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.”