Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) came home to Austin for his undeserved month-long recess from Congress — and he came home to an angry crowd of people who want him to oppose Obamacare.
Here’ a video of a public appearance, where a tea party broke out, with constituents imploring him to “just say no.”
The role of a US Representative is to…well…represent their constituents.
They are not in Washington to further their party’s agenda, to further their own personal interests, or to line their pockets with tax payer and special interest money. Even though that is what most of them (both sides of the aisle) are doing.
And that is exactly what Rep. Doggett is doing. And over the weekend, he admitted that he doesn’t care what his constituents want, he will vote against their wishes regardless.
From the Austin American-Statesman:
Back in Central Texas while Congress is on a month-long recess, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett faced an angry audience at a town hall meeting at an Austin Randalls grocery store Saturday.
Doggett, D-Austin, spoke at the store at Brodie and Slaughter lanes. A video of the event on YouTube shows that many in the crowd had signs denouncing President Barack Obama’s proposed health care plan.
Witnesses said that when Doggett was asked whether he would support the plan even if he found that his constituents opposed it, Doggett said he would. People then began chanting “just say no” and overwhelmed the congressman as he moved through the crowd and into the parking lot.
“The folks there thought their voices weren’t being heard,” said Kathy Acosta, a Bastrop resident who attended the meeting at Randalls and another one later that day in her hometown. “They were angry, but they were respectful. There wasn’t any violence.”
Calls and e-mails to Doggett’s office were not returned Sunday.
Despite the fact the people he was voted to represent overwhelmingly oppose it, he dismissively admits that he doesn’t give a shit what they want, he’ll vote how he wants.
But herein lies the fundamental problem with Liberalism — a belief that the government is better suited to making decisions about your life than you are. And Doggett clearly believes that he and the Democrat party know better than you do what is best for you and your families.
Wet Wired sees it too:
This type of thing is happening in many parts of the country. The politicians are voting on what they think is good for you – because you obviously don’t know well enough.
A representative who refuses to represent his constituents? Sounds like it’s time for them to vote Doggett out and find one who will.
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OTHERS:
Michelle Malkin has more on this, including the tip to the Youtube video of Doggett’s Austin visit.
Instapundit reminds us to “remember, protest is patriotic!
Except that the Libtards, of course, think otherwise.
The moron at Progressive Populist claims that a Winger Mob Disrupts Doggett. Uh huh. Except that those “wingers” are Doggett’s constituents. And they have every right and obligation to make their voices heard. These townhalls, as Doggett called this appearance are for him to listen to his constituents, not for them to sit there quietly and be preached to. And they didn’t start the disruptive “just say no” chant until after Doggett admitted that he would vote against their wishes no matter what.
[...] and Surprise: Stimulus not stimulating construction industry, infrastructure repair Urban Grounds: Rep Lloyd Dogget Admits That He Doesn’t Care What His Constituents Want Ztower: Support “Cash For Clunkers!” Give Each Member Of Congress $10,000,000 If They Agree To [...]
Would someone please call,email, tweet Robbie and tell him the BBC is looking for him?
Thanks…I’m getting ready to do a radio interview with the BBC in about 20 minutes.
It actually started after he decided to cut his “office hours” short by 40 minutes and leave in a huff.
Teabagging birther racists.
Nazi Communist Liberal! He is getting exactly what he deserves! I hope they all are! Liberals like you think all these government programs are free…they’re not! We ALL pay for it. Get ready for your taxes to go through the roof! NOTHING from the government is for free! Oh, but wait…you liberals can’t see that…you’re too busy looking through the bottom of the kool-aid cup!
Long live Stormfront!!
[...] (h/t to Robbie) [...]
“conservatives” aren’t Doggett’s only constituents…
No, but we are about to be his loudest and get his butt voted out of office!
Chris, is it possible that some of Doggett’s Democrat constituents are also opposed to government take over of health care?
Is it possible that some of those people trying to have their voice heard by Doggett were Democrats that are happy with their health care plan, are opposed to more government wasteful spending?
I just got off the phone with Doggett’s office to find out when he may have another “office Hours” meeting. None planned! They couldn’t/wouldn’t verify he had ANY upcoming events. I asked if they posted this info on his web site, and uh….no. Wonder why? Maybe because he doesn’t WANT to hear from his constituents after his last one.
His office asked if I had any comments to share with him. I informed the nice young lady that indeed I had already commented both by phone and email…but I would be more than happy to do so again. “I am doing everything within my power to get him voted out of office as he is NOT representing the interests of his constituents. He is in “bed” with Obama and that is where his priorities are, not with the people of his district.” They of course asked for my name and I politely gave it to them. They also wanted address, etc. I respectfully declined pointing out once again that he doesn’t represent my interests so he really doesn’t need that info. He has voted for Cap & Tax, Socialized Healthcare, etc.
