Seniors Rip Meehan on Ryan Budget Vote at Senior Town Hall Meeting

Seniors Label Pat Meehan's Medicare Plan “Deeply Offensive” & Criticize Him for Breaking Promise to Protect Medicare

Haverford, PA – Residents of the 7th Congressional District continued to push back against first-term Congressman Pat Meehan for his broken promise to protect the nation's Medicare program. The latest confrontation occurred Wednesday May 18th at a meeting held at the senior living facility known as The Quadrangle in Haverford, PA. For about 45-minutes, residents of the 55-plus community peppered the Congressman with questions that voiced their outrage over his support for a Republican plan to turn Medicare into a privately run voucher program.


One of the meeting's most pointed exchanges came between Meehan and one of the women who said she found it “deeply offensive” that the Republican plan assumed that the current generation of seniors could be “bought off” to win support for the plan. The woman told the Congressman that this plan assumed that she had “no family values” and that she didn't care about her family members well-being.


“The part that I find the most offensive about Paul Ryan's (Medicare Plan) is that it won't affect any one 55 years or older. That assumes that I have no family values and that I will be bought off,” the woman said. “I am supposed to be comforted by the fact that this plan won't affect me. As though I don't have the family values to be concerned about my grandchildren and about my children, and that I am not concerned about their education and their health care. Congressman those of us who are older find that deeply offensive.”


Other Seniors at the meeting also criticized Meehan for supporting the plan. One asked him about the promise he made in the fall campaign that he broke. His response was simply to say that he promised he would never back a “voucher program” and that the Ryan budget did not qualify as a voucher program, but rather was a “premium support” plan. Meehan did not make clear how this was anything other than a linguistic distinction. This follows in his pattern of refusing to confront the promises made in some of his October debates with Democratic opponent Bryan Lentz.


Many of the Seniors said they supported raising taxes on individuals making more than $250,000 a year in order to help fund Medicare.


“You are asking people on Medicare to make sacrifices,” one woman said, “What sacrifices have you asked rich people to make?“


The current criticisms come on top of heat that the Congressman took at an earlier town hall immediately after the vote. At that event, a resident of the 7th Congressional District confronted him on voting to “end Medicare as we know it.” Meehan Report was able to video tape the event. The footage was covered by major media outlets, and has contributed to divisions in the Republican Party. Many believe that the bill will end up a “poison pill” which newer conservative members of the House, especially those who, like Meehan, live in districts won overwhelmingly by Obama and Kerry.


Meehan Report will continue to bring you updates on this critical issue.

Our Voices Were Heard

Video of Pat Meehan Town Hall Meeting Goes Viral and the GOP Begins Retreat on Medicare

In politics sometimes it's hard to feel like your voice is making a difference. But the Meehan Report likes to think that the vigilant residents of Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District played an important role in getting the GOP leaders in Washington, DC, to start to back off their efforts to privatize Medicate. The plan would raise health care costs for seniors by turning Medicare over to private, for-profit insurance companies and their million dollar CEO's.

The Meehan Report recently released video footage of Pat Meehan being confronted by angry constituents at a town hall about the promise he broke to protect Medicare when he supported Paul Ryan's Budget Plan. That footage, along with similar tapes released by other outraged citizens at other Republican town halls around the nation, was repeatedly replayed in news reports in the following days. Clearly, the Republican plan to gut Medicare was stoking genuine anger around the country, and that was certainly the mood in Delaware County on April 20th.

The Meehan Report’s footage of Pat Meehan being confronted at his town hall received prominent placing in television news show coverage on the town halls ranging from Hardball and the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC to the local ABC Sunday News Magazine Show “Inside Story”. The confrontation between Meehan and his constituents also made it into a lot of national print news stories, ranging from the Washington Post to Slate and was even in Rolling Stone!

In the wake of this coverage, news reports have started to trickle out in the past few days from Washington DC, that Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and even the Republican chair of the House Ways and Means committee, Dave Camp are starting to back off this plan. They realize that a plan that “fixes” Medicare by forcing seniors to choose between necessities like food and medicine is not a popular idea and is not popular among voters. Pat Meehan has yet to publicly declare that he will listen to his constituents on this issue, but we will continue to keep the heat on until he comes to his senses.

