by Pa Rock
Missouri Voter
My congressman, a Republican by the name of Jason Smith, held a "town hall" last week by telephone. I didn't know about it, which is probably just as well because according to Smith, 16,000 other Missourians joined the live phone-in, so chances of me getting in a question through to the congressman would have been minuscule at best.
But, of course, that is the point. If an elected official does not want to face the political danger of being presented with difficult questions, what better way to avoid them than by increasing the number of participants from hundreds to thousands - and then having a staff member control which ones get to ask questions of the congressman.
Jason Smith does not do real town halls, those open meetings with constituents where some noisy individual might actually gain the floor and ask a question that Smith would rather not deal with. A question like "Shouldn't a congressman who chooses to sleep in his DC office and not pay rent, be taxed on that job perk just like other Americans are taxed on their job benefits?" Or, "Shouldn't a congressman who yells 'Go back to Puerto Rico' at a group of representatives from the other party - on the floor of Congress - be at least subject to censure by his colleagues, if not outright expulsion?" Or even softball questions like "How badly have Trump's tariffs on China hurt Missouri soybean growers?" Or, "Should migrant children be kept in cages?"
And there are undoubtedly hundreds of other good questions that Congressman Smith could be asked to answer before groups of concerned constituents - but as long as 16,000 people get filtered through the one telephone sitting on Jason Smith's desk, almost none of those questions would make it to the congressman's ear during a "telephone" town hall.
The Democratic Party in Congress appears to be preparing to discipline one of its members over a remark she made that some regard as anti-Semitic. Surely the Republican Party in Congress ought to be delving into Congressman Smith's loud and offensive taunt that some of the House Democrats should "go back to Puerto Rico," a statement many regarded as being not only crass and rude, but also racially pejorative. I would like to ask the congressman what was going through his mind when he hurled insult - but, of course, as long as Jason Smith never holds a real town hall, the chances of him having to face real questions like that are very slim indeed.
U.S taxpayers fund Congress, and its members shouldn't be shy about meeting with the public in unscripted settings on a regular basis. For congressmen to avoid the citizens who pay their salaries gives rise to the notion that those politicians have something to hide - or at least a record of public service that is less than honorable.
This taxpayer wants to see, up close and personal, just what he is getting for his money - and a tightly-controlled telephone "call-in" with 16,000 people ain't gonna cut it!
Come on, Congressman Smith, even you can do better than that!
Missouri Voter
My congressman, a Republican by the name of Jason Smith, held a "town hall" last week by telephone. I didn't know about it, which is probably just as well because according to Smith, 16,000 other Missourians joined the live phone-in, so chances of me getting in a question through to the congressman would have been minuscule at best.
But, of course, that is the point. If an elected official does not want to face the political danger of being presented with difficult questions, what better way to avoid them than by increasing the number of participants from hundreds to thousands - and then having a staff member control which ones get to ask questions of the congressman.
Jason Smith does not do real town halls, those open meetings with constituents where some noisy individual might actually gain the floor and ask a question that Smith would rather not deal with. A question like "Shouldn't a congressman who chooses to sleep in his DC office and not pay rent, be taxed on that job perk just like other Americans are taxed on their job benefits?" Or, "Shouldn't a congressman who yells 'Go back to Puerto Rico' at a group of representatives from the other party - on the floor of Congress - be at least subject to censure by his colleagues, if not outright expulsion?" Or even softball questions like "How badly have Trump's tariffs on China hurt Missouri soybean growers?" Or, "Should migrant children be kept in cages?"
And there are undoubtedly hundreds of other good questions that Congressman Smith could be asked to answer before groups of concerned constituents - but as long as 16,000 people get filtered through the one telephone sitting on Jason Smith's desk, almost none of those questions would make it to the congressman's ear during a "telephone" town hall.
The Democratic Party in Congress appears to be preparing to discipline one of its members over a remark she made that some regard as anti-Semitic. Surely the Republican Party in Congress ought to be delving into Congressman Smith's loud and offensive taunt that some of the House Democrats should "go back to Puerto Rico," a statement many regarded as being not only crass and rude, but also racially pejorative. I would like to ask the congressman what was going through his mind when he hurled insult - but, of course, as long as Jason Smith never holds a real town hall, the chances of him having to face real questions like that are very slim indeed.
U.S taxpayers fund Congress, and its members shouldn't be shy about meeting with the public in unscripted settings on a regular basis. For congressmen to avoid the citizens who pay their salaries gives rise to the notion that those politicians have something to hide - or at least a record of public service that is less than honorable.
This taxpayer wants to see, up close and personal, just what he is getting for his money - and a tightly-controlled telephone "call-in" with 16,000 people ain't gonna cut it!
Come on, Congressman Smith, even you can do better than that!
1 comment:
Your remarks made me think about the high costs of rent in the District of Columbia. Nothing drives home the failure of trickle down economics than the very real example you gave. When the voting telemarketers - Members of Congress, who are constantly begging for more money while spewing the virtues of party, hatred of others, and all in service of their corporate masters, can't pay rent then the wealth hasn't trickled down.
If the wealth isn't trickling down to Congress then how is it supposed to be nourishing Main Street? If $174,000 a year isn't a living wage then how are folks supposed to get by on less than $15.00 an hour? Yes I'd like to hear Mr. Smith's answer to these question.
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