Republicans Hearing Citizen Backlash at Town Halls -- Actions You Can Take

Note: see action updates below.

Members of Congress are holding local town hall meetings now and into next week, and Republicans are hearing from constituents angry that they voted to privatize Medicare to pay for even more tax cuts for the rich and corporations.

Think Progress has the story: More Republican Congressmen Face Town Hall Backlash Over Tax Breaks For Wealthy And Medicare Privatization:

Earlier this week, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) held town halls across his district to defend his budget's plan to end Medicare and extend tax cuts for the wealthy. During a stop in Milton, WI Ryan's constituents made their feelings apparent, booing down the ... congressman when he defended tax breaks for the rich... Yesterday, Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) received the same hostile reception from his constituents for voting to end Medicare.

This town hall backlash is now spreading to other districts across the country. As Huffington Post reports, freshmen Reps. Robert Dold (R-IL) and Charlie Bass (R-NH) got an earful from their constituents for voting in favor of the Republican budget this month. During a Buffalo Grove, IL town hall, Dold caught a lot of flack for supporting corporate tax breaks and voting to end Medicare: ...

Please go read the rest. And click this link to find out if your member of Congress is holding a local town hall meeting this weekend or next week!

And if you can get video or audio recordings of citizen reaction to the Republican votes please post them to YouTube and let me know!!

Here is Ryan being boo'ed by constituents:

Here is Barletta:

Update -- ACTIONS

Click this link to find out if your member of Congress is holding a town hall meeting this weekend or next week, and attend! Ask questions and demand answers

MoveOn has an action page where you can locate your representative's local office, asking you to drop by. Note that this is different from attending a town hall meeting. Here is what MoveOn is saying on the page:

Drop by and tell your Representative: Eliminating Medicare is unacceptable!

Congressional Republicans just voted to eliminate Medicare for anyone under 55. It's time the Republicans hear from us, loud and clear: voting to end Medicare is completely unacceptable and we will hold you accountable.

No need to RSVP. Just follow the instructions below and drop by with other MoveOn members at 12 noon on Thursday, or any other time during business hours this week.

Click through for the rest at the MoveOn page

This post originally appeared at Campaign for America's Future (CAF) at their Blog for OurFuture. I am a Fellow with CAF.

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Comments

[marijam]

05:33 PM on 04/23/2011

If it is wrong to take money out of my pocket, send it through government, then give it to somebody - what's the difference between taking money out of my pocket, sending it through government, then giving it to a business in the hopes that the business will then put it in my pocket through a job? It's still redistribution. Elimination of the middleman has always been cheaper.

[Eggsackley]

12:04 AM on 04/25/2011

It is not always wrong for government to take money out of your pocket and give it to someone. When the majority chooses to enact welfare programs for people who are unable to work and provide for themselves it is doing just that. Eliminating the middleman there can be done by majority rule, if the majority is willing to live with the consequences which can be dreadful. Other programs take money from you and give it to people who have somehow become entitled to that by working and paying payroll taxes. Social security is such a program. By working and paying for others to receive social security retirement and medical benefits, I have earned the right to receive social security and medical benefits. The problem is that there may at some point in time be too many retirees for the active workforce to support. One solution would be to reduce benefits. In my mind the better solution would be to eliminate the cap on payroll taxes for social security and medicare. But I think it is wrong to take money from me and give it to Bank of America in the form of tax breaks so that Bank of America does not pay any income taxes on billions of dollars in profits. Or to take money from me and give it to a rich farm corporation that makes millions in profit while using the land in a wasteful manner that causes large soil loss and pollution.