Coffee with my Congressman

[steff]

Tomorrow is the "Coffee with my Congressman" event in my town.  I've been thinking long & hard about what I want to ask.  I don't want to come off as a radical Liberal or get all ragey.  So I've been writing out a list of many questions to pick from.  I'm looking for some input & reactions to the questions I have going so far.

1.  When you took your oath of office, did you swear to protect, defend & uphold the Constitution or Mr You know who (I'll have to say it tomorrow, but I won't type it)?

2.  Do you believe that all 3 branches of the gov't are equal as stated in the Constitution?

3.  There are reports of at least 3 suicide bomber attacks in Iraq, thousands of ISIS fighters that could be released, one of our strongest allies in the fight against ISIS, the Kurds are already being bombed by the Dictator of Turkey & face genocide at his hands.  Do you support Mr You know who's foreign policies that have destabilized the Middle East at a terrifying speed?  If not, what are you doing about it?

4.  Do you believe that it is not only okay, but normal for non-government people to be making deals with foreign governments & shaping/influencing the US's foreign policies when they do it to benefit themselves or Mr. you know who?  If not how are you pushing back against people such as Rudy G and Seb Gorka?

5.  We know for a fact that Georgia's voting system is not secure.  We know that the new machines purchased are even less secure along with are made by a company that Ivanka holds stock in.  Why do you not support & continue to vote against creating more secure elections & paper ballots?

6.  The 400 richest Americans paid a lower tax rate than the Middle Class.  We know from history that trickle down economics doesn't work.  Corporations took their tax breaks & bought back their own stocks instead of "trickling down" or creating new jobs.  Why have you continuously voted for the wealthiest Americans & corporations instead of the average & lower income American's? 

7.  Mr you know who's tariffs are putting farmers into bankruptcy & their suicide rate is skyrocketing.  The farm bailout is now double the cost of the Auto industry bail out & we will not be paid back like we were with the auto industry.  Markets for farmers are lost for years if not decades.  The facts are that tariffs are taxes on Americans & are hurting everyone but the wealthiest.  Why do you support Mr you know who's tariff wars?  And why will you not at least correct the lie that Americans do not pay the tariffs? 

[Tennesseer]

No easy gotcha questions. Ask questions where you think (s)he might try and spin and then ask her/him to clarify their answer.

[Tennesseer]

The farming bailout questionwould be a good one to ask.

[dondub]

7, 5, 6, 2. Go get him.😎

[Gardening Grandma]

Please keep us posted.
And kudos to you

[thyme4change]

Oct 8, 2019 20:37:46 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

The farming bailout questionwould be a good one to ask.

I like that question too.

[dondub]

Especially as the Repo-Cons needed diapers they wet themselves so much about Obama bailing out the auto industry.

Let’s see....Saving American manufacturing, recouping a large percentage of the funds expended, saving living wage jobs during the BushCo. Crash aftermath thus yielding tax revenues that continue to return on investment: check, check, check.



Farm bailout....BigAg won’t be paying back one bovine patty, corporate hierarchies will be bonused, small farmers will go bankrupt and kill themselves: mate, mate, mate.

[kadee79]

#5...voting!  Because without our votes counting, we have nothing unless we start an armed civil war.


Then follow up with...What? Can't the GOP win elections without cheating? (gerrymandering & voter suppression)

ETA...and one place just moved their ONLY polling place from it's normal location to the police station...not sure that the public was informed as per the law...and a very uncomfortable place for many to go...can't remember the name of the town now.

[steff]

My congressman Jody Hice

There were about 30-40 people there, more than we (mom & I) expected.  I'd say it was split 2/3rd supporters 1/3rd non supporters.  The majority of non supporters were women. 

Was great to see & hear others calling him out & made it easier to chime in when we knew he was lying or spinning something.  He tried to claim that Turkey was NOT bombing Kurds right now, but then someone produced a video of it & his handlers said he needed to move on to another question.  He got called out on the deficit.  Which according to him is Obama's fault.  Go figure.  He started the whole thing off with talking about the impeachment & calling a witch hunt.  He got hard core called out on that.  Multiple people were speaking up as he was talking.  He tried to claim it was a trial, it's not.  Tried to claim that the white house is cooperating, they aren't.  (time to move on...do you see a theme developing?)

