I live in Watauga County, North Carolina. Virginia Foxx (R) is my US House Representative. Well, "representative" is perhaps the wrong word.
The Watauga County Chamber of Commerce hosted a Virginia Foxx (R) "listening Tour" this morning. The meeting took place at a local Restaurant and began at 8:30am and lasted until 9:45am. The Chamber advertised the "tour" thusly:
The Boone Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to host a Listening Tour for the Honorable Virginia Foxx on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 at the Mountain House Restaurant in Boone. This is an opportunity for the Congresswoman to hear from her local constituents in a social setting. You are invited to join us beginning at 8:00 a.m. for a Dutch Treat breakfast. The program will start at 8:30 a.m. Come prepared to share your priorities and concerns with Virginia Foxx.
And were a lot of constituents there with questions. Of the 70 or so people in attendance, I reckoned that well over half were not agency heads or officials or Chamber members. And they didn't look happy either....
There's more....
Ron Hester, hard-core Republican and Chamber host, began the meeting by announcing that Virginia had come to hear from various agencies and town and county officials and this was
NOT a town Hall meeting. He suggested that there would be 15 minutes at the end of the "listening tour" for Virginia to answer constituent questions.
WHAT THE AGENCIES SAID:
In a nutshell, the Workforce Development Volunteer Career Services agency told Virginia that this year the federal government has cut them back by 15%, that this is "very painful," that they have had to cut back on services to people looking for work, and that they are "desperate."
The County, the Town of Boone, the Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Blowing Rock said they were desperate for some help in water/sewer services and that there was not enough tax base to fund the astronomical costs. The County added that President Bush has eliminated its Community Block Grant. This has caused a "severe impact" and "makes a difference in the lives of ordinary people" in that the Grant created 200 jobs and helped renovate homes for those with no money.
The Chamber of Commerce, in addition to asking for water help and funding for the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, said, "taxes were a burden to small business owners." They also said they thought the Congress' passing authority for public transportation looked as though it would be helpful.
The Watauga County Board of Education said we are desperate for a new school and didn't have the money. They begged for help.
Appalachian State Univeristy, represented by Chancellor Ken Peacock, put their tongues up Virginia's butt. They thanked her for all the money she was getting them--$4.5 million last year alone.
WHAT VIRGINIA SAID:
Virginia said her "time was limited" and she "was not on vacation." She said traffic was bad and she had another meeting at the university. She blasted Democratic Governor Mike Easley and took credit for all the transportation money that had come to the area, saying if it weren't for her it would have gone to Raleigh. She told the towns and county there wasn't anything she could do for them on the water/sewer. She told the school board there was nothing she could do to help them with a new school. She reminded all of us that she grew up poor and told the water seekers they needed to be more efficient, that they needed to conserve more, and that they needed to approach the problem regionally and without her help. She said she went to Israel and that those folks really knew how to manage water. She told us she was getting Bamboo Road paved and that she was big on a National Heritage Area. She said that in 10 years, 70% of the federal budget was gonna be used to pay for Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid and we couldn't afford it anymore and that we would have to cut these back. She reminded us (again) that she grew up poor and could afford health care even then. She said the problems with affordable health care were that the federal government was formed for national defense, not these things.
Constituents began raising their hands and keeping them up, waving them in the air. Virginia, not wanting to recognize any of them, called on the press hoping for softballs.
Kathleen McFadden (High Country News) said that polls showed people were losing faith and support in the war. What were Virginia's comments in that regard?
Virginia said we were attacked on 911, that "we are not an aggressive nation," that she didn't want to see us attacked again, that there were fascist nations in the world, that the military had an 87% re-enlistment rate, that the war was a "tremendous success," that she was appalled at the way the media portrayed the war, that when Hitler was a factor, we were silent, and that "We are guided by the hand of God."
Christy (WATA Radio) asked a question regarding energy--its high costs, solutions.
Virginia responded that, "The best kept secret in the world is that the economy is great. That's why gas is high." She blamed China for driving up the cost of gas. She said the good thing about gas going up is that people would be forced to look for alternative energy.
Frank Ruggerio (MT. Times/Watauga Democrat) said that there were a lot people here today who wanted to ask questions of their congresswoman and if she wasn't gonna answer them today, when would she be having an event where they could be heard?
Virginia said she had had several "listening tours" and there would be others, but she wasn't sure when or what the topics would be.
Virginia then announced (looking at her watch) that, whoops--oh, my, how time flys--there were only 6 minutes left for constituent comment.
WHAT THE PEOPLE SAID:
Hands were up all over the place. Virginia took a question from Perry Mixter (calling him by name). Perry said that a lot of the people in the room were frustrated with the direction the country had taken. Virginia responded that she didn't see any people trying to leave the country--that, in fact, lots of people were trying to get in.
Anna Sagel's Mom was called on next. She talked of the draconian cuts for the poor and in Medicare and student loans, etc. Virginia said "nothing's been cut from Medicaid (we are just cutting the increases)," that "we are not hurting people," that there are "no old ladies on the streets," and that "I challenge you to show me a cut."
Then Virginia said she had to leave--sorry--so sorry.
I stood up immediately and complained that constituents were invited to this meeting to have their voices heard and to ask questions of their representative. I said that it was "a sham" that Virginia had only allowed 6 minutes for questions and that I wanted to know why Rep. Foxx was afraid to answer questions from her constituents. A fellow in the back rocking a child said, "Yeah, we can stay if you will."
There was no answer and the meeting ended.
People who were there to ask questions began handing in their written questions to the press. They also granted interviews to the press, primarily complaining that Virginia would not take questions from her constituents. Virginia's press person told one constituent that it was called a "listening tour" because we were invited there to listen to Virginia. Even though Virginia stated she had another meeting to attend, she granted a few minutes with Mountain Television Network for a filmed interview. Anna Sagel refused to let Virginia have the camera to herself. Anna stood right there on camera with Virginia refuting every single thing Virginia said. Virginia complained that while most people in Watauga County were good people, others were rude.
End of Story.