GOP Freshman Ends First Town Hall After Tough Questions On Tax Cuts For The Wealthy: ‘We’re Done’

By Alex Seitz-Wald

Freshman Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR) became the latest Republican to face the ire of his own constituents for voting for the Medicare-ending GOP budget when he was repeatedly challenged by attendees at a town hall meeting in Jonesboro, AR last night. At his first town hallsince being seated, Crawford had attendees write their questions on index cards and then read them out loud, “but a handful of audience members weren’t satisfied andshouted at Crawford from their seats.”

While Republicans have insisted that their budget saves Medicare, Crawford veered off message at one point, responding to the question “why are you going to end Medicare as we know it?” by saying, “the answer to that is because Medicare as we know is bankrupt.”

Later, Crawford faced a heated question about why the GOP budget cuts taxes for the wealthy and corporations while slashing social services. Crawford replied, “I don’t support tax cuts for the wealthy over help for socio-economically challenged individuals.” A number of his constituents repeatedly challenged him on this claim, accusing Crawford of “class warfare against the poor people” and explaining that tax cuts don’t create jobs. Crawford apparently did not appreciate this, and ended the session:

CONSTITUENT 1: [The GOP budget ] is a significant tax cut for the wealthy.

CRAWFORD: A 10 percent tax cut?

CONSTITUENT 2: Wouldn’t that be class warfare against the poor people?

CRAWFORD: Well, you’re asking me if I want to continue taxing at a higher rate the people that are creating jobs and no –

CONSTITUENT 2: They’re not creating jobs, though! They haven’t created any more jobs! … They’re taking them all overseas!

CONSTITUENT 3: Are you taking any more questions?

CRAWFORD: No, we’re done.

CONSTITUENT 3: We’re done?

CRAWFORD: We’re done.

CONSTITUENT 4: During the Bush administration, and the tax cuts, how many jobs were created?

CRAWFORD: I don’t have those numbers.

CONSTITUENT 4: Three million. During the Clinton administration, where he raised taxes on the highest bracket to 39.5, how many jobs were created? 22 million. You’re going to tell me that tax cuts create jobs?!

Watch a video shot by Arkansas progressive blog Blue Arkansas, and edited by ThinkProgress for length (full videos here):

Crawford walked away from the podium and left the meeting moments later.

Talk show host Nicole Sandler arrested at tea party Rep’s town hall

By Stephen C. Webster

At a town hall meeting last night in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., staged by Rep. Allen West (R-FL), liberal talk show host Nicole Sandler was taken out of the event hall and arrested on camera.

She was initially just being removed from the hall, but Sandler shouted at the officer to take his hands off of her as they were escorting her out, likely providing a trigger for the arrest. Confronted by Sandler's boyfriend, the officer did not say why he was arresting her.

Similar to other recent Republican town hall meetings, this event was loud and angry, with numerous hecklers hammering Rep. West on his vote to cut Medicare.

One man who repeatedly disrupted the event kept asking why West had nearly appointed as his chief of staff a fringe conservative who once advocated "bullets" as a political solution if votes didn't accomplish their goals.

Unfortunately for the dissenters, West refused to answer questions from the audience. He instead chose only to address pre-screened and approved queries, essentially ignoring constituents who pelted him with criticism.

Overall, however, the audience appeared to be mostly supportive of West -- which has certainly not been the case for his fellow House Republicans of late. The event was held on private property -- in a megachurch which was actually outside of Rep. West's district.

Sandler was a regular presence on the now-defunct liberal talk network, Air America Radio, and has since moved her show online. She's also a regular fill-in host for The Randi Rhodes Show, which was one of Air America's premiere programs.

Update: Finally free, Sandler claims she was 'maced' by police while in jail

Sandler has reportedly been released from police custody on a $25 bond, but individuals answering phones at the Broward County Sheriff's Department and the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department refused to confirm this to Raw Story.

Sandler was reportedly charged with trespassing on private property after a warning. She had not yet returned a request for comment at time of this update.

She did, however, send an update to her online followers, which read: "I'm out of jail after 17 hours of incarceration for attempting to ask my congressman a question at a town hall meeting. More details soon."

Speaking to a blogger at The Political Carnival shortly after her release, Sandler reportedly said that officers sprayed her with mace earlier this morning after she refused to return to a holding cell. This claim could not be independently verified.

Second update: Raw Story obtains probable cause document for Sandler's arrest

A Ft. Lauderdale Police Dept. document detailing the arresting officer's take on Sandler's arrest has been acquired by Raw Story.

In it, officer William Rousseau claims that Sandler was told to leave the event because "her behavior caused many of the audience members to enter into a verbal altercation that threatened to become physical."

The officer also claims that he instructed Sandler to leave the premises "at least a dozen times," but that she would not. He further claimed that Sandler became "physically aggressive with this ofc., pushing me several times."

Video footage does not seem to bear that out, and Sandler clearly agreed to leave the event. She did however shout at the officer that he should not touch her, but did not appear to resist when he decided to make an arrest.

Click here to read the full document.

Following her release, Sandler phoned-in to the Randi Rhodes show to discuss her ordeal. That audio is below.

The video below was published to YouTube by user Thesharktank1 on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

This audio is from the The Randi Rhodes Show, recorded April 27, 2011.

Download MP3 audio file

In Wake Of Widespread Town Hall Backlash, Rep. Allen West Only Answers Pre-Screened Questions

By Scott Keyes

As voters around the country continue to voice theiranger at town halls over the Republican plan to end Medicare, Republican congressmen are using a range of tactics to try to avoid constituent wrath. In a heated Orlando town hall yesterday, Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) largely ignored contentious questions, leading many in the crowd to demand the congressman “answer the question!” Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the architect of the GOP budget, even ducked out a back entrance during his town hall last night and left in a police car rather than his own vehicle.

Last night, ThinkProgress was in attendance for a Fort Lauderdale town hall where Rep. Allen West (R-FL) took a different approach: pre-screening all questions. Not only were all questions pre-approved by the congressman’s staff, but the attendees were not even permitted to ask the screened questions themselves; staff members read the questions instead, lest a constituent ask an unscripted question. The Sun Sentinel noted that West’s move to pre-screen questions was a far cry from “his usual practice at previous town hall meetings, where West took questions from people who lined up at microphones.”

Watch a short clip:

Still, a few upset voters attempted to circumvent West’s screening process and make their voices heard. These town hall attendees were thrown out by security and at least one woman, a former Air America radio host, was arrested.

It’s understandable why West would want to screen all the questions he would be asked. Voter anger over the Republican budget – West gave the plan a full-throated endorsement – has popped up in town halls across the country. Constituents have been giving an earful to many GOPers who support the Republican budget, including Reps. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Daniel Webster (R-FL), Charlie Bass (R-NH), Chris Gibson (R-NY), Sean Duffy (R-WI), Patrick Meehan (R-WI), and Robert Dold (R-IL). West’s move to pre-screen all questions was an unfortunate attempt to head off the voter backlash that’s plaguing other supporters of the Republican budget.

UPDATEIf you record video of your representative’s town hall that you think we would be interested in, please email it to us.