Many of you are probably aware of the Texas Legislature's redistricting follies of 2003. As a result of the redistricting, blue Austin was divided into three congressional districts, two of them very red. My neighborhood wound up in TX-21, represented by Tom Delay's toadie Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio).
Since April, I had been pestering Rep. Smith's office to find out when he would be holding a public meeting in Austin with his new constiuents. I started this mission back when Social Security was still a headline issue. He had several public meetings in May and June, but all were in his original stronghold south of Austin, and I could not make the long drive to attend any.
Now, months later, he has finally scheduled two public meetings in Austin on the morning of Saturday, September 10. I plan to attend at least one and ask questions. The reason for this diary is to get an idea of what questions to ask and help phrasing those questions, as well as suggestions for follow-ups to each question. I'm hoping to get a group of people to attend and give each a question and follow-up to ask.
questions after the fold...
Here are some of the questions I have in mind:
- Congressman Smith, do you think President Bush should meet with Cindy Sheehan? (She will be on her road trip by this time, en route to DC for the Sept 24 Peace Rally).
- What is your response to Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela?
- Do you think it is appropriate for someone who has received campaign funding from the subject of an ethics inquiry to serve on the House Ethics Commission investigating that person?
- Do you support redirecting Social Security funds into individual accounts?
- Do you agree with President Bush that schools should give equal weight to the theory of Intelligent Design?
- Do you support providing federal funding for research into embryonic stem cell use?
- Do you think Karl Rove's top-secret security clearance should be revoked for his role in leaking Valerie Plame's name to the press?
I'm sure there are lots more questions. I know I'll only get to ask one of these, so I'd appreciate your suggestions on which one would be best to ask.
Thanks for the feedback!