Code Red Rally in Fort Collins, Colorado

While the debate over health care reform continues to take center stage in Washington D.C., citizens in local communities continue to put pressure on their elected officials not to vote for the bill. This event in Fort Collins, Colorado was no exception.

On 12/15/2009 at noon, a group of local activists gathered in front of Senator Michael Bennet’s office to protest the health care bill and try to influence him to vote against it. The event was advertised as a “Code Red Rally” voicing opposition to the bill in its current form.

Various news reports have portrayed Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman as the political skunk in the room. This is because he opposes a government-run insurance scheme and the compromise that was offered. This leaves the Democrats in a delicate spot considering they need 60 votes to pass the bill. Unlike a Gallup poll, there is no room for a margin of error. It is probably because of this fact that the Democrats have dropped the idea of expanding Medicare to people starting at age 55.

Back in Fort Collins, the fun started at 11:00 am when I got there with my cameras and tripod. There was a group of about 10 left-wing activists shouting slogans like “What do we want? Health care! When do we want it? Now!” One protester was sporting his cap and gown from when he graduated Harvard. When the conservative activists arrived, the Harvard guy walked up to one of them and said “I graduated from Harvard. I know what I am talking about.” Oddly enough, a Harvard grad with a J.D. said the unemployment rate in the U.S. would not go above 8 percent after the stimulus bill was signed into law. But I digress.

As more conservative activists arrived in front of Senator Michael Bennet’s office, the liberal protesters thought it was a good idea to go home. There was an estimated 100 or so conservative protesters at this particular event.

12/12/2009 Defend The Republic event – Denver, Colorado

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On 12/12/2009, an event was held on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol building. What you see in the photographs are candidates for Colorado Governor & Colorado’s 4th Congressional District speaking with likely voters. You will also notice local citizens holding up signs that express a sense of frustration with Washington D.C. In this photo montage, the candidates you see are Dean Madere, candidate for US Congress (4th District), and Colorado gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes.

Signs of Freedom book signing on 12/04/2009

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Last night I went to a book signing organized by my publisher, Crowded Corner Press. It was a good turn out. Here are photographs from the event. In the group photograph the author of Signs of Freedom is standing on the far right. The photographs turned out darker than I would have liked. The last 6 photos in this montage are credits of Mark Anderson. Here you see the Signs of Freedom cake and subsequent photos show Stephanie Anderson, the author, talking to people and signing books. In the 2nd to last photo you see Diggs Brown, candidate for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. The last photo features the choral group, Maiden

Anti Amnesty Rally & Counter Demonstration

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In all the political events that I have ever photographed, I think it is safe to say that an event that focuses on the subject of immigration and amnesty brings out a lot of passion from both sides of the debate.

On Saturday November 14th, 2009, a group of local activists from ALIPAC (Americans for Legal Immigration Political Action Committee) and other organizations convened on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol Building. As the event was about to get started, a nervous activist near me said, “They are on the wrong side.” He was looking at a group of people on the other side of the street & was contemplating if they were counter protesters or not. The group on the other side of the street supported a lenient immigration policy while the side of the street I stood on consisted of citizens supporting stricter immigration policy such as enforcing immigration laws presently on the books.

When the group of people representing lax immigration policy picked up their signs and their bullhorn, the reaction on the conservative side was mixed. Some people thought that the whole event was starting to look silly and foolish with the yelling back and forth, while others took the bait and yelled back.

The liberal activists yelled phrases like, “No minute men, no KKK no fascist USA!” When the conservatives heard that, one guy near me mused, “Did I miss a burning cross somewhere?” The point being that no one said anything about racism in one sense or another. They also yelled, “This is Mexico, another piece of land you stole!” The conservative philosophy is basically about enforcing current law and keeping people who should not be in the country out of the U.S.

One conservative activist had to cover her ears because she could not stand to hear the babbling from the guy with the bullhorn on the other side of the street. She was not sure how to describe her frustration. I asked her, “Is it as if he forgot to take his ADD medication?” she laughed and agreed with my impression.

