Free Republic

U.S. President Barack Obama (L) speaks to Gail O'Brien (C) who attended a town hall meeting in the yard of a residential house as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius leaves the event in Falls Church, Virginia, September 22, 2010.

The American Dream is essentially Dead and Barry Hussein Soetoro killed it on purpose. The American Dream essentially was the promise of upward social and economic mobility irrespective of one’s station in life or bloodline. In other words, the dream was that one could achieve anything, based on ones intellect, ingenuity and the sweat of one’s brow. In the president’s weekend CNBC staged town hall meeting, he attempted to defer all blame from himself and his Party and place that blame squarely on his political foes. However if one remembers Sen. Soetoro campaigned for the presidency on the theme of...

In a stagecrafted setting and out of a handpicked selected pro-Soetoro crowd president Barry Hussein Soetoro was put on the defensive in what was supposed to be a cutesy propaganda outing where he could tout his “accomplishments” and extend his coattails for Democrats running for reelection this November. (see article) Instead, what happened next was an incredible PR nightmare. Out of the belly of a sycophantic assemblage… criticism and from a most unexpected source, an educated professional middle class African-American woman who says that she is exhausted of defending the president, his administration and his hope and change program that...

Announcement: Melissa Haluszczak is a Conservative running to defeat Democrat Mike Doyle for PA-14. Doyle was instrumental in convincing the Stupak Pro-lifers to abandon their principles and vote for the abortion provisions in the Obama Healthcare bill. Melissa is a lovely, energetic woman who supports our Conservative ideals 100%. Check her website for positions on the issues. Melissa will be holding a townhall meeting Wednesday evening, Sept 15 at Baldwin Borough (click the web link above for details). Doyle is hiding. He's afraid to hold his own Town Hall meeting. He's afraid to face his constituents. But Melissa is after...

Election year politics at it’s finest. Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio from Oregon’s 4th Congressional district is seen here denouncing the GM bailout at a town hall meeting in Cave Junction in August 2010. However, he voted in favor of it. How convenient…

The lamb plans to enter the lion's den. U.S. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., plans to meet Wednesday evening with Charleston Tea Party members at North Charleston City Hall. "Our objective is to provide a forum that will foster issue based questioning and allow ample time for the Senator to provide detailed information on his positions and votes on those issues," according to a Tea Party news release. Graham's meeting comes as he looks to mend fences with the conservative core of South Carolina's Republican Party -- a core upset with some of his recent positions on immigration and energy reform.

Having learned a hard lesson last summer (i.e., don’t mess with your constituents), Congressmen and women in blue states have taken the craven way out and, rather than engaging the people of their districts, are actively avoiding their voters this summer, attempting to spin the story by holding “invitation only” events and “telephone town hall meetings” where irate citizens can be more easily controlled, or oops! accidentally cut off, with far less likelihood of heated exchanges going viral on YouTube... ...The dichotomy between the two parties couldn’t be clearer during this August recess. The party in power fears the wrath...

After facing criticism that he was stifling free speech, U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello will now allow political signs at his 10 remaining town hall meetings across the district. Perriello’s office had banned signs at his 20 scheduled town hall forums during Congress’ recess after a number of constituents told them that the abundance of signs at last year’s town hall forums contributed to an overly charged and politicized atmosphere. The Rutherford Institute, an Albemarle County-based civil liberties organization, chastised the freshman Democrat over the sign ban policy Wednesday. “Your sign ban amounts to an act of outright censorship that raises...

Congressman Tom Perriello from Virginia said you can bring your opinions to his town hall meetings, but you cannot bring political signs inside regardless of what they say. Recently, Perriello town hall goers were greeted outside with a sign that read: “To ensure a pleasant atmosphere for all attendees, no signs will be permitted inside the town hall meeting.” Perriello’s people insist that the sign ban is about encouraging free speech, not limiting it. They also claim it will make the meetings less distracting.

I just met up with some people from the 9/12 Project in Pittsburgh trying to organize against Jason Altmire. I'm seeking You Tube video or any video of his town hall meeting in Farrell, PA on August 26, 2009. The reason we're seeking this video obvious based on this series of events. ARTICLE ON AUGUST 26, 2009 ALTMIRE TOWN HALL MEETING Farrell, Pennsylvania- Though the debate over Health Care has been spirited in the last few months, the recent Town Hall meetings held by elected officials have been the focal point of attention. Yesterday, August 26, Pennsylvanian Congressman Jason Altmire...

