I went
to a town hall meeting, it was the 2nd annual DC2DQ event held by US
Congressman Will Hurd (that wasn't actually held at a Dairy Queen, it was held
at Floore's Country Store in Helotes TX, but that’s not important). A lot of
the people that attended it came with their own political agendas (i.e.,
lobbyists and organizations) and were not Helotes, TX residents (my home town).
I think that was unfortunate. On one
hand because the space they took up actual
Helotes residents could have had, and on the other hand because political
action groups and lobbyists already have enough access to office holders.
I think Congressman Hurd intended the DC2DQ
event to be for regular folk to come and attend so he can fill us in on what
he's doing: what is happening in Washington DC, what we haven't heard about
from the media, and to answer honest questions from the people that live in the
area he's representing. To be accurate,
the congressman did not just hold the DC2DQ in my home town, he held them throughout
the 23rd US congressional district which he represents … he held a
lot of them over the course of a week (twice a day). His district also happens to be the largest
geographical district in the country and includes much of the US/Mexico border.
In
typical fashion my wife and I arrived early for the event. At first I thought
we might be a little too early, but after just a few minutes I was glad we were.
That’s because I’d attended the first
DC2DQ meeting, at the real Dairy
Queen in Helotes, TX. I knew a good number of the people in the crowd. Did I mention Helotes, TX is my home
town? I have relatives here. The first thing I noticed at this year’s
DC2DQ is that I did not recognize a single face. Why is that you ask? … because many of the
early birds were special interest groups.
I sat there and eavesdropped as they prepared and schemed as to how they
would get the congressman to call on them. It kind of ticked me off. It ticked me off because the people from those special interest groups took up time and space that regular folk could have had with their congressman, which is why he held the meeting in the first place. People are entitled to their opinions, and should feel free to voice them in our country, but hording in on a meeting …. well that isn’t cool. It’s not cool to do it in Helotes, TX or anywhere else.
I’m not going to bring up the topics of discussion in this blog, because I’m still thinking that over, but I’ll leave you with this: The more we ask of government, the more government will demand (not ask) from us.
There you have it.
Eddie