I asked the farm question.  Got told first of all that my question was too long (because I was putting out facts first) & then told that he didn't vote for the farm bailout, didn't support it, but tariffs are NOT a tax on Americans.  (but it's time to move on to another question) 

Someone asked about protecting the whistle blower & he spun and spun and spun himself into a hole with he supports REAL whistle blowers, but this one isn't a real one.  He doesn't support whistle blowers when it comes to the president who is under constant attack from Democrats.  It's just a hoax (and time to move on to another question)

There were only 2 full on kool aid drinkers there & they tried and tried to disrupt questions they didn't like.  To the point people started telling them to focus on the congressman & not other people.  They wouldn't stop & eventually it was the congressman's people who told them to settle down & let everyone be heard.  An older married couple.  She straight up tried to stare me down at one point & when I popped off once about what he was saying was a lie, she said "NO! YOU lie!".  To which I said, can we focus on the congressman and not each other like requested?  LOL 

It was fun, great to see so many actually pushing back.  According to one lady we talked with afterwards, this is the first time she's seen ANY push back on him.  Several people were saying "we're so glad there were more of us here this time!" and a bunch of "I thought I'd be here alone!". 

[dezii]

Oct 8, 2019 20:36:04 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

No easy gotcha questions. Ask questions where you think (s)he might try and spin and then ask her/him to clarify their answer.

I believe u have to be a realist...as a left leaner we usually are....If your Congressional representative is from GOP u have to realize that for them to be very vocal against the one to be named...reality is probably a good chance will have a fight to keep nomination..primary problems...his followers are fanatic...and if u live in a solid red State...another reason to do away with the electorial college so those in solid colored States votes really count...that means both parties...those loyal GOP members in New England and far west States...too...

[dondub]

Mass kudos to Steff for being an active participant in showing out this dirtbag. Drain the swamp!

[kadee79]

Yeah Steff!!!!  Way to go!

I keep telling people that there are cracks in the support...so many don't believe me.  But more & more are seeing the light!

Pretty telling that they can't actually answer honestly and keep changing the subject!

[mollyanna58]

He at least showed up to face his constituents.  So many in Congress will not.

[wvugurl26]

Kudos to you for coming up with thoughtful questions and attending. Definitely disappointing that he didn't answer anything and just deflected.

[bean29]

Did anyone ask why killing babies is wrong, but Genocide is OK in the Trump/Republican Playbook?

[steff]

Oct 9, 2019 12:58:36 GMT -5 mollyanna58 said:

He at least showed up to face his constituents.  So many in Congress will not.

small solidly red town in a small solidly red county in a red state.   This was probably seen as an easy "I met with my constituents!" appearance that wasn't as easy as it was supposed to be. 

[kadee79]

And I found the article about them moving the ONLY polling place in town....

Officials in one Georgia city are intimidating voters by moving the polling location for an upcoming municipal election to the local police station, civil rights groups said this week. 

The city council in Jonesboro, Georgia, which is about 18 miles south of Atlanta, decided to move the polling location to the police station in September because the old location, a firehouse museum, was not usable because of construction. But in two letters this week, civil rights groups in the state said the change to a police station, rather than a more neutral location, would make people scared to come out and cast their ballots. The move, the groups said, could violate sections of the Voting Rights Act that prohibit voter intimidation and discriminatory election practices.

“Forcing voters to cast their ballots under the steely gaze of armed law enforcement officers all but amounts to government-sponsored voter intimidation,” the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a letter sent Tuesday to city and county officials. “In this country’s not-so-distant past, law enforcement officers harassed, arrested, and beat Black people for trying to vote.”

“Forcing voters to cast their ballots under the steely gaze of armed law enforcement officers all but amounts to government-sponsored voter intimidation.”ACLU of Georgia

Choosing the police station as a polling location is particularly alarming because of the relationship between law enforcement and African Americans, who make up more than 60% of the Jonesboro population, a coalition of civil rights groups wrote in a separate letter on Monday.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/georgia-city-under-fire-for-moving-polling-location-to-police-station/ar-AAIwVGj 

[dondub]

Did anybody ask him why he was dodging every question from concerned constituents?

[teen persuasion]

Oct 9, 2019 12:58:36 GMT -5 mollyanna58 said:

He at least showed up to face his constituents.  So many in Congress will not.

So jealous you can at least attend a town hall meeting with your congressman.  Mine never held one, claimed they were a waste of time.  We all knew he was afraid to put himself in that position.

At this point, I'm jealous you even have a congressman to represent you.  My district is 700,000 people without representation now.  Governor wants an election "sooner rather than later", which apparently means April 2020 at the earliest.  Meanwhile, Mr resigned-in-disgrace-because-I'm-guilty has suddenly announced his new residency in Florida. If he'd done that BEFORE the election, he could have been removed from the ballot, and we'd have SOMEONE representing us. Exactly what did he accomplish by staying in the election and barely winning? Oh, yeah, he kept the seat from falling into democratic hands.