If this wasn’t so serious, it would almost be funny. Illinois Congresswoman, Melissa Bean, hosted a public townhall meeting and brought her own thugs to act as the “Question Police.” Each time someone persistently asked a question, a large bald man would make his way across the room and stand threateningly over the person asking the question. Repeatedly the Congresswoman and her thugs insisted the cameras be turned off in the room- I’m sure to prevent exactly this reaction from the public. I’m so thrilled that her constituents in the audience refused to back down but I’d like to know...

On Thursday, August 12, Representative Melissa Bean (IL-8-D) held a public meeting at the Round Lake Library. The meeting was billed as a financial education seminar, to teach citizens how to manage their credit card debt. What happened at this meeting was anything but educational. During the meeting, which I attended, citizens started to ask questions about jobs, government spending and the federal deficit. Every time a citizen would attempt to ask a question, Melissa Bean's thug, who we were told worked for the Round Lake Library, would walk over to that person and hover over him or her, to...

According to the youtube account that posted the video of the event this shocking act of intimidation happened during a public forum held by Rep Melissa Bean (Il-8) in a public library in Round Lake, Il. The video speaks for itself and, quite frankly, this is disturbing behavior from any elected official. No wonder they kept asking everybody to turn off their video cameras. I know this isn’t anywhere near the first time that liberal representatives have turned to extreme measures to avoid being held accountable by their constituents, in fact we have a whole catalog of such extreme measures,...

Just got off the phone with Mark Kirk, Republican candidate for US Senate in Illinois in a telephone townhall. I was not easy on him, he did OK. 1. How can a US Senator possibly effect the onerous taxes presently inflicted on the citizens of Illinois. (Blago crap and spin but basically nodda) Fair answer. Ans. He really can't. 2.Is there anything you can do in Washington to moderate the present situation in Illinois to improve the business climate. Ans. Support Bill Brady. 3. Illegal immigration , your stance? Ans. Finish building fence, enforce existing laws. If we can't enforce...

Speaker Pelosi and President Obama have already spent $3.6 trillion on “stimulus,” so for them, $26 billion doesn’t rise to the level of a day at the beach, so why bring us all back to DC? Could it be because their most loyal constituency and political foot soldiers, many of whom could be facing the never before seen horror of a government employee let go due to lack of state and local tax receipts, need to be reminded whose hand quite literally feeds them?

Friends: Governor Bob McDonnell's Commission on Government Reform and Restructuring is hosting a series of Town Hall meetings across the Commonwealth seeking citizen input on key issues of government reform. After listening to our volunteers across the commonwealth, This past Winter, AFP published a book on the state of Virginia's budget along with our recommendations on reform. One of our guiding pillars was that government should stop competing with private enterprise - simply put "if you can find it in the yellow pages, government shouldn't be doing it." One of the things government should not be doing is selling liquor....

Earlier today, a video hit the internet of Texas Democrat Rep. Ciro Rodriguez losing his temper with a constituent. Here’s another home video of Rodriguez at a town hall meeting conducted at a restaurant. In this video, he’s caught swearing at a constituent while rationalizing robocalls.

Several hundred Dallas-area residents gathered Saturday for an all-day brainstorming session about the ballooning national debt. They sweated. They scratched their heads, jotted notes and haggled. They made tough choices and in the end, like Congress itself, many came up short. Frank Reister discussed options with his table Saturday at the AmericaSpeaks town hall meeting on the national debt. Reister thought the choices subtly led people toward protecting entitlement programs. Table 29, for instance, tried earnestly for hours. They got about halfway to the goal of trimming the deficit by $1.2 trillion.

I have one primary problem with Townhall Magazine's new list of "The 100 Americans the Left Hates Most": it's completely mistitled. Really it's not about who the Left hates the most, it's about who the most prominent people are on the Right right now in broadcasting, politics, activism, new media and think tanks. These are not the same thing at all. There are plenty of big and important conservatives who the Left might dislike but doesn't actually hate at a visceral level. Can you look me in the eye and say the Left hates Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor, and John...

Why Newspapers Are Dying: The Ann Coulter Edition  (Read WP posts from John Hawkins) | (Read MT posts from John Hawkins) | rss Townhall is the big league of conservative punditry. All of the A-List conservative columnists, with the exception of perhaps Mark Steyn, Karl Rove, & Peggy Noonan write for them. Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Michelle Malkin, Charles Krauthammer, Mike Adams, George Will, Jonah Goldberg, Victor Davis Hanson, -- they're all at Townhall, along with a lot of other top notch pundits. So last night, I took a look at the 5 most popular columns for the last...