He is as SOCIALIST as Obama is. Our rights are being stripped away daily by these people and we need to get them out of office! Yes, we are angry! When people’s God-given and Constitutional rights are stripped away, we ought to ALL be angry.
My discussion of this is at the “Libtards” link above; thanks for the visitor. However, I don’t think the “Libtards” label applies, I’m just smarter than the tea partiers.
A little searching will show that I’ve been a BHO opponent for years; there are several search methods in my right sidebar.
In fact, in early 2007 I went to one of his appearances with the intent of asking him a question designed to make him look bad. My intent wasn’t to throw a tantrum and shout “just say no”, it was to engage him in intellectual debate about something he did and show how he was wrong. That doesn’t make me a “Libtard”, just someone who’s smarter than the tea partiers.
Ok. Well said. I’ admit I didn’t take the time to look around your site much. But I will. Using the term “tea partiers” rather than the perverted term used by Keith Olbermann and the rest of the Liberal blogosphere shows that you are at coming from it from closer to center than most.
Thanks for the response.
dont tell me the amount of people protesting was equal to the amount of people living in that area. a small amount of idiots doesnt make up the country nor their area
EPIC FAIL.
This is just more Astroturf from the sock-puppeteers at GOP, Inc:
http://www.freedomworks.org/files/FW_July%204%20Recess%20Action%20Kit_6-26-09.pdf
And “Rocking the Town Hall” here –
http://thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/townhallactionmemo.pdf
Those crazy teabaggers! If they want to mimic the most successful strategies of MoveOn, etc on the left, they should try to at least be honest about the benefactors who are funding their “grass-roots” campaigns.
Here’s an example of one of the clearly unbiased and purely altrustic organizers of the Tea Party movement:
http://www.panzramic.com/
Our democratic congressman doesn’t plan to hold any townhall meetings as I learned after calling this morning. Pray tell…a democrat who had been elected in a republican county and we’re mad as hell. I will personally work towards his defeat in 2010 and he knows that there are many of us.
Hey, pat. I just got through teabagging myself. This stuff really scares you, huh? Your teabagging crap is not only old, its pathetic. Do you chuckle quietly to yourself when you write ‘teabagging’? Sorta like your cut and paste, pathetic. Oh, tea party organizers can’t have jobs? Your hatred is amazing. Your racist attitude is stunning. Your homophobia is incredible. Your hate of anything not statist is telling. Me, unlike you and the other above fascists posting here, am actually born and raised in austin. lloyd the dog does not represent me in any way shape or form.
Due to Megan’s law, Pat cannot hold most positions. This makes him the little spiteful liberal racist he is.
I left Austin over twenty years ago, and still am amused that Lloyd Dogshit is still in office.
This isn’t about what his constituents want, he knows he is in a relatively safe district, as long as those who keep him in office aren’t too stoned to vote.
This is about him, and what the donk leadership will offer him in return for his vote on their pet wealth destroying plans. A choice committee chairmanship, a post office or other public project named after him.
He was, and still is, a legend in his own mind.
Robbie says: “Despite the fact the people he was voted to represent overwhelmingly oppose it, he dismissively admits that he doesn’t give a shit what they want, he’ll vote how he wants. But herein lies the fundamental problem with Liberalism — a belief that the government is better suited to making decisions about your life than you are.”
First of all, there isn’t any proof that the people that voted for Doggett overwhelmingly oppose health care reform, just the rabble that came there to protest, and I suspect they didn’t vote for him anyway. In any case, the idea that a congressman can exercise independent judgment, regardless of what public opinion says, is hardly a concept unique to liberalism. In fact, the father of conservatism, Edmund Burke, said the following on the topic: “To deliver an opinion, is the right of all men; that of constituents is a weighty and respectable opinion, which a representative ought always to rejoice to hear; and which he ought always most seriously to consider. But authoritative instructions; mandates issued, which the member is bound blindly and implicitly to obey, to vote, and to argue for, though contrary to the clearest conviction of his judgment and conscience,–these are things utterly unknown to the laws of this land, and which arise from a fundamental mistake of the whole order and tenor of our constitution. Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from different and hostile interests; which interests each must maintain, as an agent and advocate, against other agents and advocates; but parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole; where, not local purposes, not local prejudices, ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole.” (Source: http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch13s7.html)
I realize that most of the Glenn Beck fans and Palin proles who post here probably have never heard of Edmund Burke, and would consider him and people who are familiar with him to be total ee-lee-tests. But, his words are worth pointing out, when the topics in question involve independent legislative judgment, and the dangers of mob rule, both of which are salient points in this discussion.
