SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Single Payer Docs Arrested Outside Baltimore Hotel While Obama Speaking to Republicans
Jan 29, 2010
Two single payer doctors were arrested this morning outside the
Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel where President Obama was
scheduled to speak to a retreat of House Republicans.
Dr. Margaret Flowers and Dr. Carol Paris were carrying a sign that
said: Just Letting You Know: Medicare for All.
"We were on the hotel property holding our sign," Dr. Flowers said.
"The Secret Service said we had to go across the street. We said we
would go across the street if our letter was delivered to the President.
The Secret Service said that wasn't possible. They said if we didn't go
across the street we would be arrested. We refused to leave because we
didn't want to continue to be excluded, marginalized and ignored. And
they arrested us."
Flowers and Paris were taken to the Central Police headquarters.
They were separately questioned by the Secret Service.
The Baltimore Police charged them with trespass and they were
released.
"Every time they said - if you just go across the street, everything
will be fine," Dr. Paris said. "And we would respond - that is the
problem. We are always asked to go across the street. And nothing
changes. This is putting into practice what Howard Zinn taught us. Go
where you are not supposed to be. And say what you are not supposed to
say. And that's what we were doing."
(See Bill Hughes video here.)
Dr. Flowers went to the White House yesterday to deliver a letter to
Obama asking him to consider a single payer, Medicare for all health
care system.
She was turned away at the gate and told that for security
reasons, the White House doesn't accept hand delivered letters.
During his State of the Union speech on Wednesday, Obama said he
wanted to hear from people on a better approach to health care reform
that will "bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the
uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors and stop insurance company
abuses."
"Let me know, let me know, let me know. I'm eager to see it," Obama
said.
Flowers, Paris and the majority of doctors and nurses in America
believe that approach is a single payer national health insurance
system.
Obama himself, when he was a state Senator in Illinois in 2003, said
single payer was the way to go.
But last year, he cut deals with the pharmaceutical and health
insurance industries in a now failed attempt to get through tinkering
reforms.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Russell Mokhiber
Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. He is also founder of singlepayeraction.org, and editor of the website Morgan County USA.
Two single payer doctors were arrested this morning outside the
Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel where President Obama was
scheduled to speak to a retreat of House Republicans.
Dr. Margaret Flowers and Dr. Carol Paris were carrying a sign that
said: Just Letting You Know: Medicare for All.
"We were on the hotel property holding our sign," Dr. Flowers said.
"The Secret Service said we had to go across the street. We said we
would go across the street if our letter was delivered to the President.
The Secret Service said that wasn't possible. They said if we didn't go
across the street we would be arrested. We refused to leave because we
didn't want to continue to be excluded, marginalized and ignored. And
they arrested us."
Flowers and Paris were taken to the Central Police headquarters.
They were separately questioned by the Secret Service.
The Baltimore Police charged them with trespass and they were
released.
"Every time they said - if you just go across the street, everything
will be fine," Dr. Paris said. "And we would respond - that is the
problem. We are always asked to go across the street. And nothing
changes. This is putting into practice what Howard Zinn taught us. Go
where you are not supposed to be. And say what you are not supposed to
say. And that's what we were doing."
(See Bill Hughes video here.)
Dr. Flowers went to the White House yesterday to deliver a letter to
Obama asking him to consider a single payer, Medicare for all health
care system.
She was turned away at the gate and told that for security
reasons, the White House doesn't accept hand delivered letters.
During his State of the Union speech on Wednesday, Obama said he
wanted to hear from people on a better approach to health care reform
that will "bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the
uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors and stop insurance company
abuses."
"Let me know, let me know, let me know. I'm eager to see it," Obama
said.
Flowers, Paris and the majority of doctors and nurses in America
believe that approach is a single payer national health insurance
system.
Obama himself, when he was a state Senator in Illinois in 2003, said
single payer was the way to go.
But last year, he cut deals with the pharmaceutical and health
insurance industries in a now failed attempt to get through tinkering
reforms.
Russell Mokhiber
Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. He is also founder of singlepayeraction.org, and editor of the website Morgan County USA.
Two single payer doctors were arrested this morning outside the
Renaissance Baltimore Harborplace Hotel where President Obama was
scheduled to speak to a retreat of House Republicans.
Dr. Margaret Flowers and Dr. Carol Paris were carrying a sign that
said: Just Letting You Know: Medicare for All.
"We were on the hotel property holding our sign," Dr. Flowers said.
"The Secret Service said we had to go across the street. We said we
would go across the street if our letter was delivered to the President.
The Secret Service said that wasn't possible. They said if we didn't go
across the street we would be arrested. We refused to leave because we
didn't want to continue to be excluded, marginalized and ignored. And
they arrested us."
Flowers and Paris were taken to the Central Police headquarters.
They were separately questioned by the Secret Service.
The Baltimore Police charged them with trespass and they were
released.
"Every time they said - if you just go across the street, everything
will be fine," Dr. Paris said. "And we would respond - that is the
problem. We are always asked to go across the street. And nothing
changes. This is putting into practice what Howard Zinn taught us. Go
where you are not supposed to be. And say what you are not supposed to
say. And that's what we were doing."
(See Bill Hughes video here.)
Dr. Flowers went to the White House yesterday to deliver a letter to
Obama asking him to consider a single payer, Medicare for all health
care system.
She was turned away at the gate and told that for security
reasons, the White House doesn't accept hand delivered letters.
During his State of the Union speech on Wednesday, Obama said he
wanted to hear from people on a better approach to health care reform
that will "bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the
uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors and stop insurance company
abuses."
"Let me know, let me know, let me know. I'm eager to see it," Obama
said.
Flowers, Paris and the majority of doctors and nurses in America
believe that approach is a single payer national health insurance
system.
Obama himself, when he was a state Senator in Illinois in 2003, said
single payer was the way to go.
But last year, he cut deals with the pharmaceutical and health
insurance industries in a now failed attempt to get through tinkering
reforms.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.