Is this normal at republican town hall meetings?
@thegreatdebater (7316)
United States
August 26, 2009 7:14pm CST
I was reading today that one of congressman in my state who decided to hold an telephone "town hall". Now, he didn't tell anyone about this town hall, and the only way that you would have known about it is to of asked about it (but if you don't know about something, then how do you know to ask). This was basicly a bash the health care bill, and praise the republicans who are stand up to it. There was NO decenting views taken in the phone town hall, but there were people that tried to call in, but were told that they didn't have time to take their calls. Do you think that this is reason why everytime you see a republican on TV, they say that all of their constituents oppose this bill?
2 people like this
5 responses
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
27 Aug 09
How could the congressman have a telephone town hall meeting and not tell anyone? And if no one was told, how did anyone find out about it? Who would think to ask if Congressman So and So is having a telephone town hall meeting? How reliable is the source?
1 person likes this
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
27 Aug 09
Best, I challenge you to do the samething I did, search Bob Latta town hall, and you will see that the only notice he gave was on his twitter page. I even looked at his website, and it didn't say a word about it. I am sure that his die hard supporters knew about it, and that is why he got the impression that most of his constituents support his views. This was an hour and a half town hall for a congressman that represents 16 COUNTIES. Does that tell you something?
1 person likes this
@bestboy19 (5478)
• United States
27 Aug 09
http://www.wtol.com/global/story.asp?s=10894756 Here is another place where it was mentioned. Not living in Ohio, I don't know if this radio or television station (I don't know which it is) announced it on their broadcast or only on their website, but this is another place besides Congressman Latta's twitter site. Read it and tell me if that tells you something.
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
27 Aug 09
De, the problem is that this man has made comment after comment about our president's lack of concern for opposing views on this subject. And now he is doing the same thing.
@xfahctor (14113)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
27 Aug 09
I didn't go digging for the story and you didn't provide a link, so I can't speak to the specifics of this, though I would like to have been able to. I will adress a broader aspect of this instead. This is the exact game being played out by our "represenatives" on both sides of the fake show we call congress. And you, once again, have demonstrated how easy it is to program people to for it. What exactly is it you think is happening here?
1 person likes this
@xfahctor (14113)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
29 Aug 09
I don't know if it is normal or not, since all 3 of my democratic reps and senators all cancelled their town hall meetings and the one republican, Judd Gregg (ugh) didn't schedual one at all, great reps I have here eh? lol, all 4 of them are a vile perversion of the office they serve.
1 person likes this
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
27 Aug 09
X, there really isn't a link, because the only stories about his "telle town hall" were from his twitter page, and from a TV station that did a story on it AFTER it happened. I am not "programed", I am just asking if this is normal for republicans in your area to do this.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
27 Aug 09
Sadly, there are Congressmembers on both sides playing this kind of childish game. Rep. Gwen Moore (Dem) held her only Town Hall meeting in one of the worst neighborhoods, on the far north end of her district. She required all questions to be emailed before hand. The only public posting was on her website, but she did let the local unions, DNC and other Democrat organizations know about it.
That's better than the lazy waste of human flesh Rep. Herb Kohl though. His only "public" meeting was at a Rotary club meeting in Janesville that was already scheduled long before his issue hit the streets. Being a rotary club event, it wasn't open to the public.
But then again, no one expects Kohl to care about his constituents. That is why he has never accomplished anything of note in the Senate.
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
27 Aug 09
On the other hand, Rep. Paul Ryan has scheduled 17 town hall meetings, all announced well in advance, open to the public and takes spontaneous questions from anyone who wants to ask.
1 person likes this
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
27 Aug 09
That's really sad. I worked for the county school board and in my state schools can't even have a school board meeting without announcing it in the paper a week before it takes place. Why would we hold our school boards to such a higher standard than our elected officals? Sad!
2 people like this
@thegreatdebater (7316)
• United States
27 Aug 09
Ted, atleast Rep. Moore allowed people to show up, the problem I have with Latta's is that he didn't even tell the public about it. The only way you would have known about it is if you got on his twitter page, and did it that day. I think that all of our representatives should talk about the reasons they are there (to serve the people). Both parties should do this.
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
27 Aug 09
I'm beginning to think there is no "normal" for either party's town hall meetings! I get e-mail notifications from both of my Senators and my Representative and I know my Rep., Paul Kanjorski, is holding telephone town halls also. Also, just a short time ago I answered an e-mail questionnaire from Kanjorski which asked the following questions in a multiple choice form:
Do you currently have health insurance?
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with it?
How high does health care rank in importance among economic concerns?
What is most important to you? (One of the selections was "All of the above" and included choice of doctor, paying for preexisting conditions and lower premiums and copays.)
Are you in favor of a "public option" in a health care reform plan?
Off-topic a bit, I had to ask how it felt to be "corrected" when our favorite thorny, rambling poster never gets corrected by any of her fellow "righties"? "Dose" that irk you a little...lol?
Annie
1 person likes this
@Taskr36 (13963)
• United States
27 Aug 09
No, it's not normal, but then I doubt it's too uncommon for either side. Some senators and congressman just want to preach to the choir. Arlen Specter has been open to all the dissenting opinions and as a result, he's made the highlight reel many times being shown up by his constituents. Obama and Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on the other hand, have limited attendance and even put plants into their crowd to powder puff their presentations. This gives the illusion that for them, there is no dissension. The guy you're speaking of just chose to do the same thing, only he didn't publicize his town hall as much. Not everyone wants the publicity. Some just want to be able to say they did town halls regardless of any legitimacy.
