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Hernando Today

Rallies planned Wednesday for health care, taxation

Old courthouse will be epicenter of free speech

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By TONY MARRERO

Hernando Today

Published: April 13, 2009

Brooksville - Demonstrators determined to speak up about two separate issues will descend Wednesday on the county seat.
The historic courthouse in downtown Brooksville will be the site of two unrelated rallies, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. Both rallies hit on raw nerves for many Americans: taxation and health care.
Supporters of a single-payer health care system will assemble from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. outside U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite's office in the old courthouse, 20. N. Main St.
Then, at 2 p.m., Hernando County Taxpayers Alliance members and other demonstrators will gather for a "Brooksville Tea Party."
Similar events, playing off the historic Boston Tea Party of 1773, are held throughout the country on Tax Day to remind local officials that constituents need continued tax relief, and the local alliance decided to have one in Brooksville at the suggestion of members, said Linda Hayward, the alliance's founder.
But taxes aren't the only topic that has people riled up, Hayward said. Those issues span the levels of government, from federal bailouts to the county's bungled dredge project, Hayward said.
Demonstrators are encouraged to bring signs voicing their thoughts on whatever raises their hackles.
"There are so many things for people to be angry about," Hayward said.
The health care rally is a joint effort between the Nature Coast Coalition for Peace and Justice, the East Pasco Democrats and a group called Health Care in Common, which promotes the single-payer plan.
Demonstrators seek to put pressure on Congress to approve HR 676, said Brian Moore, chairman of the peace coalition. The bill, dubbed United States National Health Care Act would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system that expands the already existing Medicare program to all U.S. residents.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, received more than 90 House sponsors last year and has collected 60 and counting this year.
Brown-Waite won't be one of them.
"I welcome the opportunity to hear from my constituents as Congress is set to begin the enormously important debate on health care reform," the Brooksville Republican said in statement Monday when asked to comment on the planned rally. "Americans deserve high-quality health care and choice. I will not support a government-run program that will inevitably lead to rationed care."
Rally organizers expected that response, Moore said.
"We don't think we're going to change Ginny Brown-Waites's mind, but we want to put her on the spot and show her there are constituents here that believe in it," he said.
For more information on the Hernando County Taxpayers Alliance, call Hayward at 797-9653 or visit www.hernandotaxpayersalliance.com. For more information on the health care rally, call Brian Moore at 686-9936.

Reporter Tony Marrero can be reached at 352-544-5286 or lmarrero@hernandotoday.com.

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