Town hall Meeting With Rep. Jim Gerlach (PA-6)

Today, my company held a small town hall meeting with our Republican Representative Jim Gerlach.  Rep. Gerlach recently won re-election following a very close race inside PA's 6th district against Lois Murphy.

The meeting lasted about an hour with about 30 minutes reserved for questions.

Opening Remarks

First, he discussed his committee assignments.  He is a member of Transportation Committee and a member the House Finance committee.  Providing examples of how this helps those of us in the district.

He went on to discuss the current Congress.  Toting the bi-partisan bills that were passed to reduce Student Loan Interest and strengthen ethics rules.  Next, there will be a Farm Bill (which preserves Open Space), NCLB, Immigration reform, and the budget.

Also, there will be funding bills concerning Iraq.  He stressed that he didn't support the Surge in Baghdad.  However, it's too late now since the troops are there.  Only thing we can do is hope.  Furthermore, there is a Supplemental bill that could spark debate on issues like setting a timeframe.  He's against a time frame since it tells the enemy what we are doing.  However, he did state that there is a belief that we need to force the Iraqis to take charge.   He did not mention anything concerning the Murtha plan to require proper training and equipment.

Questions and Answers

Question 1 dealt with local transportation.  Is the Federal Government doing anything to expand the infrastructure?  

He responded that it's an important issue but appeared that nothing was being done locally.  He supports the SVM but there is no way to pay for it.  He stated that the only way to get funding was to raise the gas tax.  Here, he ignored any and all other funding mechanisms and went straight to the "raise taxes" argument.  No discussion about money savings from leaving Iraq or killing the "Bridge to Nowhere".

Question 2 was about Social security and what's the status?  (question asker supports Privatization).  

Gerlach gave some generic background on the issue.  He used the term "IOUs" instead of Treasury Bonds/Bills.  He also failed to mention that the estimates were based on a lower economic growth estimate. Instead, he followed the typical Republican talking points.  

Question 3 was one of my personal favorites.  To paraphrase the question:  "Why were the past 3 Republican Administrations so bad at balancing the budget?"  

And, to paraphrase the Answer: "WOT... WOT... Iraq... Iraq... 9/11... 9/11... lazy people on welfare".

Question 4 was a follow up.  The same person stated that the budget went out of balance before 9/11 and after the tax cuts.  So how can you blame the WOT?  

Gerlach either didn't hear the question or ignored the question.  Instead, went on about how the tax cuts are growing the economy and growing the revenue stream.

And the final question was about the balance between being in Washington and being back home.  What's the balance?  

Gerlach started out by stating that the past sessions started out on a three day workweek and expanded to handle the different bills.  On those 3 days people would be voting until late at night.  Now, the 5 day week means the leave at 3 and don't do any more work.  And keep the Representatives in Washington more than at home.

Overall, I wasn't overly impressed with the presentation.  It was rather short and didn't go into depth on many areas.  Lot's of talking points.  

•  Did not ask any questions

  I sat in the back and just listened to what everyone was asking about.  Was a good time to see what the locals are thinking about.

  by Brother Maynard on Mon Mar 19, 2007 at 11:29:41 AM PDT

•  Will Murphy run again?

  Isn't the District trending blue?

  by CA JAY on Mon Mar 19, 2007 at 12:18:56 PM PDT

  •  I hope not

    She ran a really horrible campaign this year.  The district is trending blue (Sestak and Patrick Murphy boarder the disctrict and won). Gerlach should of been beaten and he wasn't.  There is some talk of State Senator Connie Williams running.  However, I've heard some people criticise her as being a poor campaigner.

    We have to see who else emerges over the next 6 months or so.

    by Brother Maynard on Mon Mar 19, 2007 at 12:25:14 PM PDT

•  Your company hosted a Representative?

  What do you do such that a potentially charged event like this was considered appropriate for work?

  by brittain33 on Mon Mar 19, 2007 at 12:25:58 PM PDT

  •  Yes, company sponsered

    We're a large computer/software company with million/billion dollar contracts with the Federal Govt.  However, in our defense, I work in one of our major R&D centers.  The Center itself is inside Rep. Gerlach's district.  So, any legislation he does affecting Transportation and such would affect all of us at the building.

    Also, in 2006, our company PAC gave $140,500 to different political campaigns (35% to Democrats, 65% to Republicans).  With the biggest amounts going to Rep. King (R-NY),  Sen Lieberman, and Sen. Allen.  We've also hired Jack Abramoff to lobby for us.

    by Brother Maynard on Mon Mar 19, 2007 at 12:38:29 PM PDT