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Frustrations and partisan schism deepen at Yoho town hall

Jesse Hollett
Posted 4/12/17

ORANGE PARK – For weeks after the GOP proposed a replacement to the Affordable Care Act, constituent town halls became no more than boxing rings and representatives their punching bags.

The …

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Frustrations and partisan schism deepen at Yoho town hall


Posted

ORANGE PARK – For weeks after the GOP proposed a replacement to the Affordable Care Act, constituent town halls became no more than boxing rings and representatives their punching bags.

The abuse grew so severe, Senator Marco Rubio refused to hold town hall meetings, saying to reporters he believed liberal activists were going to marshal a garrison of supporters to heckle him.

Though the new but failed health care plan dust has settled, animus lingers, as Congressmen Ted Yoho (R-3) discovered April 9 a town hall meeting he hosted at Ridgeview High School.

Liberals and conservatives shuffled in en masse, roughly 150 in total. It would be a long day, the first of three meetings scheduled for Saturday alone. And he faced some tough questions.

When asked the likelihood of a government shutdown in the event Congress does not agree on a budget up, Yoho appeared optimistic.

“I don’t foresee that happening, and our goal is to stop that from happening,” he said. “Our goal is to change that, so it moves more like a business,” Yoho said, referring to President Donald Trump’s vision of government, having come into power from his previous role as a real estate mogul.

President Trump hopes to pay for a wall across the U.S.-Mexico border, in part, by trimming and otherwise cutting domestic programs, many of which have broad bipartisan support. Democrats also appear unlikely to fund a $54 billion increase in military spending.

Additionally, the two parties seem to be heading towards another battle on Planned Parenthood funding this year.

Yoho had a battle of his own about Planned Parenthood funding Saturday when he was asked if he would vote to fund it.

“As a devout Christian, I am very much for Planned Parenthood because I want contraceptives. You, as a veterinarian, ought to want women to have breast checks, cervical and cancer checks. Will you vote to fund Planned Parenthood?” said Carolyn Williamson, who was in the audience.

“No,” Yoho said. Claps rang out from the audience, followed soon after by members of the audience holding their arms up in an ‘X’ to signal their disdain.

“I believe life begins at conception,” he said.

Sheri Mallane of Fleming Island stood from the audience out of turn and said, “That has nothing to do with Planned Parenthood, she just – I had a biopsy yesterday, OK, where am I going to go?”

Yoho’s chief of staff urged Mallane to sit down. Nevertheless, she persisted.

“I am a woman, and I think besides birth control – no, I’m not going to sit down – this is important. This woman asked a very important question. You should give her an answer,” Mallane said.

Yoho went on to say that he, and the voters who elected him, don’t want taxpayer dollars going to a center that performs abortions. Half the room cheered while the other half booed.

Some in the group that booed Yoho were part of the grassroots protest group Indivisible. Indivisible, and its Clay County affiliate, are a growing nationwide network of activists who have vowed to attend congressional town hall meetings to oppose Trump’s agenda and what they see as unacceptable changes in government.

Former staffers for President Obama created the Indivisible protest guide using the Tea Party’s playbook. The Tea Party is a similar group of guerilla-citizen protesters that formed in the summer of 2009 to oppose President Obama’s health care and stimulus packages. The group espoused right-wing beliefs.

Indivisible Clay formed on President Trump’s inauguration day and has grown to about 150 activists since. Indivisible Clay is the smallest cadre in Northeast Florida.

Indivisible Organizer Jeff Allstadt of Fleming Island said the organization has approximately 4,600 members currently in Northeast Florida, and that the Clay affiliate has been joining with others more frequently to stage protests and rallies.

Indivisible had roughly 60 members present at the Saturday town hall.

Citizens asked Yoho about his stance on Syria. Just last week, President Trump fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at the government-controlled Shayrat Air Base near Homs without congressional approval. The strike was meant to rebuke President Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons on his own people.

Response to the attack remained mostly mixed in Congress as some supported the strike while others seemed to question President Trump’s decision.

“I can’t commit to an actual war,” Yoho said. “But a surgical bombing” is something he supports.

When asked why Yoho voted not to support President Obama’s campaign to overthrow Assad, Yoho said it wasn’t the right time to get involved, but now there has been “five more years of slaughter.”

When the crowd began to heckle him, he said, “Where in the constitution does it say we should respond to humanitarian” crises.

The crowd responded for him: “The Bible,” three people yelled.

His view of America staying out of global humanitarian needs extended to its involvement in health care and education. He said the Department of Education has become a “federal bureaucracy.” “Get government out of health care and education,” he said.

Party dogma largely colored the atmosphere of the town hall. Trump supporters largely found the town hall informative, while opponents found it somewhat frustrating.

Audience member Ken Marrow stood in the back of the Ridgeview High cafeteria wearing a hat with a Donald Trump pin on it. He said the town hall was informative and much better organized than previous town halls he had attended. He rebuked Indivisible members, however.

“The people from Indivisible dominate every meeting, that’s their whole intent,” Marrow said.

Speakers were chosen at random so everyone would have a fair chance to ask their questions. At this particular meeting, Marrow said the Indivisible members had enough bodies in the room to ask more questions than others.

Come the end of the one-hour town hall, Mallane remained rather frustrated about Yoho’s answers. Mallane is not an Indivisible member, rather just a resident of Fleming Island who is concerned.

“All of these people asked very good questions and we did not get very good answers,” she said.