Tea Party protestors rally against health bills at Capitol protest

The most vocal opponents of the health bills, Tea Party protestors, took to the Capitol yesterday.

Politico: "Clad in red and armed with Grinch dolls, grim reaper scarecrows, posters and their loud voices, several thousand tea party protesters rallied near the Capitol Tuesday to send a single message: 'Kill the Bill.' The crowd's message and energy was only intensified by the encouragement of some of the nation's best known conservatives, including Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) and radio personality Laura Ingraham" (Shiner, 12/15).

NPR: "'We fought the British over a 3 percent tea tax. We might as well bring the British back,' says William Temple of Brunswick, Ga., an American re-enactor dressed head to toe in a costume from the Revolution. ... 'People are fed up. They've had enough of big government.' ... So as the lawmakers inside the Capitol make a last push at negotiating a bill, protesters outside are also making a last push: trying to shove the entire health care bill off a cliff" (Seabrook, 12/15).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.