Rep. Dan Webster (R-FL) faced what might be the angriest town hall crowd so far over the Republican budget plan.
A town hall meeting held in Orlando by U.S. Rep. Dan Webster degenerated into bedlam Tuesday, with members of the crowd shouting down the freshman Republican congressman and yelling at one another....
Webster tried to go over a series of charts showing growing levels of federal spending and debt, and the reason he supports the federal budget plan put forward by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. But he was interrupted at every turn by shouts from his critics, including members of progressive groups such as Moveon.org and Organize Now.
Boos and shouts of "liar" were mixed with angry accusations that Ryan's plan to change Medicare would leave those now under 55 without health insurance in their retirement, calls to eliminate the tax cuts first put in place by former President Bush and the need to raise corporate taxes rather than cut entitlement programs.
Webster beat Rep. Alan Grayson in this competitive district in 2010, and the split in the electorate was apparently on display at the meeting. When a self-identified veteran asked why veterans benefits and Medicare had to be cut, the conservative opposition responded in a typical fashion: "'We can't afford it, you moron!' a red-faced man screamed." Although the screamer probably actually said "moran."
ThinkProgress has the video.
It's not just Webster,
as we've detailed previously. Rep. Charlie Bass was challenged last week at his meetings, and the video from that meeting is
now available.
To quote
Chris Bowers: "As Republicans are trying to regroup, let's pile on. Go check out the page MoveOn created
where members of the Daily Kos community can search for Republican town hall events near them, and RSVP to attend. If there are no events near you yet, conduct a search wider than 30 miles and keep checking back in as the list of events grows."