Chapter Two: I Steal Some of the Blankets from My Strange Bedfellow - But in the Nicest Way Possible

In light of my fledgling bestest friendship ever with Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08), tonight I sat on a panel of a town hall meeting sponsored by the Citizens for Consumer Justice.  The subject was the cuts featured in the coming budget reconciliation bill which look to impact Medicaid, student loans and child care for welfare recipients among other valuable programs.  It was my job to share the perpective of someone who had received public assistance and to get my class war on a little by explaining why, when we pursue an aggressive policy of cutting social spending while cutting taxes on the super-wealthy, we are sending the clear message that we value wealth and not work in this country.  Did I mention that it was a union crowd?

The executive director of Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth spoke next, then a coordinator of the event spoke on behalf of student loans and finally a woman from the National Council of Jewish Women, who pointed out the immorality of the current budget bill.  Congressman Fitzpatrick's district director, a very sharp guy named Bill Garrett, was supposed to show up about half an hour into the program to explain the congressman's yes vote on the last disastrous version of this bill and his thinking going into this vote, but he showed up almost an hour into it instead, getting there just as the Q & A started and about thirty minutes after the union members who came specifically to see him had left. 

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?  I certainly don't.  But I have to say that the timing of the Garrett's arrival was suspicious.   His strategy after he did arrive (answer nearly every question with "I can't speak to that.") did nothing to allay my suspicions that the plan was to leave as light a footprint as possible on the event, muddying the waters whenever possible.  As they say in the army, no plan survives contact with the enemy though and this one was no exception.   

Missing the panel portion of the evening was a mistake.  By the time Garrett arrived, the citizens in the (by now admittedly small) audience had heard me share my personal story of requiring public assistance because of an insurance screw up, a young woman talk about how student loans made college possible for her, a woman of faith discuss the disconnect between what Fitzpatrick says (he is a moral man) and what he does (support immoral budgets) and from a woman who directs a foundation which exists in part to study and ameliorate the impact of social spending cuts on real children.   They were not ready to hear "I can't speak to that."   And they were not ready to hear empty lines about how cuts to the student loan program are "saving the system" and flat out delusional talk about how cutting back the available funds for student loans will drive college tuition prices down.   They wanted simple questions answered honestly. 

They wanted to know if the congressman read the last bill and if he will be able to read this one.  They wanted to know how a congressman votes on a bill he hasn't read.   They wanted to know how his moral values are reflected in his vote for the previous version of cuts.  What are his thoughts ont he morality of this new version?  They wanted to know what it would take for the congressman to vote against the bill.   One man in the audience wanted to hear three reasons to vote for the bill this time - another asked Garrett to help him understand the congressman's reasoning on his previous vote so that he, as a voter, could understand the other side of the story.   Bill Garrett couldn't or wouldn't speak to those questions so I extended my olive branch:  I explained the pressure Fitzpatrick, a good man, faces on the Hill from the starve the beast crowd  (the crowd that brought us Katrina) and that it if we don't agree with that philosophy of government, it is our responsibility as citizens to make it clear to him that he cannot cave to that pressure and win in Bucks County.  This, of course, was the point of the whole evening.

I'm not optimisitic that Mr. Garrett heard what I was saying in the spirit it was offered but I know that the people in the audience did.   As they left, nobody was angry with Fitzpatrick; nobody thought he was immoral.   They felt empowered.  They each made sure that they had the flyer with Fitzpatrick's contact information so that in the morning they would be able to do what citizens engaged in their democracy do: let their elected representatives know what can and cannot be done in their name and that they are paying attention to what happens next.   And they're going to tell their friends.

Comments

[Medley]

Great job - *claps*

[eRobin]

Thanks, Medley. If only more people would come out to these things, they'd see how much fun they are.