The April 16 story “Rep. Herrera Beutler’s phone town hall cordial” was very misleading. Rep. Herrera Beutler’s town hall was “very manipulated” is more like it.
The “town hall” was really a phone call with no time to prepare questions or think about what to say. Her staff screened challenging questions such as “Why don’t you hold real town halls?” She claims to have held more than 65 in-person town halls in six years, but I can think of only three or four during her six years in office.
She talked about wanting Democrats to participate in improving the Affordable Care Act, but continuing to push for repeal doesn’t indicate a willingness to work across the aisle. Yes, she puts a sweet face on things, but her actions show that she’s not on our side, and she doesn’t really care about the input of those she supposedly represents.
