Melissa Hart(R-PA) Calls Cops on Seniors Delivering Donuts

[RamboLiberal]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2006/10/27/granny-get-your-gun%e... /

Seems like in Allison Park, Pa., near Pittsburgh, the biggest threat to public security is 40 senior citizens carrying donuts. Yesterday, staff at Rep. Melissa Hart’s (R-Pa.) district office called for three armed police from nearby Hampton Township to disperse the group of seniors, all members of the Pennsylvania Alliance for Retired Americans (PARA), who sought to deliver donuts to Hart’s office to protest the new Medicare law.

The AFL-CIO is urging members to call Hart’s office and tell her: Shame on you for treating your own constituents like criminals simply because they wanted to express their opinion. You can call Hart at her Allison Park office at 412-492-0161 or at her Ellwood City office at 724-752-0490.

Under the new Bush administration Medicare Part D rules passed by Congress in 2003, out-of-pocket prescription expenses between the annual amounts of $2,251 and $5,100 are not covered—a nearly $3,000 “donut hole.” Of the 11.8 million Medicare enrollees whose plans include a coverage gap, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates at least 6.9 million of them could hit the donut hole.

The badly crafted law means some 170,000 seniors in Pennsylvania must pay full price for their prescriptions while still paying their full monthly premiums. Hart backed provisions in the Medicare drug bill that prevent the government from negotiating lower prescription drug prices with pharmaceutical companies and she voted for the bill that created the donut hole.

Video at Eschaton: http://atrios.blogspot.com/

[Ian David]

1. But Bush says he gave them all a tax credit of $500/child

If they're worried about a $3,000 donut hole, all they need to do is have six more children.

Problem solved.

Freedom is on the march!

[DeSwiss]

7. Its their "children" that passed the law.....

....in the first place. Why would they make the same mistake twice???

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

2. I'm sure the cops were more than happy to confiscate their donuts.

[MADem]

3. Oooh, how very brutal! But...heh, heh, ..... ~~~ FUNNY!!!! NT

[Hepburn]

16. Yep...

...saved them the trip to their local do-nut shop! Gee, what a grand day for them ~~ they got to bust seniors AND get free do-nuts!

What an ass that rep is for calling the cops on the senior demonstrators. As a senior citizen myself, I can tell you that someone smelled a bit of fear in being confronted by her conduct as a legislator. Now...she is getting not only that exposed, but getting bad publicity for calling the cops on a group of old, gray-haired voters who came carrying ~~ OMG ~~ do-nuts!!! What in hell was she afraid of??? A carb attack???

LOL....!!!

[Bitwit1234]

4. Good Show

Isn't that nice...Hart ran a campaign ad for her opposition. Wanta bet that it's all over the news that she threatened to have senior citizens arrested. Think of all the children, grandchildren who are going to be upset.

[Lasher]

5. Guess that sorta backfired on Hart

Now the seniors have gotten far more publicity for their cause than they ever could have without Hart's assistance.

You can't blame Melissa for being just a tad cranky these days. Her seat was supposed to be safe but she's now ahead in the polls by just 4%.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2006/house/pa/p...

[Union Thug]

6. Republicans talk tough, but they are all frightened little children..

They live in a state of fear. They cower at the word TERROR!!! They have no idea what FDR was talking about when he mentioned 'nothing to fear but fear itself." It's as though they need to live in crisis mode twentyfour/seven to make their lives meaningful. I've never seen anything like it.

[NMMNG]

8. Republicans are going to keep us safe,

but they're afraid of old people with donuts?

[Erika]

9. Melissa looks like the elitist jerk she is

And she has no concern for the elderly.

[RamboLiberal]

10. Yes she is "uppity"

Congressional staff members related an incident in 2001, in which they recalled the freshman Representative Melissa Hart of Pennsylvania, who is white, admonishing Representative Julia Carson, who is black, that the elevator they were riding on was members-only. Ms. Carson, of Indiana, proceeded to introduce herself to her new colleague, offense taken.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/02/washington/02elevator...

[Bucky]

13. But she was great on Sabrina the Teenaged Witch

[oasis]

11. A much deserved Fifth recommendation.k&r

[gr8dane_daddy]

12. Wrong constituency to mess with!!!

Elder folks tend to vote in great numbers...what a dumb bitch.

[saltpoint]

14. What's truly outrageous about these seniors' conduct is their

erroneous and offensive assumption that they have leave to participate in the democratic process, to fulfill their responsibilities to citizenship in a Constitutional republic, and even worse, express themselves on an issue which impacts their health and well-being as residents of a particular district or city or state.

That's just wildly provocative conduct. I hope they're all rounded up and sent to a dungeon post-haste.

Thank Jesus we have people like Congresswoman Hart to put the screws to these bastards when the going gets tough.

[Vinca]

15. Good for the seniors, but from the sounds of it you'd think they

were carrying Molotov cocktails rather than donuts. Sheesh. Maybe the Republicans are too dim to get the irony.

[blm]

18. Few GOPs served in combat so GOPs don't know the difference between a donut

and a hand grenade, hence, the added caution for those scary looking seniors.

;)

[indepat]

17. Melissa must be trying to tell the people she sucks badly

[mloutre]

19. Mellisa Hart is just staying the course

She's drawing a line in the sand and telling those pesky old people what's really what in Allison Park.

And that is a Good Thing.

Because 9/11 changed everything. And we have to fight them there or else we'll have to fight them here.

[I Have A Dream]

20. Unbelievable! Her Democratic challenger *HAS* to make an ad based...

on this! I'd be more than happy to contribute towards it!

[greiner3]

21. I hit the damn hole last month;

I take 4 psychotropics and a pill for blood pressure. I'm in the freaking donut hole. When the pharmasist's assistant first said that to me last month, I thought she was making fun of me. Now I have to pay for all 5 drugs. My cost is $500 a month. I don't have it. I am on SSDI of $1313 a month and after rent, utilities and fixed expenses I have maybe $250 left over. I don't need heat this winter, I don't need $9.95 internet or food. Think of the hundreds of thousands of mentally ill across the nation this time of year who can't afford their meds. Think of all the crazy things that have happened in the last month or two. Coincidence? I think there is a connection, however I will not be in a state of mind to do anything constructive about it in another 2 weeks. What was the comic named Smirnoff line? America, what a country. ?

By the way, I checked around for prices on drugs out of pocket. Lithium, which is an element of the periodic table and is found in common soil, cost under $20 for a month's supply of my dose, now costs upwards of $75 a month. I am not talking 20 years, I am talking 3-4 years for that price difference. The drug companies are making billions off of the US government, oops, I should say us! Isn't capitalism great!

Edited because you should always read your posts before hitting the post message button, regardless if you are pissed off at the topic at hand!

[Hayduke Lives]

22. Melissa is so vulnerable.

Her voting record is amazingly bad. She's a lap dog for Bush on everything. She is among PA's worst, earning consistently low scores from the League of Conservation Voters (ranging from 0% to a high of 3% a couple years back!). You'd think Pittsburgh's northern 'burbs were full of mill towns and cattle ranches. I've called her on it and she just mutters about her one good vote 5 years ago on some inconsequential issue.

If Jason can just get his message out before the election, it's his to win. There are a lot of yellow-dog Repubs in this district, but the Dems still have a majority. Go Jason!