Protesters decry health bill 2 days before vote voteHouse vote

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — With the historic House vote on health care barely 48 hours away, battle lines hardened and rhetoric sharpened Thursday when thousands of conservatives and anti-government protesters swarmed Capitol Hill to oppose Democrats’ $1 trillion overhaul even as two powerful lobby groups for doctors and seniors endorsed the legislation.

“Kill the bill! Kill the bill!” chanted thousands of protestors outside the Capitol, some having traveled on short notice from as far as California and Texas to protest what they saw as tantamount to socialized medicine. “No Marx. No Mao,” one protest sign read. No socialized anything,” read another.

Meanwhile, officials of the AARP and the American Medical Association publicly endorsed the Democrats’ healthcare overhaul.

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