A Democrat walking in lockstep with that malignant cunt Nancy Pelosi is not exercising independent judgement. He’s just another yellow mutt.
I look forward to getting this worthless motherfucker out of office in 2010, along with every other piece of shit Democrat.
Good luck with that, asswipe. Bugman Delay couldn’t even pull it off after gerrymanding Doggett right out of his own home district where his family’s lived for 100 years. If you think some loosely organized gaggles of of dittoheads and Fox News groupies who’d never vote for Doggett under any circumstances is going to change that reality, I’ve got some land to sell you.
You should be proud, you finally found out about Burke.
Now, here is a new one for you to discover, Thomas Locke.
I think you mean John Locke (this guy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke), not Thomas Locke. And I am quite familiar with John Locke. More familiar than you are, obviously.
Henh, good thing you have wiki, you would have failed the test.
His Second Treatise.
Actually, the person who made the amateur mistake of misnaming the philosopher in question (while trying to look clever by dropping his name) would probably be the one to fail the test. I gave the Wiki reference to give you some help. But, nice try.
Also, I notice no one is able to refute my points that (i) legislators aren’t required to follow local public opinion; (ii) item (i) is not a left-liberal concept, as shown by the Burke quote; and (iii) there isn’t any proof that most people in Doggett’s district are anti-health care reform anyway, thus making Robbie’s entire point about Doggett and public opinion moot. But, once again, thanks for playing.
ROBBIE WINS!!!!
If socialized medicine is so evil then explain why virtually no vets choose to waive their VA benefits, and no one but millionaire seniors ever opt out of Medicare?
I’m a disabled Veteran. And I pay extra for private health insurance rather than navigate the world of government run health care via the VA.
Having to wait literally years for surgeries that the VA didn’t think were urgent (torn ACLs in both knees) wasn’t all that much fun.
Now when I need to see an orthopedic surgeon, I make an appointment for sometime that same week. Sometimes even that same day.
More than 45% of the folks I work with are Veterans, and most all of them pay extra for our company’s insurance (we pay a portion of our health care benefits costs).
Care to link a few?
Why, yes…yes I do. However, as already explained I can’t do it on this website.
Maybe he does know better. From my research I’ve learned that if you have a health care plan that is working- fine, they aren’t going to fix what ain’t broke. In fact, they will insure that your rates will not increase at the rate that they will should we not do anything (at the projected rate, your premium will increase 30-50% without intervention). There are 5 main diseases that are consuming most of people’s income and insurance pay outs. They want to encourage insurance companies to pay for prevention. If you’ve noticed, insurance companies only want to wait until there is an emergency and then pay for the largest most expensive procedures. Isn’t something wrong with this? Many people are concerned that their rates are going to go up but their access and quality will go down but this isn’t true- it is hype. If Doggett understands this, and his constituents don’t then why should he vote for against legislation that would be in their best interest? Do you really think he would take action that negatively impacts his voters?
[...] few weeks ago, Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) essentially said the same thing: Doggett was asked whether he would support the plan even if [...]
Ok, son, I’ll play your game.
1) legislators aren’t required to follow local public opinion — absolutely true. And the converse of that is that their constituents, who voted them in to represent them (ever wonder why they’re called “representatives?”), aren’t required to re-elect them for following their own personal interests rather than the interests of their constituents.
2) While I have no “proof” that the majority of people in Doggett’s distric are anti-health care reform, you have no proof that a majority of the people in Doggett’s district are pro-Obamacare (which is the particular brand of “reform” that Doggett is pushing). What I do know is that the majority of Austin-area voters who bothered to show up at THEIR representative’s public appearance were anti-Obamacare. And, not too in-coincidentally, a majority of Americans are now opposed to the flavor of Obamacare now being forced down our throats.
Ha!
The wiki is your friend, not mine.
But you did pass, good for you.
As for Burke, I don’t think it matters to most, except for pedantic posters, what he wrote. Most people believe it is the job of their elected representative to represent them. Those who oppose the CommieCare this liberal politician is supporting will have their say in the midterm of ‘10, but until then, they are making their voices heard and will judge his actions accordingly.
Like these people, perhaps?
OK – first jumping bean to claim that CBS/NYT polls are commie-lib agit-prop (AKA “heads we win tails you lose”)wins an autographed medicine bottle used by Rush Limp-paw himself!
There are so many polls that say that the majority of Americans are happy with their healthcare, it’s ridiculous. Obviously, patty is ignoring them. But, before you ask, linking them is a waste of my time and they would get caught in a spam trap and not appear anyway.
The Spam filter is set to only flag comments that contain more than three hyperlinks.
If only! I’ve tried limiting it to one hyperlink per post and it didn’t work.