Here are photographs from the event.

Candidate Search 2010 Event

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On November 13th at the Budweiser Event Center in Loveland Colorado, a group of local activists participated in the Candidate Search 2010 event. The turnout was over 500 voters. The list of candidates can be found at http://www.candidatesearch2010.com/Participants.html. When you click on each person’s name, it redirects you to the candidates’ web site. The candidates in blue showed up at this particular event. Everyone else did not. Ideologically, all the candidates sounded the same when I was there. There were more than 500 people who attended the event. All candidates expressed a desire for limited government and the Congressional candidates expressed a desire to overturn reverse Roe v. Wade if a bill of that nature came up for a vote in the House of Representatives. Here are Photographs from the event.

Tea Party Express Tour In Fort Collins, Colorado

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The Tea Party Express tour bus made a stop in Fort Collins Colorado. The event took place on November 3rd, 2009. These are photographs from the event

March On The Media Denver Event

On a sunny October 18th afternoon in Denver, Colorado, local activists from various organizations gathered in front of local news organizations to stage a protest that was aimed against their news coverage. The groups think they are being ignored by the local and national press with respect to their concerns on issues such as health car, cap & trade etc… these are photographs from the event.

09/12/2009 Rally on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol Building

In a show of solidarity to the 1.5 million citizens who marched on Washington DC, more than 3000 citizens converged on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol building. 16 people organized the event. The sentiments expressed by the speakers and the crowd reflected a perception hat politicians in Washington are treating the federal budget like a winning lottery ticket with an endless amount of money. These are photos from the event.

Counter Protest at North High School Pro-Obama Rally

At an event sponsored by Organization For America, about 500 people supporting Obama’s health care plan converged at North High School in Denver for a rally. The event took place on 08/28/2009. As the event was about to get under way, left wing organizers advised people that they could not bring signs onto the grounds of the parking lot where the event was being held. It allegedly did not matter if the signs were supporting or opposing the proposal.

When walking into the parking lot where the event was to be held, local community organizers would tell everyone they have to sign in with their name and address. One lady scoffed and just kept walking forward. When they stopped me and told me to sign in, I took the pen wrote “Bob” on the sign in sheet and kept going.

As we got further in, they took the signs away from people. But when one looked around, a lot of people were holding signs supporting Obama. The signs read “Thank you” and “Health insurance reform now.” At the event they yelled chants like “What do we want? Health care! When do we want it? Now!”

Meanwhile, on the outer perimeter of the high school, locals who are opposed to Obama’s plan held signs protesting the proposals. Cars would pass by and honk in support of the people opposing the plan. On occasion there would be supporters who would argue the theories of socialism vs. capitalism. In one incident an Obama supporter came by, ripped a sign out of a woman’s hands and hit her. The locals in this group chanted “We don’t want Obama care. Because it aint free and it aint fair!”

In the process of both sides debating one another, the Obama supporters failed to explain how the system will work if there is no financial funding for more doctors and medical specialists.

While there are assertions that the Republicans in Congress have not provided solutions legislatively, Senator DeMint of South Carolina has introduced S. 1875. This bill amends the Internal Revenue Code for the purposes of giving people a tax credit for having certain kinds of medical insurance. There is a section in the bill that also repeals the alternative minimum tax. As of 07/25/09, this bill was referred to the Senate Finance Committee. The Congressional Research Service summary reports that the bill also allows uninsured individuals a tax credit for a limited amount of their insurance costs.

Senator DeMint has also introduced a bill requiring people with non immigrant Z visas to carry health insurance. A Z visa is basically a work visa that a person from a foreign country carries when they come to the United States to work. This was S. AMDT 1197 to S. 1348. Basically it was an amendment to an immigration reform bill. This amendment was rejected in committee on 06/07/07.

The details of both pieces of legislation can be found on the Senators web site.