'OK, Children!': GOP Exec Mocks Town Hall Crowd After He's Booed for Claiming There Are ACA Death...

[DonViejo]

‘OK, Children!’: GOP Exec Mocks Town Hall Crowd After He’s Booed for Claiming There Are ACA Death Panels

by Justin Baragona | 11:45 am, February 11th, 2017

During a town hall for Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) today, the secretary of the county’s Republican Party was met with loud jeers and chants of “liar” when he made the claim that there’s a “death panel” provision in the Affordable Care Act.

Speaking to the crowd, Bill Akins attempted to explain why he was against Obamacare, but found resistance when he made a specific claim. “Here’s the problem i have with the Affordable Care Act,” he said. “Number one, there is a provision in there that anyone over the age of 74 has to go before what is effectively a death panel.”

The moment after uttering those words, the audience went ballistic, with many shouting “no” and yelling out that Akins was lying. As they went nuts, Akins asserted he was correct and that the death panel provision was in there. (For the record, the death panel claim was rated as PolitiFact’s ‘Lie of the Year’ in 2009 with NPR noting that the lie has continued to live on.)

“OK, children. Alright, children,” Akins stated, mocking the crowd.

more
http://www.mediaite.com/online/ok-children-gop-exec-mocks-town-hall-crowd-after-hes-booed-for-claiming-there-are-aca-death-panels/

[Faux pas]

1. Disgustingly

condescending and such a LIAR...oh wait, that's how they ALL are.

[Generic Other]

2. Here's your alt-death panel folks

[Initech]

3. These people are fucking insane!

[SticksnStones]

5. True but what's even more insane are the Americans who keep voting them back in office

Last edited Sat Feb 11, 2017, 02:54 PM - Edit history (1)

You would have thought the calamity that was the Bush presidency would have been enough of an illustration that republicans are horrible at governing.

what will it take? Do they have to release the Kraken before voters see they're out to destroy this country so they can say, see - government is the problem!

Self inflicted wounds to prove a point!?!

[TrekLuver]

13. Yeah what is up with people voting for things that effect them and they don't like....?????

[Scarsdale]

22. Politicians

We should lobby for THEM to give up their healthcare, get the same type we all have to shop for. Only then will any changes be made. Take their Cadillac healthcare away. All so called representatives should be mandated to hold town halls in their districts at least once every two or three months. As it is now, they have no idea what their constituents are going through, nor do they care.

[SticksnStones]

26. Mandated town halls is a great idea! nt

[heaven05]

34. yep, truly insane

but ameriKKKans who keep voting them in, are.

[sheshe2]

51. ameriKKKans.

who do I vote for hmm wait I know the don...he will make amerikkka great again or not.



Let me go home
Why don't they let me go home
This is the worst trip I've ever been on

[heaven05]

53. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!

thanks, needed that

[sheshe2]

55. Hoist up the John B...

Lol....we need more smilie things...that was hard to do with the ones we have.

Laughs are good, cleanses the soul.

[joshdawg]

61. Agree completely.

republicans don't have a clue as to how to govern. They only know rule and control.
To them it's a "do as I say!" Period.

[EllieBC]

69. Never mind their voters...where the hell are ours?

Sitting out elections, waiting for the perfect candidate, or going 3rd party gets you this shit situation. GOP voters will vote for anyone with an R. And they'll swim through lava to do it.

[SticksnStones]

71. Many districts are drawn in such a way that turnout would have to be close to 75%

to have a fighting chance over an incumbent republican.

My post was about that constituency that, election after election, doesn't connect the dots between what they say and what they actually vote to do.

Remember, the Dems still turned out more voters than the republicans...just not in the states we needed them most.

[ck4829]

74. Indeed

[SamKnause]

4. Fucking liar !!!

It would have been nice if the CNN anchors would have called him out on his lie.

But instead they compared the audience to the Tea Party.

[Ohioboy]

6. What????

He actually believes that? "Fake news" is alive and well on the right, and this idiot is just one example.

[dalton99a]

7. The only death panel is the GOP in Congress.

[wordpix]

44. along with dum dum doing whatever they say

[onecaliberal]

8. Republicans are the ONLY death panels in existence.

[sheshe2]

9. I heard him say that.

He is a condescending pig.

[smirkymonkey]

10. What a condescending prick!

I hope these people wake up and start voting their sorry asses out of office. This might just be the wake up call this country needs.

[redstatebluegirl]

11. What a huge ass!

[Progressive dog]

12. In his defense, he tells a lot

of lies but he's an amateur compared to his psychopathic leader.

[HassleCat]

14. We're getting close to violence.

The way these arrogant politicians treat the people, it's only a matter of time before the crowd goes after one of these jerks. They don't realize it, but they are literally trying to kill some of the people in the audience, and they get upset when some ignorant clown stands in front of them and says, "We have to kill you so the imaginary death panel doesn't get you." If I were in a crowd and there was a move to rush the podium, I could see myself throwing a few punches.