Just a word of caution: we are not declaring “Mission Accomplished.” By no means do we think that because it looks like we won this round that the fight to make sure Medicare is preserved is over. If recent history is any guide, we fully expect Pat Meehan and his GOP buddies to keep trying to weaken Medicare, even if that means doing it in ways that they don't think their constituents will notice. If you'd like an example of this tactic, take a look at our previous post about how they tried to redefine what constitutes rape after the nation objected to their first try, so they could push their anti-abortion agenda. It's for that reason that we will continue to remain vigilant, and think you should too.

We would like to acknowledge and congratulate the people of the 7th District who are not afraid to stand up to Pat Meehan and his GOP buddies and tell them that they made a big mistake. As we said at the start, a lot of times in politics it's hard to feel like your voice is making a difference -- in this case, however, we think it’s clear it did. Let's all keep up the good work, and make sure that Pat Meehan is keeping his promises, and making sure that he’s not balancing the nation’s budget on the backs of the people who can least afford it.

Pat Meehan's Assault on Women's Health Continues

Congressman Votes to Redefine Rape, Disregards Women’s Health Yet Again

Congressman Pat Meehan has an alarming pattern of limiting access to affordable health care for women. The trend is clear: For the third time since he took office in January, the first-term Congressman voted to remove or weaken medical safeguards for women. Meehan voted to restrict statutory rape victims from getting any aid from the federal government to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. These are young women whose age and low income preclude them from going to a private facility or paying out of pocket for an abortion.

Meehan’s vote comes on the heels of two other controversial pieces of legislation he supported that would have significant impacts on women’s health care. The first came when Meehan voted to remove funding for Planned Parenthood. This would cut off community health programs to low-income women, men, and families. As previously noted, Meehan either doesn’t understand the current federal ban on funding abortions or intentionally misrepresents it to his constituents. The second came last month, when Meehan voted to make health care more expensive for everybody by (breaking a campaign promise and) turning Medicare into a privately run voucher program.


The proposed H.R. 3, which Meehan voted to support is titled the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act” and can be read in .pdf format here. The language makes no explicit mention of any re-definition of rape, and indeed it seems to make an exception (similar to the Hyde Amendment) to allow federal tax dollars to be spent if the life of the mother is threatened or in cases of incest or rape. Backhanded methods are at play, however.

Congressional Republicans altered the legislation after getting serious flack over the use of the words “forcible rape” in the rape exception clause back in February. The newly worded legislation removes the word “forcible” from the text but amends the committee report to exclude statutory (non-forcible) rape. A committee report is something that congress produces along with a piece of legislation which outlines its intended uses and definitions. Should any cases come to court regarding this matter, the committee report would be used to prove the intent of the legislation. By taking that wording out of the main text and amending the committee report, the GOP have essentially disguised their intent (albeit poorly.)


The report states that “H.R. 3, with the Hyde Amendment language, will still appropriately not allow the Federal Government to subsidize abortions in cases of statutory rape.” As pointed out in an article by Nick Baumann at Mother Jones, the Congressional GOP are using this tactic to redefine the word “rape” through this opaque legislation. The text of this committee report is available online, and the relevant section (§309) is available here.


This is not the first time Meehan has been dishonest, deceitful, and misleading regarding women’s health care, and is certainly not the last. The women who suffer the most from these votes are those that need the most protection. In this case young women were the target, in the case of privatizing Medicare middle-aged and senior women would be most affected, and in the case of de-funding Planned Parenthood low-income women would lose a valuable community resource. Please call Congressman Meehan and tell him that you’re embarrassed by his record on women’s health. Report back any calls in the comments or on our Facebook.


Springfield PA: (610) 690-7323
Washington DC: (202) 225-2011

United States Lawmaker Doesn’t Understand United States Law

Former U.S. Attorney and Sitting Congressman Meehan, Apparently Ignorant of Federal Law, is Shouted Down by Well Informed Constituents

In the below video, you can see former U.S. attorney Pat Meehan furthering the right-wing conspiracy that Planned Parenthood performs abortions with federal tax dollars. While this is patently false and has been disproven by reputable sources like Media Matters, Meehan joins a long list of freshman GOPer’s who have spread this falsehood. Fortunately, his constituents clearly understand this, shouting him down among a cacophony of objections, watch:




As can be seen in this video, Pat Meehan clearly (mis)states that Planned Parenthood uses federal funding for abortions. One would think that a former United States Attorney should understand federal law. Like, for instance, the Hyde Amendment, originally attached to a federal appropriations bill in 1976, and continued in some form since. The Amendment forbids the use of federal tax dollars for abortions except in very rare and extreme cases.

