see is a bureaucratic nightmare, senator. Medicaid is broke, Medicare is broke, Social Security is broke and you want us to believe that a government that can’t even run a cash for clunkers program is going to run one-seventh of our U.S. economy? No sir, no.”

Other public gatherings have gone poorly for Democrats.  Independent groups are taking a page out of the Obama 2008 campaign by utilizing social networking sites such as Twitter to alert constituents about politicians’ town hall meetings.  Many are showing up in crowds to protest the reform bill. 

Democratic leaders insist that these groups are being disruptive and are harming efforts to move health care reform in the right direction.  Democrats are planning on being at Republican leaders’ town hall meetings in the near future to advocate for health care reform.  However, Michael Steel, a spokesman for the House Republican leader John A. Boehner of Ohio said, “The more the American people hear about the Democrats’ plan, the less they like it.”

Politicians are asking constituents to be respectful during these critical town hall meetings. 

Click here to read the entire New York Times article: Health Plan Opponents Make Voices Heard