[SHRED]

16. It appears that way.

[wordpix]

46. I was just thinking he's lucky he was in a crowd of seniors

and not younger people with children. The hubris and criminal greedy transparency of the repukes is stunning.

[alfredo]

49. I don't want to give president Bannon a propaganda tool.

No to violence. It only gives the regime justification to clamp down on dissent.

[perdita9]

15. If you have to lie to make your point your point is not worth making!

[kimbutgar]

17. That guy just put a big target on himself in his reelection bid.

All those people are not going to forget and will be actively working to get rid of him.

[Blue_true]

31. He should be worried. The dean of the Florida

Republican delegation lost in the last election and several formerly safe republicans squeaked by. The South, Central and North Central part of the state is becoming more progressive each year.

[neeksgeek]

18. We need to send every one of these liars a postcard with one word on it: LIAR. nt

[bdamomma]

54. You know

that is a great idea, these GOP SOB's want to incite violence with their constituents. Good idea any person who has Repigs for Senators or Representatives should send them a post card also. They should not get off the radar.

They are as guilty as 45. or may be everyone should send these repigs a postcard the first two should be McConnell and Ryan.

[Jim Beard]

19. Get the Senior Citizens pissedabout getting screwed about the ACA ....

and thats when the battle begins.

[wordpix]

45. older seniors on Medicare also getting screwed---preserve and improve!

[pandr32]

20. What an asshat!

Seriously, how do these clueless asshats get elected? They serve their donors only. The people should fire their asses right out of there

[ananda]

21. Oh dear, I've recently had a thought ..

that many of the people crowding the town halls
and getting angry actually voted Reep..

and they would rather get upset and yell at a
Reep, as bad as they are, than a Dem or a
non-white person.

I bet they'd still vote Reep even after all this.

It would work something like this. Yes, he/she
is doing horrible things that could harm us, a
real sociopathic louse ... but he/she is MY
sociopathic louse, you know, one of us.

[n2doc]

29. I would bet a lot of these R's ran unopposed

Or effectively unopposed with an opponent who did not get any help or was fringe. That needs to change.

[Ligyron]

33. You have stated the problem exactly.

No D even on the ballot in way too many cases.

We need a whole crop of new democrats or we're screwed.

[ananda]

68. Well, then, if the Dems had a 50 state strategy ..

But wait, we don't even have a DNC chair yet.

[TeamPooka]

23. dude is lucky they didn't tar and feather him right there on the spot. #theoldways

[gopiscrap]

24. What a fucking moron

and the tragedy is that 30% of this country is stupid enough to believe him

[murielm99]

25. Make him prove it.

Anyone over 74 is on Medicare. Do they have death panels, too? Hmmm....Maybe I need to go read the fine print.

[Ruby the Liberal]

30. What this idiot is calling a death panel

is the clause in the ACA that says Medicare will start paying for end of life planning for those who want it.

But of course, the people he is speaking to *obviously* aren't as schmart as his holiness is about it. Facts be damned and the "children" in the room will be silent!

Sieg Heil!

[Warren DeMontague]

57. "For those who want it" is another way of saying "choice"

We all know how they feel about that.

[ck4829]

75. Please, proof has a liberal bias

[Guilded Lilly]

27. Ignorant. Self-important. Elitist. Jagoff.

[oldtime dfl_er]

28. Please tell me

the crowd didn't fall for his lies and patronizing manner. Please tell me they're going to throw the bum out!!!

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

39. That douche puff is Bill Akins, secretary of Pasco County's Republican Party

I don't suspect he will continue to hold that position for too long, lol. Retirees can get mean when pissed off. Don't believe me...go to a bingo game and yell out Bingo when you don't have it and they'll come after you, lol.

[alfredo]

32. Before the ACA, end of life counseling was not covered now it is.

That my friends is the death panel.

[wordpix]

47. these repukes are not deplorable, they're deceitful, criminal, crazy or ignorant

take your pick

[alfredo]

48. I just want them back into a minority role.

I've met Chiauhuas that were more amiable.

[calimary]

35. SO fucking smug!

He and his boss need to be shown the door in the next midterm elections (NEXT YEAR, guys!)!

[Jim__]

36. I guess Sarah Palin told him.

Even though he's a congressman, I'm not sure he's lying. He may just be ignorant enough to simply believe whatever he's told.

[ginnyinWI]

37. embeded tweet:

They sure ain't havin' it anymore!

Link to tweet

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

38. I hope that idiot Akins gets the boot

This is actually my county and there are a lot of retirees in the area that town hall was held. The AARP has begun sending out emails to members that mentions fighting to save Social Security from Congress, so having that idiot call them all children is going to go over about as well as an elephant pissing on a flat rock.

[wordpix]

43. lol as I'm looking at the photo of gray haired "children"

[Skittles]

40. LOL

THE REPUKE STANDARD PLAYBOOK IS FAILING THEM

love the comments from conservatives asking that we "be polite" - fuck you, we've tried that over and over and over and we are DONE WITH IT

[Ruby the Liberal]

41. Update to this from Washington Post

WaPo took a run through Bill Akins' facebook. Here are some highlights, screen grabs for each at the link.

