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| Group hopes Tanner attends UC gathering to address concerns |
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Posted: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 10:11 pm
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| U.S. Rep. John Tanner has a standing invitation to join the people of the Eighth Congressional District of Tennessee Thursday at Kiwanis Park in Union City, organizers say. The get-together is not being promoted as a town hall meeting, but rather as a public call for the longtime representative and Union City native to agree to set up such meetings himself. However, if Tanner chooses to attend the session, he will certainly be welcome, according to organizers. “This will be just like our Tea Party a few months ago,” says radio talk show host Mike Slater, who presided over that well-attended non-partisan event in Jackson and is spear-heading the local gathering. “It will be like the American Revolution, in a way, because we’re not fighting against something, we’re going to be standing for something. The Tea Party was to show our support for our Declaration of Independence and to show our appreciation to our veterans. On Thursday, in Kiwanis Park in Union City at 4 p.m., we’ll be standing for the principle of representation in government.” Slater peppers his morning talk show on station WTJS with quotes from the historical documents that shaped this nation and are the basis for the government and with passages penned by the Founding Fathers and from such authors as Ayn Rand. His goal is to educate listeners on the principles their nation was founded on. His program is also something of a rallying point for those who have been raising questions about self-identified Blue Dog Democrat John Tanner’s support for many government programs they consider controversial over the past few months. Callers to the program have expressed frustration that Tanner planned no town hall meetings to discuss the healthcare program styled by Democrats and likely to come before the House of Representatives for a vote when the August recess is over. To date, the only such session scheduled is one in Dickson, far removed from what has traditionally been viewed as the congressman’s home support base. Adding to their concerns this week is the circulation of an e-mail that includes a link to a film made at Tanner’s Union City office. In it, representatives of Service Employees International Union visit and speak to a Tanner aide who tells them the congressman’s “chief of staff is the leader in constructing some of the (healthcare) bill’s language” in Washington. Tanner recently announced he will, instead of meeting his constituents in public sessions, conduct two telephone-style town hall meeting just before he returns to Washington in late August. The call-in events are set for 2 p.m. Aug. 28 and 6 p.m. Aug. 31. Those who wish to be part of the telephone town hall meetings have been instructed to sign up by going to www.house.gov/tanner or by calling his office. Slater and his listeners, however, are hoping Tanner will accept their invitation to join them just a couple of blocks from his office in downtown Union City Thursday afternoon. Planners say they will have a copy of the 1,018 page healthcare proposal that originated in the House of Representatives at the park for review. The failure of many representatives and senators to read the bills they are passing has been a sore point with many of those who are now raising their voices, not only with respect to the health-care bill, but also over massive government spending the Blue Dog Democrats decried in the previous Republican administration but have pushed to new limits under Democratic leadership. “Telephone town hall meetings just don’t count,” Slater told The Messenger Monday afternoon. “At Thursday’s meeting, we will have mikes so everyone can state the questions they want to ask their representative. And we’ll be paying service to our veterans and our service members, as we always do at our get-togethers. We’ll probably have some ‘regular people’ speakers, too,” Slater added. And, yes, the leader of the Slater Raiders will be on hand himself. At the Tea Party held in Jackson in April, more than $7,000 in cash was raised to provide scholarships for the children of veterans and more than 1,000 pounds of food and supplies and gifts was raised to ship overseas to those serving in the Armed Forces. Slater’s commitment to veterans will be on display at Thursday’s session as well, he promised his listening audience this morning. “Everything we do is a tribute to our veterans and that’s why we don’t get down in the mud and play politics. Our message will be accountability and representation. We’ll be talking about principles, not policies or politics.” He points to the family atmosphere and celebratory nature of the Tea Party as a blueprint for what he hopes to see Thursday in Union City. The community is invited to attend and to take part in what organizers want to be an upbeat and positive opportunity to voice concerns. Their hope, they say, is that Tanner will choose to join them and share an opportunity to exchange views and information in a respectful, freedom-inspired meeting between the voters and their elected public servant. Published in The Messenger 8.11.09 |
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