POLITICO: Congressmen refuse to hold town-hall meetings due to angry constituents

[Matt Collins]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25646.html


Selected lines from the article:

Town Hall Meetings Gone Wild!

Screaming constituents, protesters dragged out by the cops, congressmen fearful for their safety — welcome to the new town-hall-style meeting, the once-staid forum that is rapidly turning into a house of horrors for members of Congress.

On the eve of the August recess, members are reporting meetings that have gone terribly awry, marked by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior. In at least one case, a congressman has stopped holding town hall events because the situation has spiraled so far out of control.

The targets in most cases are House Democrats, who over the past few months have tackled controversial legislation including a $787 billion economic stimulus (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25542.html)package, a landmark energy proposal and an overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

Democrats, acknowledging the increasing unruliness of the town-hall-style events, say the hot-button issues they are taking on have a lot to do with it.

[Matt Collins]

http://research.history.org/Historical_Research/Research_Themes/ThemeRevolution/Loyalist/tar_and_feather.jpg

[legion]

Haha, Matt. Luckily these days we live in a more civilized time where elected officials are responsive to the needs of their constituents.

[Pepsi]

The Founders should have added Tar and Feathering to the Bill of Rights.

[moostraks]

The Founders should have added Tar and Feathering to the Bill of Rights.

:D

[Working Poor]

Do ya think they are in danger of loosing their positions?

[ItsTime]

Haha, Matt. Luckily these days we live in a more civilized time where elected officials are responsive to the needs of their constituents.

They are responsive? LMAO

[tangent4ronpaul]

Last election we ran something like 70 candidates for Congress, this time I think we have 5.

Are we dropping the ball, or is it too soon?

-t

[free.alive]

Last election we ran something like 70 candidates for Congress, this time I think we have 5.

Are we dropping the ball, or is it too soon?

-t

If you run 70 candidates without a prayer, then you actually ran no candidates. And third party candidates don't count.

It's still pretty early. Competing currency advocate, Doug Cloud, for instance, is preparing to run in Washington State against a guy who's a 34-year incumbent, a CFR member and who sits on the House Appropriations Committee. There is plenty of party-building and other work to be done before a campaign is actually feasible. That's what's going on now.

I hope these things are happening elsewhere.

[ScotTX]

We had a great townhall in Austin this morning with democratic congressman Lloyd Doggett. It was supposed to last 2 hours, but he only lasted 45 minutes! We had about 250 people with 95% against Obamacare. I doubt he'll do another townhall anytime soon!

[angelatc]

How do you find out where your Congressmen will be?

[free.alive]

You know, this may be a good thing. Let the incumbents piss off their constituents by ignoring them.

[MsDoodahs]

How do you find out where your Congressmen will be?

Call his local office?

[tangent4ronpaul]

How do you find out where your Congressmen will be?

check their web site - some list them under constituent services. Otherwise call and ask to speak to the scheduler. Note that you can request that the representative come out and speak to your group. That could even be you arranging a room at a community center or library and publicizing it to the community.

-t

[Sandra]

Freedom works, the astroturf organization , is asking people to organize protests of these townhall meetings, so lookout for that too. Controlled opposition? They are just sporting "FreedomWorks" banners for goodness sake. Go another route as far as organized protests.

www.freedomworks.com

[qh4dotcom]

You know, this may be a good thing. Let the incumbents piss off their constituents by ignoring them.

Some constituents don't get pissed no matter what their Congressman does...80%+ of incumbents got re-elected last year despite voting for the bailouts.

[paulitics]

I would say the people are both pissed and stupid, and this is a bad combination.

[paulitics]

Freedom works, the astroturf organization , is asking people to organize protests of these townhall meetings, so lookout for that too. Controlled opposition? They are just sporting "FreedomWorks" banners for goodness sake. Go another route as far as organized protests.

www.freedomworks.com

Aren't they the group that are funded directly by the neocons? And a few years ago, they were protesting in favor of the Iraq war, and bought all those "win the war in Iraq" commercials.

[Sandra]

Aren't they the group that are funded directly by the neocons? And a few years ago, they were protesting in favor of the Iraq war, and bought all those "win the war in Iraq" commercials.

I think that's them. It's just a lobbyist organization masquarading as grassroots. They don't get sweaty will protesting if they can fool real taxpayers to do it for them.

[BlackTerrel]

Being disruptive, talking over people and scaring people away isn't necessarily a victory.

That was one of my biggest problems with the RP campaign last year. Too many supporters thought that spamming and annoying people leads to votes.

[Carson]

BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH A!!!

*takes breath*

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH A!!!

[cradle2graveconservative]

Edit

[angelatc]

I think that's them. It's just a lobbyist organization masquarading as grassroots. They don't get sweaty will protesting if they can fool real taxpayers to do it for them.

CFL has aligned with Freedomworks in the past, I believe.

If we spent as much time aligning with people as we did *not* aligning with people, we might actually get somewhere.

You can stay home if you want, but I'm going anywhere there are other people holding signs and TV cameras.

[angelatc]

Being disruptive, talking over people and scaring people away isn't necessarily a victory.

That was one of my biggest problems with the RP campaign last year. Too many supporters thought that spamming and annoying people leads to votes.

Apparently that won't be a problem any more, because the activists that are left aren't allowed to attend any events, so therefore they won't be mingling with anybody who disagrees with them.

[tangent4ronpaul]

Some constituents don't get pissed no matter what their Congressman does...80%+ of incumbents got re-elected last year despite voting for the bailouts.

So 20% didn't... look at the glass half full. think TARP, takovers of industries, health care plan, food safety bill.

What % were retiring anyway? 20% is GOOD!

I bet we turn over more than that next election... but we need people running!

-t

[tangent4ronpaul]

Then again - the Dems gained a majority... :(

-t

[Sandra]

CFL has aligned with Freedomworks in the past, I believe.

If we spent as much time aligning with people as we did *not* aligning with people, we might actually get somewhere.

You can stay home if you want, but I'm going anywhere there are other people holding signs and TV cameras.

Nope, we got dirtied pretty good doing that didn't we. Anyway. enjoy your air time.

[angelatc]

Nope, we got dirtied pretty good doing that didn't we. Anyway. enjoy your air time.

You may have got dirtied, but we here in Michigan got new members. People who were actually willing to get out of the house, too.

Enjoy your solitude.

[KCIndy]

How do you find out where your Congressmen will be?

Easy - check under the office desk. They're trained to duck and cover whenever PO'ed constituents are near! :D

[Matt Collins]

YouTube - Crowd Explodes When Arlen Specter Urges That We "Do This Fast" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-Bpshk5nX0&feature=player_embedded)