Posted on 08/08/2009 6:48:53 AM PDT by LA Woman3
Some residents are angry that U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Waco, plans no face-to-face town hall meeting with his constituents in August to discuss proposed health care reform.
Edwards instead will hold a “telephone town hall” in which he will field questions by phone from people in his 12-county district. A date for that session has not yet been determined.
A handful of town hall meetings elsewhere around the country have been dubbed “town halls gone wild” because they became heated or raucous, with crowds shouting down the speakers.
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett held a town hall session last weekend in Austin where protesters followed him and chanted “Just say no” to health care. In Philadelphia, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter encountered an angry crowd that booed and jeered several of their comments.
Democratic leaders have accused conservative groups of orchestrating the protests.
Josh Taylor, Edwards’ communications director, said he would have no comment about whether Edwards is trying to avoid similar confrontations by not holding a live town hall meeting.
Instead, he released a statement that says, “Congressman Edwards is spending August meeting with health care providers, businesses and everyday citizens throughout our district to discuss our health care system, and later this month, he will hold a district-wide telephone town hall to listen to constituents’ concerns.”
The statement also says Edwards thinks a telephone town hall will give “far more people” an opportunity to ask questions than would a face-to-face meeting.
It adds that Edwards will keep an open mind on proposed health care reforms until he gets input from families and businesses, “but he will oppose any single-payer plan that socializes our health care system or prevents people from keeping the quality, private health care plan of their choice.”
Toby Marie Walker, a leader in the Waco Tea Party group devoted to lower taxes and less government, said she has received “thousands” of e-mails from people wanting a face-to-face with Edwards.
“I do not endorse, condone or encourage these ‘town halls gone wild,’ and neither does the Waco Tea Party,” Walker said. “We do encourage civil discourse and an opportunity to ask questions and have them answered.”
She said she would like a commitment from Edwards on whether he will vote for or against health care legislation, and if he does oppose it, will he vote to bring it to the floor of the House for a vote.
Core members of the Texas Tea Party would not shout down Edwards, Walker said.
“But I couldn’t guarantee that someone wouldn’t shout out if Congressman Edwards didn’t answer a question,” she added. “People are angry and fearful, and it’s hard to keep tempers down.”
Stan Giles, 68, a retired Army veteran from Central Texas, is not happy about Edwards’ town hall plans.
“I want to look that silly guy right in the face and ask what’s he’s doing for America,” he said.
Waco resident Martha Teague, 71, said she has made a list of questions she wants Edwards to answer and taped them to her refrigerator.
“I surely would like to see him hold a town hall meeting,” she said, “and I think his name needs to get out there as someone who doesn’t want to hold one.”
Those attending the meeting should be respectful, she added, “because shouting is not going to get us anywhere.”
“Methinks the congressman is a coward,” said Waco businessman Bob O’Beirne, 55, who described himself as a conservative who has voted for Edwards in the past.
O’Beirne later toned down his remarks about Edwards, saying he actually likes him. “But this thing about having an electronic town hall meeting just floored me. What’s that all about?” he said.
O’Beirne said he hopes the process Edwards has chosen will not be staged.
“I promise you, if people start lobbing softball questions and he responds with a list of (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi’s B.S. talking points, then you will know that it is,” he added.
Pelosi, D-Calif., has said that boisterous protests at health care forums sponsored by Democrats this summer won’t derail a massive health overhaul looming when Congress returns to work next month.
About 200 protesters greeted Pelosi on Thursday when she visited a Denver clinic for the homeless. The crowd was orderly and mixed, about half in favor of the overhaul and half against it.
“What you see, I think, is a display of the democratic process,” Pelosi said. “We all respect that.”
McLennan County Democratic Party chairman John Cullar said, “I trust Chet Edwards’ decision to choose the most effective method to communicate with his constituents.”
mcopeland@wacotrib.com
757-5736
Chet is a chicken ping!
Chet is a chicken ping!
Chet Edwards had better watch out. He has that same arrogance to him as his Great Leader.
Chet Edwards is a “yellow dog” democRAT -— literally. He is out of step with Texans.
I predict that this dog who is on Nancy’s short least will not survive the 2010 elections.
I propose we all send him a bag of chicken feed.
Cowardly, Chet, cowardly. Chet knows, without this meeting, how Texans feel about Obamacare. If he wants to keep his job, he needs to think carefully.
Fear and Loathing at the town hall meetings. The Democrats are so terrified there are brown stains running down Chris Matthews legs instead of tingles. Looks like they awoke a sleeping giant. TaxPAYERS.
A profile in courage? I think not.
OK, then move the constituents to his local office and make sure the media is contacted about a disturbance after the teleconference starts.
Better yet, just follow his campain staff to where he is conducting his end of the conversation and demand to be let in to be a part of the discussion.
We need to start playing by their rules for a while.
If the cowards can’t face their constituents face-to-face, then, they must realize how wrong and guilty they are. How in the heck are they going to run for another term, hiding behind their desks?
Tele Tubby Democrats
Put the damn phones up on podiums with cardboard pictures of these chickens and hold meetings without them
Great tactic for any opponent planning to run against them
teletubbies alert!
LOL!!!!
Sounds like your typical Wednesday night city council meeting in Everytown USA. Has the media complained about all they Mayors who have been getting screamed at by people who are about to have their property re-zoned?
Well AMERICA is about to have their LIBERTY re-zoned and the people who plan on doing it are too thin skinned to face their constituents.
They are not qualified to be small town mayors, much less to represent hundreds of thousands of citizens in Congress.
Target #1
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