- I just wanted to say a few words, but thank you for coming to this afternoon. It's hugely important
- that we use our voices and speak to a person who's not even here. But I would tell you I'm with a 50-51
- group. We've been doing a lot of organizing the protests on the square. We have banner drops on the
- bridge pretty frequently. And we use various topics, depending on what's happening.
- issues with ICE or issues with voting irregularly are out there. I encourage everybody. I think what
- gives me a lot of hope is that I bet all of you are involved with something and doing something. And
- I think it's super important that we're doing it at this time. I just heard that Marco Rubio is now
- blaming all protests
- on Cuban influence. And that we are terrorists. Communists. And that's kind of frightening. That we
- have a Secretary of State saying that we are working, Cuba is working with us. And he'll firstly say
- there are paid protesters. Go wait for my check. And nobody, raise your hand if you ever got a cent
- for protesting.
- But I think it's super, super important that we keep this pressure on all the time, every day. There's
- an organization called Five Calls that you can put on your phone. And it's a wonderful little app because
- it's got many, many, many issues on it. And you can choose the issue that you want. And it puts you
- right to your representation. So you don't have to bother dialing it.
- or doing anything like that. Quite handy. So I just, again, we're going to be starting at 3.30, but
- I just wanted to really thank you for all you do. And I know I was talking to somebody else and they
- were saying how discouraged. She was feeling that all the study we do doesn't seem to have any impact.
- My answer to her was,
- Imagine what it would look like if none of us was doing anything. We have to reach out to our kids who
- are in the older audience here. Our kids are young. My kids are in their 40s, and they're super busy.
- And they have kids. So I think it's really important that just to know we are doing something. Our voices
- are heard.
- And keep the good work up. Don't give up. Thanks. This event was organized by 5051. And it's a nationwide
- organization, primarily known for organizing demonstrations and banner drops.
- We're past that point right now. We're into the election season. And town halls were traditionally a
- regular part of American civil life. It was an important part of democracy that representatives would
- come and face their constituents, explain their actions, explain their voters, explain their votes.
- back to, even before we had the Constitution, back to colonial days. And in New England, they would
- regularly have town halls where everybody came, and they made decisions collectively. But we're too
- big to do that now. We can't just call a town hall and decide how we want to run things. But what we
- have is a Constitution. That is the point of the Constitution, and that is
- the great privilege that we have won for ourselves, the privilege of self-determination, the privilege
- of self-government. And it only works if we take that responsibility seriously. So that's why you have
- been invited here today. This is a very necessary part of democracy.
- It's not just for publicity. It's not just for fun. It's not just to get together with friends and neighbors.
- Although, that's good. There's nothing wrong with that. But this, we were the first, what those would
- call, true democracy. In other words, it wasn't a parliamentary system with
- a king that was in a system where the aristocracy ruled everything. No, this was the first, the first
- in the world, true democracy. And that was reflected in our Declaration of Independence and also in
- our Constitution. So it's up to us to defend those rights. No one is going to do it for us. It's up to us.
- And we have to accept that responsibility as citizens of a free democracy. So I hope that you understand
- why you have been invited here today. We have a serious problem in this country right now with a Congress
- that does not take their responsibilities seriously. They become a rubber stamp. Amen.
- for anything that we, okay, I won't get into too much, I'll pump myself. But it's up to us. It's not
- enough to just get mad at the television, yell at the television, okay. It takes more than that. You've
- gotta get off the couch, out of the living room, and talking to people.
- and finding out everything that she can. Right now, our representative has not come to any town halls.
- She has not heard from any of her constituents. Maybe she gets letters. Has anyone written her a letter
- and gotten anything back that reflected a form letter? Send a form letter. That's all she cares about.
- That's obviously what she thinks about you.
- So just think about that for a while and why you're here and the power that you have in your vote. But
- not just the vote. You're all part of a community. You know people. You know where you live. You know
- your neighbors. You know your friends. You know the civic group that you belong to. So it's time to
- get out of your shell, stand up, say, this is what I believe in, and this is what I think needs to happen.
- We have representatives from various civic organizations here today. And I hope you can take the time
- to talk to them, because they are all involved in some way. But all it takes is for you to step forward
- and say, yes, tell me what you're doing.
- Tell me what I can do. No one is going to do it for us. It's up to us to take on that responsibility.
- And we'll be getting into just a few minutes. So think about what questions you have. We've all got
- that pink slip. I know it's hard to get up in front of an audience and remember what it was you were
- going to say. You get nervous, and the thought leaves your head.
- So that's why you have a chance to write it down. I've had an extensive experience teaching, so I'm
- used to doing this. But it wasn't easy to do this and to learn how to handle the attention of the classroom.
- That was hard. So I know that a lot of people, when they get up here and they see the microphone, they're
- going to freeze or forget what it was they were going to say, get nervous.
- You can write it out. Think about what you're going to say. Take a deep breath. Collect your thoughts.
- Relax and realize that everybody here is here to do something. And they really do want to hear from
- you. The other reason to fill out those pink slips is that I'm going to collect them at the end. And
- they're going to be sent to Erin Houch's office. So she will follow.
