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Community Corner

Dent Needs to Meet the Public More Often

Our Congressman may only be hearing arguments that support his views.

Back in June I  how Charlie Dent would defend his vote to end Medicare, and it now appears that he simply won't.

Despite his usual practice of holding town hall meetings during the August recess, Mr. Dent has so far declined to host a public gathering for constituents.  

When he has appeared in public, it has been in front of friendly interest groups, or in situations where the Congressman is likely to be dominant, such as in conversations at the door with random residents.

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Given the Republican Party's ugly poll numbers, a streak of bad votes and Mr. Dent's own bad town hall experience from last month, it is perhaps understandable that he would want to avoid any appearances that might result in another video-taped accountability moment.

But while Mr. Dent is certainly in plentiful company in failing to hold a town hall meeting, it is noteworthy that over half of Pennsylvania's 19 Congressional representatives have held town halls.

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This includes many of his House Republican colleagues, some in nearby districts:  Jim Gerlach, Pat Meehan, Mike Fitzpatrick, Tom Marino, Mike Kelly, Glenn Thompson,, and Joseph Pitts.

Messrs. Gerlach, Meehan and Fitzpatrick were all admirably willing to hold public meetings to defend their votes and hear their constituents' concerns, even though there is some risk that they will be embarrassed by the opposition.

In August 2010, Democrats continued to hold town halls throughout the heated debate over health care reform despite the media frenzy around tea-addled  confrontations with Democratic lawmakers.

Like it or not, this is the state of our politics in 2011. It is how politics is played outside of campaign season. If lawmakers increasingly refuse to make public appearances unless they can be assured of friendly conditions, our politics is going to become much less small-d democratic.

If Mr. Dent feels compelled to vote for the unpopular position on an issue, there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but he should be willing to field questions on this, even from opponents, and explain himself to constituents.

If the Congressman is worried that the voting record he will have to defend is likely to be unpopular with a majority of voters in his increasingly Democratic district, and that it wouldn't do to draw attention to it, then he should consider voting with the Democrats more, switching parties, or running for Senate.

The real danger in appearing only with friendly audiences is that Mr. Dent may only be seeking and hearing arguments that support his existing views.

For example, how is it that the national Chamber of Commerce has recognized Mr. Dent for voting with "business interests" 100% of the time last year, while Kamran Afshar, the economist who conducts a quarterly survey of Lehigh Valley business owners, thinks Dent's austerity agenda is wrong and the economy needs more help.

If the economist closest to the data on the Valley's business climate thinks the local economy needs more stimulus, where's Charlie Dent with the stimulus bills?

He keeps saying that spending cuts will help the economy, even though the Congressional Budget Office has confirmed that the opposite is true. I would love to hear Mr. Dent explain why he disagrees with the guy who studies the Valley's business climate. 

With, and ample evidence that the faltering economy needs more support from the government, there are important questions about the economy that representatives need to answer.

This Congress has failed to take any action or produce any credible plan to address the problems in the labor market or in the housing market.  They will make big decisions about the future of the safety net in America.

Debates over big picture issues like this tend to be acrimonious, and are surely unpleasant for lawmakers, but that's the price of having a vote on the highly consequential issues that Congress will decide this session. Why shouldn't Mr. Dent have to answer tough questions about his views on them?

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