This is an after-the-fact semi-live blogging style account of the Town Hall New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand held Wednesday in upstate New York. The junior Senator has been making a tour around the state; this is one of several she’s held recently. The crowd was friendly, enthusiastic even, the questions were generally thoughtful — and the answers were forthright.
The Town Hall was scheduled for the gymnasium at Hudson Valley Community College; doors opened at 4:15 and the meeting was set to run from 5 to 6. People were walking in when I arrived. Planned Parenthood reps were handing out “I stand with Planned Parenthood” stickers, which
nearly everyone seemed to be taking. People from foodandwaterwatch.org were handing out small flyers protesting Senate bill S.1460 which would expand fracking, natural gas exports, speed pipeline approvals, and expand offshore drilling. Police at the door were scanning everyone before letting them in. There were check in tables (some of us had RSVP’d) and everyone got a raffle ticket.
The raffle ticket was how they handled questions — people put a ticket in a fishbowl, and if their number was called, they got to ask a question. Signs and posters were not allowed in, but there were Indivisible and Resist t-shirts in the crowd, along with Planned Parenthood shirts.
Gillibrand came in promptly at five; she was greeted with cheers and a standing ovation. A number of local, county, and state officials were on hand as well. There were interpreters on stage signing both the questions and her responses.
She made a brief introductory address before taking questions. (I’m working from hastily written notes here, so this is going to be basically a summary. My apologies for any transcription errors, misstatements and misinterpretations.)
She began with a lot to say about healthcare: ACA is still too expensive; the for-profit system is the root of the problem. She expressed strong support for single payer and Medicare for all, moving to a non-profit system. Healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
The first question got right into Medicare for all, and how to get there. Gillibrand expanded on her opening remarks
The second was what can Democrats do to get voters back?
Gillibrand addressed several sides of the problem, talking about rewarding work with things like living wages, paid leave, job retraining, “Made in the U.S.A.”, programs to incentivize businesses that create jobs. Economic focus, in other words.
The third question asked about protecting the environment and climate change — what can we do about that? Gillibrand responded with what would be a recurring theme: speak out! Phone calls, emails, letters — let them know in Washington that it’s real and it matters. She called for energy independence — why are we still buying oil from Saudi Arabia? — and we should be moving into renewables. (China is eating our lunch on renewable technologies.) Efficiency — it’s something we need to emphasize. It’s about creating jobs and national security.
A retired Teamster asked about defending his pension from impending benefit cuts; Gillibrand was firm that pensions need to be protected. It’s what people deserve after a lifetime of work.
[Note — a number of remarks by both questioners and Gillibrand got applause — I will mention a few times of note.]
The next question got a big response. After asking if our institutions can hold up from all the
stress being put on them, the questioner got into 25th amendment territory with a story about FDR in the later years of his presidency, in failing health — and not having a doctor competent to address his health issues. She asked (paraphrasing) if we could get a doctor to evaluate Trump’s brain. That got a huge response and not a little laughter.
Gillibrand agreed that she is really concerned about all that’s under attack, and if Trump fires Mueller, that would be a constitutional crisis. (Applause)
A more serious question came from a speaker concerned that there should be a second opinion before the president pushes the nuclear button — it’s a cold war relic. What can we do about it?
Gillibrand agreed and promised to give it some thought, noting that while only Congress has the power to declare war, the president is allowed to take immediate action to defend the country in urgent circumstances. (See Robert Bateman at Esquire about this. A 25-Year Army Vet Explains the North Korea Warning Sign He's Waiting For)
Another questioner pointed out we’ve racked up a $5 trillion bill between Iraq and Afghanistan. How do we get off the perpetual war treadmill? Gillibrand’s response: Elections have consequences. We need to put people in office not so eager to go to war, people who will bring the troops home. She mentioned when she first ran in 2006, getting out of Iraq was one of things she was calling for. She called for people to speak up and keep speaking up on this.
Back to Healthcare — how do we shore up the ACA while getting to Medicare for all? Gillibrand says protests worked — keep the pressure on. She thanked Collins, Murkowski and McCain for voting against the Senate bill. (Lots of applause at this.) In 2006 she was already calling for a Medicare buy-in. She thinks the momentum is there. Medicaid, Medicare — when companies lay off people in their fifties for younger, cheaper workers, those people need help, and that would be one way to give it to them. Gillibrand made a remark that deserves to be quoted in full. Via WAMC:
"Members of Congress are 20 years behind the rest of America on their best day. So let's tell them that we want Medicare for all, we want a buy-in, and it doesn't matter if you're Democrat or Republican"
There was more on healthcare. On rising drug costs, Gillibrand called out drug companies for raising prices because they can and catering to hedge funds that demand increased revenues. She called for regulatory mechanisms to review price hikes, and getting away from patent protections that delay drugs from being available in generic form.
A person representing a physicians group asked about how we can get to single payer against the opposition to it. Gillibrand went into a discussion of how for-profit healthcare distorts outcomes away from affordable care, rewarding greed. She says Democrats must get everyone on board to fight for it, and promised to have her people follow up with the questioner and her group.
Another person wanted to know how Gillibrand can find common ground and reach out when there seems to be so much division in the country. She made people laugh when she casually said well she’d made dinner for Ted Cruz the other night. More seriously, it’s about finding issues they can agree on and getting them to co-sponsor bills where that’s possible. Gillibrand is very focused on actually getting things done.
“If I’m not helping people, I should go home.”
The next question asked her to account for her stand on the controversial bill to prohibit people in the U.S. from supporting anti-Israel boycotts. She replied she initially supported it as she saw the BDS movement as an attack on America’s strongest ally in the Middle East, but after hearing from the ACLU and others, she became concerned about the freedom of speech aspects and withdrew her support.
A follow up question asked what she was going to do about Republican tax plans — cuts to the corporate income tax, and tax cuts for the rich. Her response reflected the fact that Republicans themselves really haven’t agreed on what they want to do yet, so it’s hard to have a response. She gave a fairly standard boilerplate answer about doing more for the middle class and the deductions available to them.
There was another question about how Democrats can make their case to voters. She said, in part, by listening and speaking right to people’s interests. One of the reasons she does town halls is to get out and meet with people to do that. And, she’s looking for support for her run in 2018. (Cheers!)
The last question addressed a serious issue: the 2020 census. The questioner is concerned that the Census Bureau will not be given the resources to do the job right, and that rampant gerrymandering needs to be addressed. (Officials from ‘safe’ districts who don’t have to worry about losing their elections are a real problem.)
Gillibrand got right into it. She called for public financing of elections — money corrupts. She called for the overturning of Citizens United — millions of dollars for negative ads turns people off from voting. Redistricting is going to be a battle, and she said Barack Obama and Eric Holder may be leading the fight on this issue. She said it would be great if New York State could go to public funding to show how it can and should be done.
As she had been saying all through the hour, SPEAK OUT! Make your voices heard. Keep the pressure on. It does make a difference.
This wrapped up the Town Hall. Gillibrand made herself available for people to take pictures, and a line formed while her aides snapped photos with people’s phones. The crowd seemed to be satisfied with their Senator, and maybe a little pumped up after interacting with her.
For some local new reports on the Town Hall, you can find write-ups, some video, and audio at these links.
The Troy Record: U.S. Sen Gillibrand answers questions at HVCC
WTEN News 10: Sen. Gillibrand discusses taxes, healthcare, government at HVCC town meeting
WAMC: Gillibrand Holds Town Hall In Troy
The Times Union: Loud crowd cheers Gillibrand at town hall meeting in Troy
UPDATE: A related post by subir writes up Gillibrand’s support for single-payer Medicare for all.