Foes of health care plan converge on Capitol

About 300 gathered on the east lawn with House Republicans, including Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Last update: November 7, 2009 - 10:40 PM

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As the House began debate Saturday on President Obama's top-priority initiative to overhaul the health care system, protesters outside the Capitol occasionally yelled or waved signs that said, "Have you heard us yet?"

It's not likely that Obama heard them when he arrived to rally House Democrats on Capitol Hill. And the protesters neither saw nor heard the president as he was whisked through a secure entrance into the Cannon House Office Building across the street from the Capitol. Only the racket of motorcycles at the head of his motorcade and of helicopters overhead heralded Obama's arrival.

"You'll be starting a civil war, you fascist tyrant!" yelled Andrew Beacham, 27, of nearby Falls Church, Va.

Beacham, his hair in a ponytail, said he believed Obama was a fascist because, he asserted, the bill would force Americans to pay for abortions and for government-provided health care. Reminded that Americans have long contributed to and benefited from Medicare and Medi- caid, Beacham replied, "I would favor getting rid of both of them, and Social Security, too. They're all going broke anyway."

A freelance producer of film documentaries, Beacham said he did not have health insurance. "When I need health care, I pay for it out of pocket," he said, adding that he did not fear the possibility that an accident or illness would leave him with unaffordable bills. "I'm a Christian, so I'm not afraid of death," he said.

Among the other protesters were followers of anti-government activist Lyndon LaRouche, who circulated a magazine with a retouched picture of Obama in a Hitler-like mustache on the cover, and members of the Tea Party Patriots, a recently formed group of opponents to the health care bill, some of them carrying bright yellow "Don't Tread on Me" flags.

By about 1 p.m., about 300 protesters assembled on the Capitol's east lawn for a rally with some House Republicans, including Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota.

But the biggest applause was for Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina, now famous among conservatives for blurting out "You lie!" to Obama during the president's speech on health care to a televised joint session of Congress in September. Wilson at the time was objecting when the president said the legislation would not finance care for illegal immigrants.

"Thank you, Joe!" the crowd chanted.

NEW YORK TIMES

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