A direct report from Congress. :-)


Saturday, Harry Teague, Democrat Congressman from New Mexico's 3rd District (where I live) returned home after having voted in favor of the "Cap & Trade" energy bill. His local office announced a "Harry In Your Hometown" meeting with the Congressman, to be held at 2:00 p.m., in a small, rather low class place called Old Town Restaurant. Joanna and I attended.

When we arrived, the restaurant was crowded, largely with people dining. We later ascertained that most of these early arrivals were Teague supporters. More people continued to arrive and the Congressman made his appearance exactly at the scheduled time. A man walked into the restaurant holding overhead a sign which read "Cap & Trade = Big Tax". The sign was greeted by loud applause and cheering.

The place was very noisy. To my left was the kitchen with typical busy kitchen sounds of pots and pans, dishes clattering, blenders running, etc. To my right, it seemed everyone in the crowd was talking at once. Mr. Teague seated himself at the end of a long table and engaged in quiet conversation with an attendee.

A woman, presumably from Teague's local staff, made some announcements which were completely inaudible to me. In my usual vulgar fashion I yelled "We can't hear you." Someone explained that Teague would be visiting one-on-one with people who had submitted their name as wanting to discuss something or other with the Congressman.

A man standing near me shouted in a loud voice, "No, no, Harry. That's not good enough. Stand up and talk to us." Mr Teague responded by standing and speaking. With no microphone or amplification in a noisy environment, it was impossible to hear everything he was saying. He said something about global warming, and several people shouted "What global warming?"

I then understood the Congressman to say he had been advised by House leadership that they had enough votes to pass the "Cap & Trade" bill before he voted. He went on to say that "I could have voted against the bill and come home and told you that I had voted against the bill on principal....." At this point, he was drowned out by people yelling things like "What principal?" or "You have no principals". Then the crowd began to chant "One term Harry". I joined in.

The word drifted back that someone had asked him if he had read the bill and he replied that he had. Later someone else reported that his comment was that he had not personally read the bill but "staff" had read it.

A woman took the "Cap & Trade = Big Tax" sign and stood behind the Congressman, holding the sign over his head. A female voice behind me asked "Who's that jerk with the sign?" A man's voice answered, "Someone opposed to more taxes" She said, "That's better than a black earth." A black earth? Did she mean an earth with no more electric lights? I whirled around and looked her straight in the face for a long look. She was wearing a printed shirt with something about NMSU and a lot of other printing, which I did not read. I didn't recognize her, but she struck me as the iconic green. No, she was not talking about the end of electric power as we know it. I reminded myself that I hadn't come here to argue with the likes of this person.

A man seated at a nearby table made a snide remark about the Congressman. A member of the local Teague staff (they were all dressed in dark sports coats, like Secret Service Wannabes) made some challenge to that remark. The man said "F--- You." Immediately, the woman who had tried to make earlier anouncements, approached the staffer from behind and said, "You shut up. Right now."

The Congressman sat back down on his chair and resumed his conversation with the first person in a line of six or eight waiting for a personal conversation with him. At this point, he completely ignored the rest of the crowd. I turned to the man next to me and said I had heard all I expected to hear. He replied, "The man is an idiot." We left. But it had been fun mixing with a crowd as angry as you are!

Sunday morning's local newspaper made no mention of the event, but local email is buzzing. One writer declared, "I think that Harry Teague might feel a little less love than he thought he would get today." Then, they added, "He said that his vote didn't matter because the bill had already passed. SO does that mean that it's okay to sell out your constituency because everyone else has?"

Well, I haven't read the "Cap & Trade" bill either, but I did listen to John Boehner read parts of the 300 page amendment. What a bunch of gibberish that was! It is my personal observation that the Obama Administration is seeking to make Congress irrelevant, and that Congress seems too dumb to realize it!