1. Black rioters can be compared to monkeys.
2. “Chemtrails” left by airplanes are a public health risk.
3. Hillary Clinton murdered her political opponents.
4. Antonin Scalia might have been murdered.
5. Saudi Arabia funded Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
6. Nancy Pelosi is mentally handicapped.
7. Former president Barack Obama was foreign-born and Muslim.
8. The left is engendering hatred against white people
9. “Climate change” is a globalist hoax.
10. President Trump's inauguration crowd was bigger than photos portrayed.
11. Muslims can't claim racial discrimination.
12. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for women to be raped by Muslims.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/02/11/gop-official-in-viral-town-hall-video-is-known-for-sharing-misleading-stories-bigoted-jokes/?utm_term=.b8eb0229c067

[wordpix]

42. The death panel are those who would take away ACA and cut Medicare/Medicaid

Medicare is so bare bones you have to buy supplemental insurance. Medicare doesn't even cover eye exams.

[csziggy]

52. Mediate managed to cited CNN without giving a link

And stole the entire story without once mentioning where the hell the event took place. Here is the origina CNN article:

'Death panel' disputes erupt at Florida GOP congressman's town hall
Eric Bradner

By Eric Bradner, CNN

Updated 7:01 PM ET, Sat February 11, 2017

New Port Richey, Florida (CNN)A Republican congressman's town hall erupted into fights over "death panels" as pro-Obamacare attendees shouted down claims of their existence, the latest site for contentious meetings between lawmakers and their constituents this week.

Rep. Gus Bilirakis was the next lawmaker to face constituents outraged by the GOP's efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. A crowd that local sheriff's deputies estimated at 250 turned up at Bilirakis' town hall Saturday morning in Pasco County, which President Donald Trump won by 21 points.

The meeting erupted into shouts and jeers in its first minutes, when Bill Akins -- the chairman of the county Republican Party -- complained of Obamacare's "death panels," a term that does not appear in the text of former President Barack Obama's signature health care law but refers to the Politifact-ruled "Pants On Fire" claim that the ACA created a panel of government bureaucrats that deems whether someone is worthy of health care.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/11/politics/death-panel-florida-gop-congressman/

Yet another reason why I don't like Mediate for news - they leave out essential parts of the story. And if they are going to cite another online source, they should provide a link to it.

[eleny]

56. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win

[ProudLib72]

58. Way to get me riled up!

It's just this sort of thing that makes me have violent thoughts. If it makes me violent, then you know it is making others violent as well. When there is one repuke lying his ass off in a room crowded with angry people, the dumbest thing that repuke can do is escalate the crowd's anger. And that is just what this moron did.

[Cha]

59. Good god yes! ACA/aka/Obamacare saves lives.. you freaking

brainwasher idiot.

Mock them some more, stupid.. you ARE the "death panel"

[Mr.Bill]

60. Before Obamacare there were death panels.

They were called insurance companies.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

62. Seriously, still with the Death Panel lies?

Rejecting that propaganda is not childish. They're the ones treating their constituents like children with that BS and expecting them to buy the fairy tales.

Viva le resistance!

[yuiyoshida]

63. He is lucky no one came up and punched him in the face

Like they did that Neo Natzi guy.

[cab67]

64. He seems to believe his own propaganda in more than one way.

That he keeps repeating the old "death panel" chestnut is bad enough, but from his behavior, he seems to view progressives as ignorant libtards living on the intellectual fringe - people who should be treated like foolish adolescents and not like serious, educated voters.

Hopefully, this town hall will teach him a lesson. Perhaps someone will brief him on the absence of death panels, and he'll think twice before speaking in such an insultingly condescending manner in front of an agitated crowd. I don't ever want to see one of these things become violent, but his remarks did little to de-escalate the tension in the room.

[The Wizard]

65. Normal people don't care

what Republicans have to say unless it's under oath, and even then, normal people know better than to believe them.

[cab67]

66. If you want to see how close this came to becoming violent -

Have a look at the video toward the bottom of this article, where a constituent says, "You ARE a liar - own up to it." I couldn't find the video on youtube.


http://www.gq.com/story/obamacare-lies-florida

[Chakaconcarne]

67. They are impowered because Russian hackers

Are on their side.

[Hortensis]

70. Excellent crowd. If only they'd attended last year

and the year before, but better this one than never. They'll get more converts if they behave well, but at least yelling means those around them had to have heard.

[HAB911]

72. GOP OFFICIAL QUITS AFTER FACEBOOK, 'DEATH PANEL' UPROAR

Bill Akins resigned Tuesday evening as secretary of the Pasco Republican Executive Committee after learning that a loyalty oath he signed with the committee did not allow him to make statements without the party's blessing. Akins has been in the news recently after falsely claiming "death panels" were part of the Affordable Care Act at a town hall meeting and the Washington Post revealed his Facebook posts contained racist and fake news stories and memes.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/news-at-noon-akins-resigns-gop-spot-lawmakers-consider-gun-bill-pinellas/2313303

[ck4829]

73. Kick