On March 9, activists from Connecticut and all over the country converged on Washington D.C. to call out the insurance company executives gathering at the AHIP conference as the criminals they are. This Citizens' Posse rallied in our nation's capital to remind Congress and the President to listen to us, not corporate executives who stand in the way of a better America. The video at right was filmed at the citizens' arrest of the insurance companies.
Many carried signs fashioned like wanted posters, each with the picture and name of an HMO CEO, and the reasons for the arrest, such as denial of care, increasing premium costs, and so on. According to recent media reports, the five biggest health insurers made a $12-billion profit in 2009, up from $8 billion the year before. AHIP is reportedly spending $5 million a week to defeat the Democrats’ health-reform effort.
[...]
Tom Swan, executive director of Connecticut Citizens Action Group, called the protest a success. “We know we disrupted their conference,” he said, standing just outside the Ritz. “We clearly redefined sides (of the health-care debate). We saw a willingness to take more drastic action.”
"We're declaring this a crime scene!" bellowed Richard Trumka, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, to the roar of the crowd. AFL-CIO is a federation of about 60 labor unions.
Organizers of the protest said they brought about 5,000 people from across the United States to downtown Washington. They began their march in Dupont Circle, where they heard speeches from politicians and activists.
CCAG on Facebook
CCAG on YouTube
CCAG on Flickr
RSS Feed
