I had no idea when I went down to the Stout St. Medical Clinic in Denver today to observe the health care event with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Colorado Reps. Diana DeGette and Jared Polis, that the event was not open to the public. Even though I wasn't on the official list, they gave me a pass and let me inside. I was able to maneuver my way up front and sandwich myself between three network guys with their huge videocams. All I had was my Flip video camera and my iPhone, but I managed to get most of what was said. The videos are below, and all are pretty short.
But, first, the scene outside: As expected, there were some loud protesters. I interviewed one, and asked him why he opposed President Obama's health care bill. Here's what the 16 year old from Lakewood, Colorado (who grew up in Wasilla, Alaska) told me:
There was also this very angry man:
It seemed to me that the pro-health care folks outnumbered the protesters. Here's a 15 second video of them chanting the same line over and over...but it gives you a flavor of the street scene:
As for the signs the protesters were holding, here are a few:
Now onto the remarks at the closed press conference. Rep. Diana DeGette was first:
Rep. Jared Polis was up next:
John Parvensky, President and CEO of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless spoke next and as it turned out, he had some really interesting information to share about the homeless:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was the final speaker. Here's part 1:
Speaker Pelosi and Rep. DeGette took some questions. They weren't all friendly questions. One assumed there was a great division among the Democrats on health care reform. Here's Speaker Pelosi and Rep. Diana DeGette discussing the negotiations for the bill and stating the Dems are unified in wanting health care reform.
Here is Speaker Pelosi discussing the biggest misconceptions about the health care bill:
In response to another question, Speaker Pelosi addressed the Democrats' support for the public option (video here.)
I also got some handouts (which I've scanned as pdf docs and uploaded in case anyone wants to read them) on both the health care reform bill(what's in it for you), highlights of the 111th Congress, and health care for the homeless, the use of stimulus funds for Colorado, organized oppositon to the health care bill and some facts and figures on the homeless and specific projects the stimulus funds would be used for. One project is the expansion of the Stout St. Medical Center and another is a 98 apartment complex called Residence Uptown Lofts. They even included design photos.
Final word: I can't remember hearing a single thing about Medicare. It ended around 4:00 pm. Everyone was all smiles.
I was one of the first to leave, and the street outside was deserted. Not a soul in sight. The day must have been a big disappointment to the protesters.