On the eve of the October 1 government shutdown, San Joaquin Valley Republican Congressman Jeff Denham held a one hour telephone town hall meeting to answer questions about his political positions in the House of Representatives.
Mr. Denham opened the meeting by reading a prepared statement. The statement featured the exact same language used within the House of Representatives debate, and provided the rationale for obstruction of the Affordable Health Care Act by the Republican party that would force the federal government into shutdown later that night. Despite his party’s refusal to hold budget reconciliation meetings with the Senate during the past calendar year, he disavowed any responsibility for causing the shutdown. He said that there would not be a shut down if the Democrats would do his party’s bidding.
Mr. Denham repeatedly stated that he was supporting Republican efforts to delay implementation of health care reform “in the name of fairness.” He said that he didn’t think the administration of the Health Care Act was giving poor folks the same consideration as the big corporations. Considering Republican efforts to cut food stamps, his stated sympathy for the plight of poor folks was not convincing.
When asked whether he wanted to shut the government down, Mr. Denham said multiple times that he did not want to shut it down. He wouldn’t admit that the acts of his party would cause a shutdown, blaming Democrats for any negative consequences. He repeatedly said he just wanted fairness for the unnamed masses.
A Big Contradiction
Less than 20 minutes after Congressman Denham stated that he did not want to shut down the government, a caller came on the line advocating a shutdown of the government. Mr. Denham stated that he agreed with the caller one hundred percent. This directly contradicted earlier assertions that he did not want a shutdown.
When Mr. Denham had a hostile caller or a caller who asked a question Mr. Denham didn’t like, he would cut the caller off in the middle of the caller’s statement, read from his scripted message, and then go on to the next call.
When Mr. Denham had a friendly caller, the caller was allowed to drone on, much like most radio talk shows these days.
Promises of Continuous Benefits
A number of callers to Mr. Denham’s meeting were concerned about possible interruption of their federal benefits in a government shutdown. Mr. Denham assured each one that there would be no interruption. Once the caller was assured that benefits would not be interrupted, those who thought that they didn’t have to worry gave no objection to a possible shut down.
For callers not convinced, Mr. Denham offered assurances that he did not want a government shutdown and would not acknowledge the fact that his participation in Republican Congressional tactics would lead to a shutdown. He blamed Democrats for anything bad that happens when government shuts down.
Federal employees will lose income during the government shutdown. Mr. Denham did not express any concern about fairness to them.
No Responsibility of Any Kind
Congressman Jeff Denham maintained throughout his hour long telephone meeting that although he has served in Congress for 3 full years, he is not responsible in any way for any of the nation’s problems. He asserted that he has worked diligently to solve problems and that the Democrats are 100% responsible for the lack of accomplishment by the Congress he serves in.
For the record, during his 3 years in office, Mr. Denham did not introduce a single measure to improve the Affordable Health Care Act. He did vote over 40 times to repeal the entire law. He also supported a proposal to repeal $30 billion in taxes on medical devices, directly benefiting a few large corporations.
First, he stated that he disapproved of favoritism to large corporations, but then supported more tax breaks for large corporations. He must think that the wrong large corporations receive preferential treatment. He did not explain how a one year delay in the Affordable Care Act would benefit the uninsured or be fairer to them. He did not give callers the opportunity to ask these kinds of questions.
What is truly astounding is that some callers believed Mr. Denham’s statements at face value. His actions haven’t correlated with his words. Some of his statements were self-contradictory. But he vehemently denied any responsibility for any of the nation’s ongoing problems. He does not accept any responsibility for the government shutdown, even though he supported it.
Congressman Jeff Denham will be running for reelection next year. Will the public remember his role in bringing about the government shutdown?
I went to a Denham town hall meeting a couple of years ago. Denham did not say anything of substance at all. Those of us with prepared questions ( we had them written down) had been to visit Denham’s office earlier ( sorry I can’t recall the specific issue – there are so many of them) . His staff avoided calling on us. His comments were on a feed loop and served both as statements and as answers to questions. There were a fervent few that hung on to his every word. But the rest of us were left feeling like we had just eaten a bunch of junk food- full of empty calories.
Congressman Jeff Denham is not the worst Republican in national office but that is not saying much, given the intellectual swamp in which his party operates. He has failed to live up to his oath of office and has to be grouped into the cadre of tea drinkers which makes him a “domestic enemy” and a target of thinking people. I hope the Demos have a decent candidate.
Well said, Bruce. Tipster and Mary, your comments seem right on as well. Perhaps Denham believes all he says, perhaps he is partially a victim of high level Republican Party tactics, which frown on anyone getting out of line. Regardless, he is not helping the situation and needs to accept the consequences if he is unable to buck his party’s leadership and do the right thing.
The government shutdown is the fault of the democrats lead by Sen. Reid. His lack of willingness to talk about anything has lead us to this place.
I applaud the House for standing up for over 60% of American’s who did not want this poor, unconstitutional and socialist like legislation to get passed.
I am proud of the House for standing by over 60% of the american people who did not want this socialist, unconstitutional mandate pushed upon our free society.
On Wednesday October 16th, the Zebra clearly showed his true stripes. Denham voted to keep the government shut down.
If Denham really is a man of his convictions, he should be truthful about them. Instead, he hides behind double talk.
The comment by Brian above is not the opinion of a thinking person. You cannot change the law by shutting the government down. The law is changed by a majority of legislators working together to either make a law better or to repeal it. If 60% of Americans did not want the law, it would not exist. The fact is, people need health care and the law is a means to facilitate what the people want. Yes, the law can be improved, but not by shutting the government down.
I am so tired of Jeff Denham and his staff telling “spins” and lies regarding his positions. His staff saying he didn’t vote for the shutdown or default when in fact he did is flat out lying.
If he truly cares so little about our district (or our country for that matter) he should at least have the brass to stand behind his positions, instead of lying to his constituents.
I was quite pleased to learn recently that someone has already declared they are running against him in the upcoming 2014 elections, and I for one, can’t wait to vote for anyone other than right-wing extremist Jeff Denham.