- And this is what she was concerned about. It's not just paperwork. It's not just performance. This is
- the only way to get through to her. And to do this more than once, OK? This congressional district goes
- all the way now to the Ohio River. This is a template. This is a run-through for other counties
- within the congressional district to step forward and do something similar. So this is being recorded
- today on Community Action Television through the library. So it's going to be available on YouTube and
- also local cable. It does matter that you're here today. So whatever you have to say, there's
- communicated to many more people than just the people sitting here today. So I want you to think about
- that. Yes, it may be hard to get up in front of a microphone, but it does matter. It will matter. And
- it's what we have. We have our voices. They can't shut us up. They would like to. They would like to
- tell you that you don't matter.
- that what you think doesn't matter, that you're all being controlled by outside elements, that you can't
- think for yourself. We know that's not true. We can see what's in front of us. We can see a never-ending
- war starting right now. We know what's going on in the war. We know what's going on with his corrupt deals
- Where he is making billions, his children are making millions, and yet we can't afford public services
- like education, like health care, like housing. We don't deserve these things because we're not part
- of the endowed. We're not part of the correct health structure. What do we do about that? We just can't
- give up. We have to keep fighting.
- We have to keep opening our mouths. We have to keep talking about what we see in front of our own eyes.
- That's what matters. And thank you for coming today.
- is going to be our kind of master of ceremonies today. Does everybody know about his podcast,
- Who's Left? Anyone ever heard his podcast? OK. He's great. I love his voice. And he just has this really
- wonderful, relaxed, humorous way of kind of viewing the people. So this is how it works today. You get
- to come up and ask a question. It's two minutes. We have a timekeeper here.
- And the yellow card means you have 30 seconds left, and the red card means that you have to stop, because
- we have a lot of people here. It's going to take a while to get through all of this. So I hope you understand
- those time constraints. Anything else I need to say? Go ahead. Oh, wait. Go ahead. You can go again.
- Please. He understands the importance of speaking up
- what you think and learning what other people know about and are willing to share. Anything else I need
- to explain here? Hi, everybody. So as Carolyn was saying, and thank you for the lovely introduction.
- as they thought of me Mr. Sears on Tuesday, and interesting for today's event. So, as Carolyn said,
- my name is, yeah, my name is Scott Eric Rogers, and I am a host and creator of the Who's Left podcast
- that is spelled H-O-O-S left, like who's your left, and also the founder of Progressive Indiana Network,
- a independent media project dedicated to hosting and amplifying progressive voices by researchers, activists,
- podcasters and other content creators here in the Hoosier State, and you can find out more about us
- at progressiveindian.net. Now, as Carolyn was saying, the town hall is one of the oldest traditions
- in American democracy. It's where citizens bring their concerns directly to those who represent them.
- Whether we agree or disagree politically, we all deserve a chance to have our voices heard. Now, our
- Our chair here today is with me, has been reserved for our Congresswoman Erin Houchin. We sent invitations
- electronically and by certified mail, I understand, to both her DC office and her office down in Salem,
- but have received no response. This is typical. Houchin was first elected to this seat in 2022, has
- now completed nearly two full terms, and has never
- held an open, in-person town hall where she takes unscripted questions from her constituents. In this
- district now, that's not to say she doesn't come home to southern Indiana. She returns to visit safe
- spaces, hobnob with donors, roll elbows with the very important people. Apparently, that's not us. But
- she refuses to field questions from her constituents.
- So listen, since she doesn't visit us, and you haven't met her, most likely, who is Erin Houchin? Well,
- before serving in Congress, Representative Houchin spent eight years in the Indiana State Senate, where
- she took a reputation as one of the legislature's most conservative members. And since heading to Washington,
- she has continued that approach
- by supporting the Republican leadership's agenda on issues including abortion, immigration,
- taxes, environmental regulation, or lack thereof, and federal spending. Now, any of us believe those
- priorities do not reflect the needs of a large number of Hoosiers. We believe government should protect
- a woman's right to make her own healthcare decisions, strengthen public education,
- expand access to affordable healthcare, invest in clean energy, defend social security and Medicare,
- and create an economy that works for working families, not just the Epstein class. Representative Houchin
- has consistently taken positions opposite those. She has supported strict abortion restrictions. She
- has opposed many climate initiatives,
- She has favored extending tax policies that primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans. She has backed
- efforts to reduce spending on many domestic programs. And she has been a reliable supporter of President
- Trump's agenda and that of the Republican leadership. And reasonable people can disagree about these
- issues. That's fine. That's what democracy is all about. But democracy also depends on accountability.
- elected officials work for the people, not the other way around. Instituents, that is us, should have
- opportunities to ask questions, hear explanations for difficult, though it may express concerns face-to-face.