Recently Meehan voted to defund Planned Parenthood by voting for H. Con Res. 36. His justification for this is his statement that “The issue is, in addition, they [Planned Parenthood] provide abortions and they are asking for taxpayer dollars for that.”

There are two feasible, although both highly unfortunate, explanations for Meehan’s statement. 1) Pat Meehan, former District Attorney and United States Attorney does not understand or care to research the Hyde Amendment or 2) Pat Meehan, Congressman, understands the Hyde Amendment but simply chooses to lie about it.

His response to questions about the issue doesn’t make a strong case for either possibility as he doesn’t answer the question when asked point-blank about the Hyde Amendment in this video.

Congressman Tim Holden of PA-17 who is pro-life, like Meehan, voted “No” on the same bill. Holden understands that cutting off funding for preventative health-care methods like cancer screenings and birth control for the poorest among us is a surefire way to increase costs in the long-term. This vote was not about abortion; it was about saving money by funding preventative medicine.

Meehan is being ignorant at best and intellectually dishonest at worst. When people voted for Meehan, they expected a former US Attorney, what they got however, is someone who doesn’t hesitate to misinform his own constituents. At least this time, he got the message back: “We don’t believe you.”

Meehan Report: Meehan Loses Cool at Town Hall

Tensions High as Constituents Demand Answers

for Broken Campaign Promises, Partisan Voting

Delaware County, PA -- Why would a first-term Congressman get testy with his constituents during a crowded town hall meeting of his own planning? That’s what attendees were left wondering at a town hall in Woodlyn, Pennsylvania on Wednesday night. Tensions were high especially regarding a series of controversial health-care related votes Meehan has taken recently. Medicare and Planned Parenthood funding were among the most hotly debated issues at the fifth of Meehan’s scheduled town hall meetings. Andrew Blum of the Meehan Report was in attendance to cover the town hall, and has provided video of the ensuing fireworks.

Voters were shocked at how uninformed Mr. Meehan was regarding the Federal funding of abortions and the proposed cuts to family planning group Planned Parenthood. At one point, Meehan yelled at a woman when she scolded him for echoing efforts by his Republican colleagues to blur the lines by implying that Planned Parenthood is using taxpayer money to fund abortions. Under the Hyde Amendment, originally passed in 1976, the federal government is not allowed to fund abortions. Meehan makes a claim to the contrary in the following clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kax9PdbR81I&t=4m10s.


The Meehan Report is also including video footage of Meehan’s confrontation with the woman who questioned him with this press release. The heated exchange comes at 1:56 and 2:45 in the following clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kax9PdbR81I. Also, when asked about the Hyde amendment, Meehan simply skirts the issue. That video is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCkRBC6eFFk.


The very first question Meehan received at his town hall meeting was regarding his vote to “abolish Medicare” in the words of an angry constituent. Meehan, flustered, claimed that this was “factually wrong” despite his constituent’s claim that Ryan’s plan “is to abolish Medicare and give people some money - it will not be the Medicare that we know...people will get some money to maybe go and buy health care, that’s different from just being signed onto Medicare.” While it is clear that the Medicare program is not being “abolished” the point she makes is clear. View the video on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzYN2QY11zk.




The Meehan Report also released footage showing the Congressman on the defensive while trying to explain recent controversial votes on privatizing Medicare. One attendee said she was concerned what would happen when her mother was a Senior under a Republican plan to turn Medicare over to private insurance companies. Meehan dismissed the concerns, instead saying he had no complaints with a government program when he was a U.S. Attorney. The clip can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAl2XScqy_Y.


“Pat Meehan is getting some serious push back from the controversial votes he’s made in recent weeks,” said Andrew Blum, editor of the Meehan Report. “That’s no surprise, given that he flip-flopped on his promise not to privatize Medicare, and his repeated attempts to demonize an organization like Planned Parenthood that plays an important role in providing affordable health services to the families of his constituents. The tone of these town halls are a good indicator that Meehan’s recent votes are unpopular with the voters of his district.”

