'Racial Anxiety' Fuels Town Hall Protesters

This could be the last chance to rein in Medicare costs

(NEWSER) - Centrist senators worried about the fiscal burden of the health care bill should be asking themselves what will happen if it doesn't pass, writes Paul Krugman. The legislation almost certainly represents the last chance to rein in Medicare costs, the main cause of projected future deficits, before they cause a budget catastrophe, Krugman writes in the New York Times. More»

...but their vehement residents want it least

(NEWSER) - With some of the highest percentages of uninsured citizens, rural states like Wyoming and Iowa stand to benefit the most from health care reform—but they’re also home to its most vocal detractors, the Los Angeles Times reports. Such states tend to have lower personal incomes, more small businesses that don't offer insurance to employees, fewer private insurance options, and stricter Medicaid cutoffs, so it’s no wonder their senators are aggressively brokering a reform compromise. More»

Health care reform advocates look to Obama '08 playbook

(NEWSER) - Obama supporters will try to recapture the energy of his presidential campaign with a two-week health care reform push featuring a bus tour, rallies, and more than 2,000 house parties. Organizing for America, the network of Obama supporters now run by the Democratic National Committee, aims to show lawmakers that the raucous town halls of previous weeks don't represent the majority of Americans who, want to see health care expanded. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama was plainly itching for the chance to confront health reform critics at his town hall event in Montana yesterday but he was let down by a friendly audience that failed to ask enough tough questions, Michael D. Shear writes in the Washington Post. The president was only put on the spot twice, Shear notes, and neither time got the opportunity to publicly debunk some of the wilder claims about his reform plans. More»

(NEWSER) - Birther "crazies" are fueling ugly confrontations at town hall meetings about health care reform, complains Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. “The birthers are a perfect slice of people who have lost their rationality" whose "obsession is hurting the Democratic process," he said on Hardball yesterday. The so-called birthers insist President Obama is an undocumented alien despite "clear evidence" that he was born in Hawaii, said the Democratic governor. They're "absolutely nuts," he added. More»