Oh what a night! On the phone with Tony and Tom

Remember the song ‘Oh What a Night” by the Four Seasons? This tune was playing in my head as I waited for Congressman Tony Wied’s first-ever Town Hall.  Many people had many questions for their representative and tonight was the night!

Alas, it wasn’t quite a Wied town hall.  For one thing, it wasn't in person; it was over the phone. And it was a Co-Town Hall with Representative Tom Tiffany. Not sure why.  Perhaps Tiffany had better control of the scripted talking points. There was the usual talk about ‘waste, fraud, and abuse’ which seems to be everything the Republicans don’t like. Apparently, healthcare for veterans and accommodations for people with disabilities are wasteful spending.  And, of course, there was the fear-mongering about immigrants and Venezuelan gangs so we can all be afraid.

But hey, Rep. Wied took his valuable time to listen to his constituents.  Well, he allowed an hour of his time. Since he split it with Rep Tiffany let’s say he took 30 minutes of his valuable time to listen to his constituents.  Instead, he could have been lobbying for his two hot-button bills, protecting sturgeon and eliminating electric vehicle charging stations in Wisconsin.  Did he ask Elon about the second one?

But he listened to his constituents, right?  Well, ten of them – or maybe not – since they may have been from Tiffany’s district.  Of the ten questions asked, two were about expanding gun rights.  With everything going on right now, expanding gun rights is not the most pressing issue. 

There was an attempt to do several online polls of those on the call. The plan fizzled when the first poll resulted in 57 percent  responding that the government didn’t spend enough money.  No other poll results were reported. 

My question, had I been able to ask it, was, “Do you know what your job is as a member of Congress?”  Neither representative seems to understand that they took an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States”, to uphold the Rule of Law, and to provide oversight of the Executive branch. The representatives could use a civics lesson. They are reneging on their Oath by enabling the president to ignore laws and do whatever he wants with appropriated funds.

Oh, one more thing.  GOVERNMENT IS NOT A BUSINESS!  It is not the government's role to make people wealthy or to turn a profit.  As stated in the Preamble to the Constitution, it is the People’s responsibility to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”  The government ensures that capitalism doesn’t overrun the rights of the people. It protects the common good, the things we build together for the benefit of all. 

That earworm (not the RFK, Jr. kind) ‘Oh What a Night’ faded quickly during the hour-long Co-Town Hall and was aptly replaced with a low-down dirty blues tune.