Obama denounces spotlight on healthcare protests
US President Barack Obama today denounced what he suggested was news media overemphasis on scenes of angry protesters at town-hall meetings on health care, saying: “TV loves a ruckus”.
Trying to sell his overhaul plan amid an increasingly noisy partisan debate, Mr Obama told a town hall-style meeting in an airport hangar in Belgrade, Montana: “What you haven’t seen on TV and what makes me proud are the many constructive meetings going on all over the country.”
He said Americans are being held hostage by health insurance companies that deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions or cancel coverage when people get sick.
The president kicked off his four-state push for his plan with a pointed joke: He said Montana has bears, moose and elk, and: “In Washington, you just mostly have bull”.
While hundreds demonstrated outside, there was no sign of protesters on the airstrip where Air Force One landed or inside the hangar at the airport near Bozeman.
Minutes after Mr Obama landed, a downpour began, making it difficult to hear inside the metal-roofed hangar.
A crowd the White House estimated at 1,300 took up half of the space, sitting politely as Obama gave introductory remarks.
The president appeared in campaign mode. He showed up in a suit, but no tie. As he began to take questions, he took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves.
