Barack Obama’s HCAN (Health Care for America Now) organization and SEIU supporters held a joint rally today in Washington against the insurance industry. The groups bussed in their protesters from DE, CT, MD, MN, VA, NJ, NC, NY, OH, PA, and RI.
The police arrested the more violent protesters outside the Ritz Carlton. (Flickr)
From the SEIU Blog:
If AHIP thinks they’ve been getting an incredible amount of heat lately for their stunning rate increases, they haven’t seen anything yet.
Today, we’re taking a stand together to show AHIP we’re not going to allow the big corporations and their lobbyists to bully Congress into inaction. We kicked off today’s rally this morning at around 10:30 a.m. Health care activists spilled off of buses that traveled from DE, CT, MD, MN, VA, NJ, NC, NY, OH, PA, RI to be here today.
They joined union members, health care supporters, politicians, progressive leaders and faith leaders, until there were several thousand of us packed into the Circle by the fountain. HCAN’s Richard Kirsch, SEIU’s Anna Burger, and Howard Dean all spoke briefly, energizing the crowd and reminding us all why we’re all out here: to hold the abusive health insurance industry accountable for its actions.
The leftists were arrested after breaking into the ballroom where insurance executives were holding a meeting. (Flickr)
Howard Dean fired up the crowd. Yeaaarahh! (Flickr)