"The record crowds at my town hall meetings, Bill, these people are not uninformed. They are informed. They understand that during the worst economy in 25 years, this administration is running up record deficits and debt and is about to launch a $1.6 trillion government takeover of health care paid for with $800 billion in higher taxes and a whole lot of Hoosiers that I'm talking to back home aren't having any of it."



Transcript below:
 
Bill Hemmer: The White House blog is now asking supporters to report any ‘fishy information' they see, primarily on the internet. The White House is encouraging those to send an email to fishy@whitehouse.gov. There are critics, certainly, of this program and one of them is with me now. Congressman Mike Pence out of Indiana. A Republican and Chairman of the Republican Conference. Welcome back, sir, and good morning to you in Washington. You have issues with this. Tell us why.
 
Congressman Mike Pence: Good morning. Look, the American people know that we have a great tradition of respecting the free speech rights of Americans. That is enshrined in our law and in our traditions. I would hope that before the end of the day today, the White House would clarify this aspect of the website that is designed to collect ‘disinformation.' That that's not about collecting information on Americans that are expressing opposition to a government takeover of health care.
 
Hemmer:  Let me get back to that point here. Macon Phillips apparently is director of new media at the White House. He's part of this process. He says there are scary chain e-mails that are going around, and video tapes that are on the internet spreading disinformation. If you were working at the White House and you saw disinformation, and you know how critical this health care reform is, not just for the White House but for the entire Democratic Party, why not fight that information?
 
Rep. Pence: Look, again, I hope the White House makes it very clear that they are not collecting information on Americans that are expressing their opposition to a government takeover health care. Let me say, I am also troubled about what is being characterized as ‘disinformation'. The president gave a speech the other day, Bill, in which he said ‘nobody's talking about a government takeover of health care', and yet we saw video of Barney Frank of  Massachusetts saying he thought a government option was the best way to get to single payer or a government takeover of health care. The President himself, back in 2003 in video that's on the internet, openly advocated a single payer system. At my town hall meeting in Greensburg, Indiana yesterday and at my town hall meeting in Muncie, Indiana on Tuesday, I didn't sense there's a lot of disinformation out there. I got the sense that an awful lot Americans - and an awful lot of Hoosiers - are very aware of this government takeover of health care paid for with $800 billion in higher taxes. They know it's going to cause millions of people to lose their health insurance and really put us on a pathway toward single payer, socialized medicine.
 
Hemmer: Where was your town hall meeting in Indiana? What town?
 
Rep. Pence: Well, we've had two so far this week. I've popped back out here to Washington this morning. We were in Muncie on Tuesday. We had by some estimates, 250 people. Over 100 people in Greensburg, Indiana yesterday.
 
Hemmer: When you get an August recess like this, how many people show up for your town hall meetings?
 
Rep. Pence: I'm not a big draw, Bill. In typical years, we usually get just 20 or 30 people.
 
Hemmer: That was about our guess, two or three dozen people. It's remarkable the turnout that you're seeing - not just you but everybody. Be it Republican or Democrat. Get back to your original point, though. You hope the White House clarifies this later today? What would suffice for you?
 
Rep. Pence: Look, we have laws on the books that prohibit any agency of the federal government from collecting information on Americans in the exercise of their freedom of speech. I would hope that this element of the website was either taken down or they made it clear that this is not an effort to collect information that is being disseminated by Americans, either verbally or in print on the internet. I am telling you, the record crowds at my town hall meetings, Bill, these people are not uninformed. They are informed. They understand that during the worst economy in 25 years, this administration is running up record deficits and debt and is about to launch a $1.6 trillion government takeover of health care paid for with $800 billion in higher taxes and a whole lot of Hoosiers that I'm talking to back home aren't having any of it.
 
Hemmer: Mike Pence. Thanks for coming in.