Harris and the True Believers

September 04, 2011 at 10:56 AM

By MIKE BROWN

I thought I would pass along some of my impressions and selected lowlights (of many) of Andy Harris's town hall meeting sponsored by Americans for Prosperity  at Annie's in Grasonville on Aug. 31..

First, it was advertised as a “town hall,” but it was really an Americans for Prosperity dinner meeting, with four- and six-person tables set for dinner, and was well attended ( not by us) with an estimated 50 to 75 people, but only six Dems.   

The only thing positive I can say about it is that Harris, unlike many of his fellow conservative extremists, was actually willing to hold the meeting, face his constituents, and answer their questions.  And, there were no limits placed on who could participate - no checking at the door.  And, AFP was likewise willing to be open to anyone attending.  Also, it was advertised well in advance (including in the Star Democrat).

Otherwise, it was extremely difficult for me to sit there and listen to their right wing drivel, especially to Harris's divisive partison attacks filled with distortions, Republican talking points, and outright lies, especially against President Obama.  A few specifice lowlights:

     One attendee stood up and praised Harris for refusing to vote to raise the debt ceiling, and the entire place (except us, of course) erupted in applause.  Think about that - they went wild in support of crashing the U.S. economy and inviting severe credit downgrades by all ratings agencies!  These are truly scary people.

     Harris blamed Obama and the Democrats for not slashing at least $4 trillion from our debt, saying that we KNEW we would get a downgrade because of that since S&P TOLD us we would.  What he neglected to mention is that we would have had a deal that did just that if he and his fellow tea party extremists hadn't ripped into Boehner when he reported his deal with Obama, forcing him to pull out.  Nor did he mention that intransigence on increasing revenues and willingness to not raise the debt ceiling by him and others contributed to S&P’s downgrade decision.

     Harris acknowledged that some people were criticizing him for his votes on environmental and Chesapeake Bay issues, but explained that while he treasured our Bay, he also valued JOBS (ha ha - where are they, Andy?) and believed there needed to be "balance."  My translation of that:  He is willing to trash the bay in favor of business, and go back on his campaign promise to protect our Bay - one of several promises broken, in spite of his and his supporters' claims that he has kept his promises.

     Finally, I was able to ask a question, and chose another promise he broke but claims he kept - to protect current seniors' health benefits.  I pointed out that has already voted to take away benefits, that he voted to: repeal closure of the donut hole, which would cost my wife and me (and other seniors) an additional $5,000 annually, and eliminate Medicare coverage for annual physicals and cancer screening.  He said that the donut hole provision doesn't go into effect for several years, to which I pointed out that he was wrong since we were already saving $2500 this year.  Then he claimed that the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) established in the Affordable Care Act would slash our benefits far more than the benefits added in the ACA - which is false.  I said I didn't agree with him, and he said I didn't have to trust him - the CBO said that - which is also false.  He said he studied the CBO reports, and I told him I had too.  I later checked it out, including factcheck.org, and he was just mimicking claims made by fellow extremist right-wingers Paul Ryan and Joe Pitts, claims factcheck.org said were false.  I intend to write him a letter pointing this all out and reasserting my charge and factchecking results, and asking him for specific citations from the CBO report that support his claim.  (Good luck on getting a real answer.) 

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