After passing the Republican budget plan last week, members are facing unhappy constituents as they return to their districts during recess. According to a video posted on YouTube by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, Freshman Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa., stood silent while constituents shouted questions at him during a meeting on Wednesday. Barletta represents a district that gave Obama 57 percent of the vote in 2008 but has one of the highest percentages of senior citizens in the country. Constituents criticized him for his support of the Ryan plan in a recent town hall meeting. One constituent accused him of trying to “destroy Medicare.”
Rep. Michael Grimm, left, tried to control the crowd at a meeting in Brooklyn on Wednesday. “I’m not going to be disrespected or allow anyone else to be disrespected,” he said. “It’s not nice, it’s inappropriate.”
Rep. Rick Berg on Tuesday was questioned over how much the Medicare overhaul plan would cost seniors. Watch the heated exchange above.
Two hecklers were arrested on Tuesday at a town hall led by Rep. Allen West of Florida. One of the hecklers was liberal radio talk show host Nicole Sandler, formerly of the defunct Air America network. West told reporters at a town hall meeting on Wednesday: "If you support Medicare as the way it is now, then kiss the United States of America goodbye."
At a town town hall meeting in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday, GOP Rep. Daniel Webster was interrupted with boos and shouts of "liar" while trying to present a series of charts that illustrated growing levels of federal spending and explaining his support for the budget plan. Watch more video footage.
Rep. Chris Gibson of New York was greeted by "Hands of My Medicare" signs in Malta on Tuesday.
Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who is the architect of the Republicans' budget plan, was booed at a town hall meeting last week in Milton, Wis. At a meeting this week, Ryan was advised by police to depart through a separate entrance to avoid protestors. His budget blueprint would extend tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and make substantial changes to Medicare and Medicaid.
The first six questions Rep. Charlie Bass, R-N.H., faced at his town hall last week were also on the Ryan plan, and some constituents were unimpressed with his responses. Bass holds a district that voted for both Obama in 2008 and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in 2004.
Freshman Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., was questioned over the source of his information while presenting data from the Congressional Budget Office at a town hall last week.
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