[Gardening Grandma]

Steph, you ROCK! Your Mom too. She must be really proud of you.  I’ve gone to a couple of our town meetings. Our Congressman is one of tne good guys: he listens to the hard questions and answers them, including  people who disagree with him.

[OldCoyote]

Oct 9, 2019 11:18:11 GMT -5 steff said:

My congressman Jody Hice

There were about 30-40 people there, more than we (mom & I) expected.  I'd say it was split 2/3rd supporters 1/3rd non supporters.  The majority of non supporters were women. 

Was great to see & hear others calling him out & made it easier to chime in when we knew he was lying or spinning something.  He tried to claim that Turkey was NOT bombing Kurds right now, but then someone produced a video of it & his handlers said he needed to move on to another question.  He got called out on the deficit.  Which according to him is Obama's fault.  Go figure.  He started the whole thing off with talking about the impeachment & calling a witch hunt.  He got hard core called out on that.  Multiple people were speaking up as he was talking.  He tried to claim it was a trial, it's not.  Tried to claim that the white house is cooperating, they aren't.  (time to move on...do you see a theme developing?)

I asked the farm question.  Got told first of all that my question was too long (because I was putting out facts first) & then told that he didn't vote for the farm bailout, didn't support it, but tariffs are NOT a tax on Americans.  (but it's time to move on to another question) 

Someone asked about protecting the whistle blower & he spun and spun and spun himself into a hole with he supports REAL whistle blowers, but this one isn't a real one.  He doesn't support whistle blowers when it comes to the president who is under constant attack from Democrats.  It's just a hoax (and time to move on to another question)

There were only 2 full on kool aid drinkers there & they tried and tried to disrupt questions they didn't like.  To the point people started telling them to focus on the congressman & not other people.  They wouldn't stop & eventually it was the congressman's people who told them to settle down & let everyone be heard.  An older married couple.  She straight up tried to stare me down at one point & when I popped off once about what he was saying was a lie, she said "NO! YOU lie!".  To which I said, can we focus on the congressman and not each other like requested?  LOL 

It was fun, great to see so many actually pushing back.  According to one lady we talked with afterwards, this is the first time she's seen ANY push back on him.  Several people were saying "we're so glad there were more of us here this time!" and a bunch of "I thought I'd be here alone!". 

I don't think we have them any more, here in AZ, seems the the meeting were getting out of hand, close to going violent.

So your being so joyful about confronting your Rep,  He won't hold any more public ones.

Now I get to participate in telephone town hall meetings.  gets too testy they hang up.

Those here, that were getting so vocal were not even from our guy's district.

[kadee79]

If they can't stand the heat, they shouldn't be in the kitchen in the first place.

[steff]

Gee that's funny, I actually went out of my way to be thoughtful & non confrontational in my choice of questions.  Even going as far as writing them out in depth to make sure I didn't get all wound up.  The people there were 2/3rds supporters, so again, there was very little confrontational behavior.  In fact, the only truly rude people were 2 MAGA people.  They were the most confrontational towards any questions THEY didn't like.  They didn't talk about the issues, but made comments towards the people asking the questions.  For the record, they asked no questions of the Congressman. 

Speaking up & saying something isn't starting a riot or causing a scene.  And again, I went out of my way, out of my normal cussing to express my frustrations zone and intentionally remained calm & determined.  The excitement I got from it all was that it was such a relief to see that we weren't the only Democrats there & my little red town isn't as red as I thought.  I also went in knowing that the Congressman wasn't going to really give any REAL answers outside of his talking points & he pretty much stuck to that.  Whole thing lasted exactly 1 hour & 5 minutes.  Last 5 minutes was simply him thanking everyone for coming out &  everyone leaving.  I didn't stay to shake his hand, I didn't confront him one on one, I didn't bad mouth him on the way out.  I live less than a mile from where the event was held, so hell, I didn't even go out of my way to go to the event.  lol 

But I felt pretty damn good for showing up & asking my question. 

[wvugurl26]

Oct 10, 2019 0:46:09 GMT -5 steff said:

Gee that's funny, I actually went out of my way to be thoughtful & non confrontational in my choice of questions.  Even going as far as writing them out in depth to make sure I didn't get all wound up.  The people there were 2/3rds supporters, so again, there was very little confrontational behavior.  In fact, the only truly rude people were 2 MAGA people.  They were the most confrontational towards any questions THEY didn't like.  They didn't talk about the issues, but made comments towards the people asking the questions.  For the record, they asked no questions of the Congressman. 

