Casten, Underwood Town Hall Meeting

After years of waiting for former Representatives Roskam and Hultgren to hold a Town Hall Meeting, our newly elected 6th and 14th District Representatives Casten and Underwood did just that.  

Representatives Casten and Underwood took direct unfiltered questions from an overflow crowd at McHenry County College this past Tuesday.  Their answers were thoughtful, detailed and rose above sloganeering.  One came away with the impression that these two freshman representatives have read the Constitution, respect our system of checks and balances and know that effective legislation must be a deliberative process that respects the rules of the House.   One important take away for us in District 2 is an issue which will  not make the general reporting of the event.  Both Representatives emphasized that the first piece of legislation to pass the new Democratic House was a re-institution of "Pay Go."  You may recall that this legislation was put in place some years ago by the House to address deficits.  The legislation basically says that in order for a new program or project to be funded revenue, or the elimination of redundant programs, must be identified.  The Clinton and Obama Administrations worked under this legislation and the deficits went down.  The legislation was suspended under President George Bush and deficits went up.  The legislation was recently suspended to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which in turn has led to the current massive deficits of the Trump Administration.  So, when we talk to our fellow citizen in District 2 and the false narrative of the tax and spend Democrats vs the fiscally responsible Republicans comes up, call them on it!  The facts are that the Democrats are the party of fiscal responsibility while the Republicans are the party of deficits.

Looking forwarded to more Town Hall meeting from our elected Representatives.  This is what Democracy looks like!