| MADISON, WI – Yesterday, U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (WI-02) joined MSNBC’s Ayman Mohyeldin to discuss the packed town hall he held on the very western edge of his district in a community of 1,000 people. Pocan held the town hall because House Republican leadership has been urging their members not to hold town halls, specifically on the Republican Rip Off, the massive transfer of wealth from the middle class and those aspiring to be in the middle class to pay for a $4.5 trillion tax cut for the wealthiest Americans. Constituents from both his district and the neighboring 3rd Congressional District attended the event. |
| Click here to watch the full interview, and find excerpts of Rep. Pocan’s remarks below. |
| On Pocan’s Town Hall in Belmont, WI I was at the very edge of my district yesterday morning, and we invited Derrick Van Orden, who represents Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District. He was a no show, like he’s pretty much been since he’s been in Congress. But people are pissed. They’re very concerned about cuts to Medicaid in particular. They’re worried about cuts that are going to happen to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. They’re worried about what could happen if you take away subsidies on the Affordable Care Act. They’re worried, many of these people are in a very rural part of Wisconsin, about farm grants and the lack of food going to USAID that comes from places like my district, and they just want to be heard. I bet you a third of the crowd came from Derrick Van Orden’s district. Some people drove two hours from La Crosse just to come and be heard. And you shouldn’t have to drive two hours to be heard by a Member of Congress. They should just get out from whatever rock they’re hiding under to talk to their constituents. They came from La Crosse and Potosi and Tomah and Platteville, all parts, by the way, not of my district, but of Derrick Van Orden’s, plus people from the western part of my district. A lot of people who are based in the agricultural economy. This is going to hurt them a lot. At the State of the Union, I brought a farmer who’s lost two of his grants, even though Donald Trump has said no farmers lost grants, he’s living proof that Donald Trump is a liar, and his family is also on Medicaid just to get by, because farming, especially small farms, is not all that lucrative, but you’re helping feed your neighbors. People were, rightfully so, very concerned, and they just want to make sure that we’re doing more. I think that was one of the strongest messages. They want Democrats to do exactly what we’re doing right now. And I know some other members are doing is getting into their districts and making them uncomfortable, because they want to be heard, and their [Republican] members won’t listen to it. On Holding Town Halls in Republican Areas I think the best way to do this is you go and make those Republicans uncomfortable. If what they’re doing is so good, why wouldn’t they want to go on the rooftop and scream about it? Right? Instead, they’re hiding in a hole. That alone tells you everything that they don’t want to talk to their constituents. I’m going to make it that they’re uneasy. If they’re going to cut Medicaid from one of the three kids in Wisconsin who get their health care from Medicaid, 55% of seniors who are in nursing homes, like my mom was at the end of her life, 45% of adults with disabilities living independently, just in Wisconsin. If you’re a Member of Congress, you better listen to your constituents, because they can either see if you continue to be elected or if you’re fired, and they can do that in the election. On Comments from Van Orden on Town Hall AttendeesWhen someone comes up to you crying because their child has a disability and they only get by because they have Medicaid, that is such an arrogant, ignorant and word I can’t say on your program comment from a Member of Congress to say about their own constituents. It’s just so utterly ridiculous, but too many Members of Congress think they’re better than their constituents. Clearly, that kind of response comes from someone who thinks he’s just better than the people who ultimately he’s supposed to represent. |