Speaking up & saying something isn't starting a riot or causing a scene.  And again, I went out of my way, out of my normal cussing to express my frustrations zone and intentionally remained calm & determined.  The excitement I got from it all was that it was such a relief to see that we weren't the only Democrats there & my little red town isn't as red as I thought.  I also went in knowing that the Congressman wasn't going to really give any REAL answers outside of his talking points & he pretty much stuck to that.  Whole thing lasted exactly 1 hour & 5 minutes.  Last 5 minutes was simply him thanking everyone for coming out &  everyone leaving.  I didn't stay to shake his hand, I didn't confront him one on one, I didn't bad mouth him on the way out.  I live less than a mile from where the event was held, so hell, I didn't even go out of my way to go to the event.  lol 

But I felt pretty damn good for showing up & asking my question. 

I think you did a great job. More people should go this route. We don't have respectful discussions anymore. It's acceptable to just yell at the other person and call them all sorts of names if they don't share your viewpoint. You can have a reasonable discussion with someone you disagree with. That's been completely lost under this administration. And the tone on that came from the top.

[OldCoyote]

Oct 9, 2019 22:40:25 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

If they can't stand the heat, they shouldn't be in the kitchen in the first place.

No problem, you get telephone town hall meetings.

You think that your side will be exempt from hostile meetings?

John McCain made a comment one time about going to an open town hall, being confronted by the Tea party Members.

I think that was his last one. If you want real hostile,, think of Gabby Giffords, Last town hall meeting.

Shot by a Democrat!!

[dezii]

Oct 10, 2019 8:23:49 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Oct 9, 2019 22:40:25 GMT -5 kadee79 said:

If they can't stand the heat, they shouldn't be in the kitchen in the first place.

No problem, you get telephone town hall meetings.

You think that your side will be exempt from hostile meetings?

John McCain made a comment one time about going to an open town hall, being confronted by the Tea party Members.

I think that was his last one. If you want real hostile,, think of Gabby Giffords, Last town hall meeting.

Shot by a Democrat!!

"Shot by a Democrat!!"...…?

I guess just another example of your desire here is to   ...[sigh]..


"Internet troll - Wikipedia

In Internet slang, a troll is a person who starts quarrels or upsets people on the Internet to distract and sow discord by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into displaying …"

www.cbsnews.com/news/jared-loughner-who-shot-gabrielle-giffords-in-tucson-ranted-online/

[OldCoyote]

Oct 10, 2019 8:42:33 GMT -5 dezii said:

Oct 10, 2019 8:23:49 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

No problem, you get telephone town hall meetings.

You think that your side will be exempt from hostile meetings?

John McCain made a comment one time about going to an open town hall, being confronted by the Tea party Members.

I think that was his last one. If you want real hostile,, think of Gabby Giffords, Last town hall meeting.

Shot by a Democrat!!

"Shot by a Democrat!!"...…?

I guess just another example of your desire here is to   ...[sigh]..


"Internet troll - Wikipedia

In Internet slang, a troll is a person who starts quarrels or upsets people on the Internet to distract and sow discord by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into displaying …"

It was most certainly reported that the shooter was a Democrat,, Where in the hell is that trolling??

[dezii]

Oct 10, 2019 8:51:09 GMT -5 OldCoyote said:

Oct 10, 2019 8:42:33 GMT -5 dezii said:

"Shot by a Democrat!!"...…?

I guess just another example of your desire here is to   ...[sigh]..


"Internet troll - Wikipedia

In Internet slang, a troll is a person who starts quarrels or upsets people on the Internet to distract and sow discord by posting inflammatory and digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a newsgroup, forum, chat room, or blog) with the intent of provoking readers into displaying …"

It was most certainly reported that the shooter was a Democrat,, Where in the hell is that trolling??

Suggest just read the definition of thats posted...should answer your bolded crying..
The mass murder was deranged...nuts in laymen terms...If a member of Democratic party at age 22...just a after thought...brought up by u for obvious reasons...similar reasons that the one u so strongly support also tweets provocative blather...

[OldCoyote]

And some one posting p***y grabber ,, 13 year old rapist ,, are not??  

The mass murder was deranged...nuts in laymen terms...If a member of Democratic party!!

Fixed it for you.

[kadee79]

Doesn't really matter which party the shooter belonged to...he had a mental illness!  But that isn't true with all shooters, at least not as far gone as that guy was!