Shortly before noon Saturday, Independence resident Kim Brown pulled a homemade protest sign and lawn chair from the back of her car.
She sat down in front of U.S. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s office on the Independence Square and proudly waved her yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag while wearing a matching T-shirt. Her sign carried messages opposing socialism, health care reform, government bailout funds and a cap-and-trade program.
By 12:15 p.m., she had packed up and gone home, disappointed.
Brown was one of only a handful of citizens who showed up at Cleaver’s Independence office as part of the nationwide Recess Rally, a collaborative effort for those who oppose government-controlled health care.
“Maybe everybody went to his (Cleaver’s) Kansas City office. If they did, that’s fine. If nobody showed up at his Kansas City office, I’d say the fate of this country is sealed,” said Brown, who has operated the Web site TeaPartyKC.com since April 15. “It’s time to stand up and say we don’t want all this stuff shoved down our throat – all of the silly government programs designed to waste money and control people.”
Cleaver’s Independence office was closed Saturday. In an Aug. 7 post at emanuelcleaver.blogspot.com, Cleaver wrote that he had a telephone town-hall meeting with more than 5,300 households in Independence and Sugar Creek earlier this month.
“It was my pleasure to hear their thoughts and concerns and (I) will take their well reasoned suggestions back to Washington as we continue this crucial debate,” Cleaver wrote.
Fifteen miles away on Saturday, the turnout was different.
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Grain Valley resident Pat Bottcher smiled, made a thumbs-up and said “Yeah!” as a vehicle honked at her every few minutes. She and about 15 other citizens, including a child, stood along Missouri 7 for about one hour near U.S. Congressman Ike Skelton’s Blue Springs office. (Skelton’s office also was closed.)
“Nope. Never,” Bottcher replies when asked if she had been politically involved in her life prior to this year. “I just felt this was something that was so important with our future generations at stake. Just like our forefathers, I just want to have made a difference for future generations.”
More than two months ago, Bottcher formed the Grain Valley Concerned Citizens Meet up Group as an effort to raise awareness. The group meets the second and fourth Thursday of every month in her home.
“We try to be as informed and involved as we can,” Bottcher said. “We love our country, and we want it back with the freedoms that are constitutionally ours. We’re not mobs or astroturfing.”
Bottcher encourages citizens to seek a variety of media sources for their information, as well as read the U.S. Constitution and learn their rights. She said America, a country she deeply loves, is at stake.
“We want to let people know they need to get active, be informed, get the facts and join others with like mind,” she said. “We need to get involved and get off the couches.”
Bottcher held a sign that read “Audit the Federal Reserve” on one sign, with references to House Resolution 1207 and Senate Bill 607. On its reverse side, the sign read “Stop socialism now.”
While she supports government programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, Bottcher said they are flawed. She said she realizes the need for such insurance programs for those living with pre-exisiting conditions.
“I am for health care reform,” Bottcher said. “There’s enough waste and fraud that needs to be eliminated.”
In her mind, Saturday’s Recess Rally was a success, Bottcher said.
“It’s a start,” she said. “I think you’ll continue seeing more and more of this over the next three months.”
According to recessrally.com, about 300 citizens attended the rally near U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s Kansas City office on Saturday. McCaskill held a health care listening forum Monday at the University of Missouri-Kansas City campus.
Eastern Jackson County, MO —
