Reps charging $ to attend town hall meetings

#1
Gramps

Gramps

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#1
This is unbelievable.

Members of congress charging their constituents to attend and ask a question at a town hall.

I voted for Phil Roe in 2010 but if he comes to my town and holds a town hall and charges people to attend, I would never vote for him again.

IMO that is way out of line. The purpose of a town hall is not fund raising.

Talk to Paul Ryan? It'll cost you - Reid J. Epstein - POLITICO.com


It will cost $15 to ask Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) a question in person during the August congressional recess.


Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) is scheduled to appear Aug. 23 at a luncheon gathering of the Arizona Republican Lawyers Association. For $35, attendees can question Quayle and enjoy a catered lunch at the Phoenix office of the Snell & Wilmer law firm.


It’s no secret why members of Congress would shy away from holding open town hall meetings — it’s no fun getting yelled at by angry constituents or having an uncomfortable question become an unfortunate YouTube moment.

By outsourcing the events to third parties that charge an entry fee to raise money, members of Congress can eliminate most of the riffraff while still — in some cases — allowing reporters and TV cameras for a positive local news story.
 
#2
#2
$15 lunch? Oh the Humanity.... If you want to eat lunch with the POTUS that will cost you a cool $1 Million. I dont see the outrage here
 
#3
#3
VolsNSkinsFan said:
$15 lunch? Oh the Humanity.... If you want to eat lunch with the POTUS that will cost you a cool $1 Million. I dont see the outrage here
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The outrage is simple.
Town Hall meeting are designed for our elected officials to meet with their constituents. This gives their constituents the opportuinity meet and discuss matters with their rep.

If the reps is wanting to fundraise, he shouild have a fundraising luncheon and charge for that. I see no problem in that.

It is wrong for an elected official to charge a fee to meet with his constituents and allow them to ask him/her a question.
 
#4
#4
VolsNSkinsFan said:
$15 lunch? Oh the Humanity.... If you want to eat lunch with the POTUS that will cost you a cool $1 Million. I dont see the outrage here
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They represent us and get paid for that. If it's a fundraiser, no problem. If it's a town hall meeting. HUGE problem. Everything doesn't have to be a for profit venture.


Gramps, If you voted for Roe, we live in the same area.:hi:
 
#7
#7
Pretty easy to get in contact with a Congressman. You can call them, submit questions on their website, email them or write them an old fashion letter or you can show up to his office. All of which are free.

Obviously its not for profit, its a fee to cover the venue and lunch
 
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#8
#8
VolsNSkinsFan said:
Pretty easy to get in contact with a Congressman. You can call them, submit questions on their website, email them or write them an old fashion letter. All of which are free.

Obviously its not for profit, its a fee to cover the venue and lunch
Click to expand...

What if you want to see them face to face? It is fundraising. Have it at a local govt venue at no charge if you really want to 'meet the people' instead of raise campaign funds.If I wanted to share a Subway sammich with them, I'd invite them to dinner. I want to express my concerns to them.

Dime to a dollar the venue and food are donated so the money goes to re-election funds. And it is used to "weed" people out.
 
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#9
#9
JayVols said:
What if you want to see them face to face? It is fundraising. Have it at a local govt venue at no charge if you really want to 'meet the people' instead of raise campaign funds.If I wanted to share a Subway sammich with them, I'd invite them to dinner. I want to express my concerns to them.

Dime to a dollar the venue and food is donated so the money goes to re-election funds.
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you can walk into the US Capital building and knock on his office door if you want to talk to him face to face
 
#10
#10
VolsNSkinsFan said:
you can walk into the US Capital building and knock on his office door if you want to talk to him face to face
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VolsNSkinsFan said:
VolsNSkinsFan lacks respect of other peoples ideas, and that turns people off from his "message(s)" His "My way or the Highway" tone just makes him sound GS-esque
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Changed a bit but, sound familiar?

How many people can actually do that at a whim? Very smug response.
 
#11
#11
Not sure whats smug about it but I listed multiple ways to get in touch with congressman, all of them are free.

Have you ever contacted a congressman before? They do respond back
 
#13
#13
VolsNSkinsFan said:
Not sure whats smug about it but I listed multiple ways to get in touch with congressman, all of them are free.

Have you ever contacted a congressman before? They do respond back
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no no. Their secretary does. My cousin works in government and has met a lot of politicians. Rarely do they 'have the time' to answer letters.
 
#14
#14
KiffinKiller said:
no no. Their secretary does. My cousin works in government and has met a lot of politicians. Rarely do they 'have the time' to answer letters.
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Wow your cousin works in the government? I am impressed. I guess I dont know what I am talking about considering I spent 20 years in DC
 
#15
#15
VolsNSkinsFan said:
Not sure whats smug about it but I listed multiple ways to get in touch with congressman, all of them are free.

Have you ever contacted a congressman before? They do respond back
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First, you want to raise funds and charge admission, no problem. You want a townhall meeting? It should be free and open to any and all constituents.

Many times, and most often, no they don't. I have tried to speak to them on the phone. I only get their aides. Leave messages, no return call. Ask when I could talk with them and I usually get "the congressman/senator is very busy" response. Can you get yours on the line easily? If so, you must have pull or superpolitician over your district.
 
#20
#20
Getting in contact with reps is hard, that why the aides call you. That's not a big deal.

Both times i have asked for something I received it in a timely manner.
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#21
#21
Doesn't the article explicitly say they are NOT holding townhall meetings? I think they should have townhall meetings but they are not. It is misleading to say they are charging people to attend townhall meetings.

Additionally, in the case of Ryan the article specifically mentions means to communicate directly with him including telephone townhall meetings.

I wonder how many members of Congress do not have townhall meetings? I would bet it is substantial.
 
#22
#22
VolsNSkinsFan said:
Pretty easy to get in contact with a Congressman. You can call them, submit questions on their website, email them or write them an old fashion letter or you can show up to his office. All of which are free.

Obviously its not for profit, its a fee to cover the venue and lunch
Click to expand...

I live in the 1st congressional district of Tennessee. Our representives have been holding "free" meetings for as long as I can remember and I have been around several years. :)

If it's a $25-50-$100 or whatever a plate luncheon or dinner, that is fine. All politicians have fundraisers.

From what I can gather ,only a few reps are doing this and this is just a way to "control" the meetings.
 
#23
#23
The President's current tour requires "tickets" to attend. The tickets may be free but are highly limited. In effect, most people are intentionally excluded from attending.

After the TP guy got into one you can bet that the "bus tour" will be screening attendees at these events to ensure questions are "friendly".

Is there a significant difference here?
 
#24
#24
volinbham said:
The President's current tour requires "tickets" to attend. The tickets may be free but are highly limited. In effect, most people are intentionally excluded from attending.

After the TP guy got into one you can bet that the "bus tour" will be screening attendees at these events to ensure questions are "friendly".

Is there a significant difference here?
Click to expand...


IMO , there is a big difference.
It has been standard practice that presidential meetings are tightly regulated.

It has also been standard practice that our representives have meetings in their districts to meet with their constituents.

They have just started this in order to control the meetings.
 
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