The Meehan Report Releases More Proof of Pat Meehan’s Epic Medicare Flip-Flop: Archived Press Release shows Candidate Meehan Was Against Privatization Before Congressman Meehan Voted For It

Meehan indisputably tells press and voters he is against privatizing Medicare in September press release; new evidence builds on earlier video proof from October debate; Meehan’s silence on the issue is deafening

Delaware County, PA – The Meehan Report, a new watchdog website created to hold Representative Pat Meehan accountable for his actions in Washington, today released new evidence that the first term Congressman knowingly misled voters last fall when he promised he would stand up to his Republican Party leaders and oppose efforts to privatize Medicare. Meehan voted on Friday to privatize Medicare by supporting a budget proposed by GOP house budget chairman Paul Ryan.


Meehan’s Friday vote clearly contradicts a campaign press release the candidate put out in the heat of last fall’s election, in which he strongly pushes back against claims that he would back Republican efforts to privatize Medicare and Social Security if elected. The release was designed to refute claims made during a September debate by his opponent. A section of Meehan’s September release is excerpted below with the relevant section italicized:

“Lentz charged that Meehan supports privatization of Social Security and Medicare, stating ‘Pat...wants to fix the debt by privatizing Medicare, which essentially ends Medicare, [and] privatizing Social Security...that ends Social Security.’

Meehan has repeatedly gone on record opposing any privatization of Social Security and Medicare.” [1]
 

The new evidence of Meehan’s flip-flop only adds to mounting evidence that he knowingly reversed positions after election season, when political scrutiny would be less intense. This is the second piece of evidence released by the Meehan Report documenting Meehan’s flip-flop on the privatization of Medicare. The Meehan Report also released video of candidate Meehan on Friday in which he stated he would oppose Republican efforts to privatize Medicare during an October debate with his opponent. That footage can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqznLQ8xLcc and in full here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBZrZgEaxN4


“It took just over ninety days for Pat Meehan to break one of the top campaign pledges he made, to our seniors no less,” said Andrew Blum, of the Meehan Report. “Pat’s silence on this issue is deafening; he needs to explain to the residents of the 7th District why he wasn’t truthful with them about his feelings about Medicare in the fall. The voters of the 7th District deserve better than this.”

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[1] Lentz Continues Deceptive Tactics in 3rd Debate, Meehan for Congress, dated Sept. 21, 2010, accessed on Apr. 17, 2011. http://www.meehanforcongress.com/news/lentz-continues-deceptive-tactics-in-3rd-debate

Meehan Breaks Campaign Promise: Votes to Privatize Medicare

Congressman Pat Meehan Breaks Key Promise To Delaware County Seniors: Backs Republican Efforts to Privatize Medicare

The Meehan Report releases debate footage from fall campaign in which Meehan pointedly promised voters he would vote against Republican efforts to privatize Medicare

Delaware County, PA – Pat Meehan broke a key campaign promise today when he voted to support the privatization of Medicare as outlined in Republican Paul Ryan’s budget plan. Don’t believe us?  Let’s go to the videotape…


In footage from an October debate released today by the watchdog Web site, The Meehan Report, then-candidate Meehan strongly states he will oppose all efforts of the Republican Party leadership to privatize Medicare by turning it into a voucher program, noting “If that’s the agenda, I’m not voting for it. That’s the first and most important thing.” (at :24 of the following video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqznLQ8xLcc ).




Meehan’s comment was a direct response to his opponent, state Representative Bryan Lentz, who noted that Meehan was likely to follow the lead of Republican Party leaders like John Boehner and Eric Cantor (who support privatizing Medicare and Social Security) after relying on them to headline a series of fundraisers. The exchange between Meehan and Lentz came during an October debate at Neumann University. (For the complete exchange, click http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBZrZgEaxN4)


The Republican budget plan that Meehan voted in favor of today calls for replacing the current Medicare system with a voucher program that forces Seniors to buy health care plans from private insurers.

“Medicare plays an important role in protecting the physical and financial health of our Seniors.” said Andrew Blum, founder of the Meehan Report. “Pat Meehan doesn’t believe it is a program worth protecting, and he should have had the decency to be up front with people who rely on it before the election. He broke his promise.”


Meehan’s broken promise on the privatization of Medicare is just the latest example of his failure to live up to campaign promises. He also claimed he would be a “fiscal watchdog” during the campaign, and yet news outlets have reported he voted to fund the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska, and that he is paying $10,000 more than what his predecessor paid in rent costs, or a greater increase in rent than any other new representative in Pennsylvania. [1]

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[1] “Digs for 7 of Pennsylvania’s 19 House members cost taxpayers more this year” – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_729415.html