And speaking of July 4: The Washington Post was among several outlets that noted the absence of U.S. senators from some of the traditional holiday observances. Those who did turn up, heard a lot about health care, as Sen. Susan Collins noted in the article.
Sen. Tom Cotton, one of 13 white male Republicans who put together the pending (and unpopular) Senate legislation, gave no indication on Twitter or Facebook pages of a public appearance yesterday. He’s been avoiding specific comment on his handiwork. Sen. John Boozman attended the dedication of a World War I memorial in downtown Springdale.
But town halls? Open discussions? Few of those to be found around the country. Said the Post:
Still, the relative scarceness of the senators — more of them joined a delegation to Afghanistan this week than scheduled town halls — challenged the busy liberal “resistance” movement. Since the repeal debate began, protesters have made direct confrontations with elected officials a central part of their opposition to the Republican bill — copying what worked for tea party activists, who packed Democratic town halls during the lengthy 2009-2010 Affordable Care Act debate.
In the run-up to July 4, activists shared details of Republican appearances on sites created by the progressive group Indivisible (“Red, White, and You”) and the crowd-sourced Town Hall Project. Democratic senators who spoke at a June 28 rally outside the Capitol repeatedly urged activists to make noise wherever they saw Republicans. It was the protesters, they said, who had repeatedly spoiled Republicans’ plans to pass a bill and move on to tax restructuring. A president who had once floated a special session of Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act had become distracted by feuds with the media. The “resistance,” Democrats said, had not become distracted by anything.
They can run, but they can’t hide forever.
PS: Ted Cruz got heckled and booed in Texas by a big crowd of critics.