How Have Those Town Hall Meetings Been Working Out For Big Business' Congressional Shills?

As you've been reading all week, and as you can see in the compilation clip above, not all that well. And yesterday another teabaggy freshman, Rick Crawford of Arkansas, became just the latest to feel the wrath of his constituents, angry at Crawford's vote to gut Medicare. At his first-ever congressional town hall, Crawford followed suggestions from the GOP conference call from earlier in the week insisting that all questions be pre-screened. When audience members kept shouting at him he just announced "We're done," stalked away from the podium imperiously, and left the meeting.

Others are trying to lie their way out of their own black-and-white voting records-- and not just about wrecking Medicare. Cornered like rats by their constituents, several Republicans-- each of whom has voted several times to extend billions of dollars to Big Oil in taxpayers subsidies-- have publicly said they now (as opposed to last month) support the Democratic position: ending subsidies to Oil giants. Even Boehner, who has now backed away from it, said Big Oil "ought to be paying their fair share." Paul Ryan and Daniel "Taliban Dan" Webster were screamed into submission by angry constituents at town hall meetings. But will Boehner ever let Congress vote on ending corporate welfare to Big Oil? See all that red? It represents the portion of the campaign contributions that went to Republicans from each Oil company. (The blue, where there is any, is what went to Democrats, overwhelmingly Blue Dogs.) You tell me if that's a vote that will ever take place.


And in case you're pointing at the teensy weensy patches of blue... forget it. Those were bribes to Blue Dogs like Dan Boren, Jim Matheson and Mike Ross to keep them voting with the GOP and undermining Democratic initiatives within the caucus.