Town hall meetings are an American tradition that date back to the 1600s. In the good old days, back when America was great, town folk would gather to problem-solve issues like protecting their crops from locust infestation. They would talk about things like political edicts from the King, taxation without representation, and what they were going to do about British soldiers gunning down citizens in Boston. Town hall meetings have provided a space for local folks to participate in discussions, collectively solve problems, and share their opinions and concerns with elected officials. In our constitutional republic, they are considered to be “one of the most pure forms of democracy.”
Last month, the House of Representatives had a few days of recess so they could return to their districts to hold town hall meetings with their constituents. Many of those meetings blew up in the faces of Republican Representatives because people all over the country are mad as hell about what is happening in DC. Numerous postings on YouTube show constituents getting dragged out of meetings for demanding that their representatives answer their direct questions rather than respond to concerns with typical, political word salad talking points.
If you are like me, you probably assume that your elected representatives know that they work for you, and you believe that they would want to hear about your concerns. Most of the recent uproar has been due to the sweeping, ill-conceived cutbacks made to government programs and anger over Elon Musk’s unvetted intrusions into government departments and data records. One might think that an elected public servant would want to listen to such complaints and engage in a little collective problem solving and course correction with his or her constituents.
Sorry to disappoint, but earlier this month, the Chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee told House Republicans to stop holding in-person town hall meetings. Rather than acknowledging that the House of Representatives has failed to adequately do their job of checking a president who mistakenly thinks he has a kingly mandate, NRCC Chief Richard Hudson called for a halt to in-person meetings. He apparently thought the uproar was not the result of bad policy decisions and kowtowing to Project 2025 edicts, but because the meetings had been infiltrated by “paid troublemakers.” Who would have thought that a little old lady with a walker, angry because her Medicaid benefits are going to be cut, was a radical leftist infiltrator?
I guess recognizing the fact that republican lawmakers have failed to uphold their constitutional duties and to accurately read the room when they were sitting with their constituents was a bridge too far for Hudson. In place of in-person town halls, Hudson has recommended that Republicans hold virtual town halls. What better way to control discussion and squash dissent than to simply remove, with the touch of a button, those pesky folks who ask inconvenient questions?
Pete Stauber apparently was back in the district for a few days in February and chose not to hold any town halls. He did meet with small groups of folks to talk about things like Voyageuer’s National Park’s Frozen Use Plan and “improving the outdoor recreational experience in the BWCA for everyone.” Those are worthy discussions, to be sure, but what about the local folks whose jobs are on the chopping block because they work for the Department of Homeland Security or the Veterans Administration? What about the public infrastructure projects that will be put on hold because federal funds are withheld? What about senior citizens who are facing delays in receiving their social security checks or, even worse, cuts to the benefits they’ve paid into over the course of their working lives? What about people with disabilities who are seeing cutbacks on services they need to live? And what exactly are these cutbacks for? If one really wants to eliminate waste and fraud in the federal government, wouldn’t it be wise to eliminate the more that $20 billion in taxpayer dollars given to oil companies every year? Wouldn’t it be wise to increase the staff of the Internal Revenue Service so that there are enough workers to actually go after all the taxes that are owed but are unpaid? We know that trickle down economics is a scam, so could you refrain from giving billions in tax cuts to the wealthy and to corporations? Could you actually make them pay their fair share? Could you maybe hold the Pentagon accountable for the fact that they have failed the last 7 audits (63% of $4 trillion in assets) in a row?
Pete Stauber. We need to hear from you. We need to hear what you intend to do to protect our system of checks and balances. We need to know how you intend to protect our constitution in the face of Donald Trump’s willful defiance of the rule of law. We need to know how you are going to stand up for members of the 8th district who are worried about inflation, cuts to social security, and diminished access to healthcare. We need to hear about what you are going to do to counter Trump’s abandonment of our European allies and his penchant for licking the boots of war criminal, dictator, and murderer Vladimer Putin.
More importantly, you need to hear from us. If answering our questions is too anxiety provoking or inconvenient for you, then you need to step aside so we can elect a representative who will actually work for us as opposed to someone who is simply acting as a shill for the MAGA agenda.
Donald Trump is not a moral man. Are you going to side with him or with the people of the 8th District?
Sources:
- Participedia: New England or ‘Open’ Town Meetings
- Politico: No more in-person town halls, NRCC chief tells House Republicans
- New York Times: Republican House Members Told to Stop Holding In person Town halls.
- The Guardian: GOP budget goals impossible without Medicare and Medicaid cuts, budget office Says
- NPR: The Social Security Administration says it plans to cut some…
- American Hospital Association. House passes budget resolution potentially impacting…
- Responsible Statecraft: Pentagon can’t account for 63% of nearly $4 trillion in assets
- Tax Foundation: Donald Trump Tax Plan Ideas: Details and Analysis
- Peter G. Peterson Foundation: What is a Wealth Tax, and Should the United States Have One?