- And since Representative Pouchin is not here this afternoon, we will do the next best thing. We will
- talk about her record, discuss the issues that matter to our communities, and give participants
- an opportunity to ask the questions they would have asked
- if she had accepted our invitation. This isn't about attacking a person. It's about examining the decisions
- that affect our lives, our families, and our futures. And whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, a
- libertarian, independent, socialist, whatever, or simply a concerned citizen, thank you for taking the
- time to be engaged. Democracy is strong when citizens show up, stay informed,
- and hold every elected official, regardless of party, accountable. Now, Carolyn was explaining these
- little big slips here, and you know, you see kids, back in the day, I'm sure most of you guys know this,
- but we used to have this sort of thing before tax and emails and voicemails. They'd call in some of
- those places of business and they weren't there. The person answering the phone, which was probably
- attached to the wall, of course, wrote down a message
- and maybe even cursive, to give the recipients a sense while you were out. And I'd like folks to go
- ahead and fill these out. We will come up and cue up, raise your hands. And you will come up right here
- so we get you on camera. We only got the one leg today, unfortunately. But let me give you a little
- demonstration here to begin.
- of Congresswoman. While you were out, over 90,000 Hoosiers lost access to food assistance. While you
- were out, hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers saw their health insurance premiums rise by 25% to 30%.
- Indiana's own insurance regulators approved an average 27% hike for next year. And for Hoosiers who
- lost their subsidies entirely,
- Some saw their rates double, triple, or worse. While you were out, hundreds of Indiana families have
- seen loved ones rounded up and detained just by having no criminal record. And we put the bill. While
- you were out, a dozen rural hospitals in Indiana, including the one in your hometown of Salem, were
- officially classified at risk of closing. Senate Democrats put that list
- directly in front of Congress, warning it would shove financially fragile hospitals over the edge. And
- you knew. And you voted for it anyway. While you were out, Hoosiers saw the utility bill spike by 20%
- to 25% while power hungry data centers multiplied across their communities, data centers that guzzled
- tens of millions of gallons of water, gobbled up farmland and wetlands and paid next to nothing.
- in return in Indiana has exempted them from state sales taxes entirely, a giveaway expected to cost
- this state over $2 billion. Now, I just laid out a bunch of numbers, a high-level view of just some
- of the damage that's been done on Mrs. Housh's watch, but this is a mere accounting, a skeleton with
- no meat, a summary without emotion. You out there will bring these numbers to life.
- Your stories will add color to this outline. Again, the purpose of today's event is to share your experiences
- with the Congresswoman. Ask your questions, vent your frustrations. So again, I will invite you to do
- just that. Fill out these forms. We're going to go ahead and collect them at the end of the day. And
- we will send them on to her office. We might not be able to make her listen. We might not be able to
- make her care.
- We can't make ourselves impossible to ignore. We'd like to get us started today. All right. I have a
- whole lot of questions. Hello, everybody. I have a lot of questions. Can you introduce yourself? Oh,
- I'm sorry.
- Rick Patrick, I live in Nashville in Brown County. Brad Meyer fan. Todd Blanch, Acting Attorney General
- and Attorney General nominee hopeful, only recently and grudgingly met for a single hour with Epstein
- Abuse Survivors. About a year ago, Mr. Blanch, in his role as Deputy Attorney General, met for nine
- hours over two days with Delane Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker for Epstein and others,
- and facilitated her move to a minimum security prison. Given your commitment to anti-trafficking legislation
- dating back to your days in the Indiana State Senate, do you find this disturbing? As an advocate for
- online safety and child protection, extended foster care, and vulnerable youth support, if re-elected,
- will you commit to ending once and for all the continued stonewalling and cover-up of the Epstein files
- and work to deliver justice to the survivors?
- You know, Mrs. Houchin likes to tout her record as someone who cares for and protects children. She
- was a case manager here in DCS in Indiana before being elected to the state senate. And as you said,
- she championed this anti-trafficking legislation. And yet, and yet, now she would say, she supported
- the release of the Epstein files. She was one that voted in favor of the Epstein files transparency
- act, but I would note
- only after it was apparent that there were not enough votes to keep these things under wraps. And it
- was very clear that she had to, for fear of looking like, well, who else would like to come up and share
- their story? Thank you. I'm Susan Davis. I live in the county of Wilmington. Representative Houchin.
- Your vote for President Trump's 2026 budget, which has been described as the largest transfer of wealth
- in our country, has meant the following in Congressional District 9. 1,708, 119 of your constituents
- on Medicaid are at risk of losing their coverage.
- 29,000 of your constituents who receive coverage under the ACA will see their average premium go up
- by $720 a year. That's a 41% increase. 54,000 of your constituents count on the Supplemental Nutrition
- Assistance Program or SNAP to put food on the table.
- As a Christian with government health care provided to you, how can you ignore Matthew 25, verse 4,
- where Jesus teaches that serving people in need is the same as serving him directly? There's knock-on
- effects from this.
- And again, this is someone who touts her support for children and with the reduction in the Medicaid
- rolls, with the reduction in the food assistance.
- can, you know, those numbers are used to determine the eligibility for free and reduced school lunches
- in schools. And I want to say, somewhere in the neighborhood of 650,000 Hoosier kids are at risk of
- losing access to free and reduced lunches in their school because of that reduction that's in addition
- to whether they are using Medicaid or SNAP in their own home. Very disappointing.
- Certainly not taking care of the least of these, as Susan mentioned. Who else would like to come up?
- That's Gare. I know Gare. All right. Ladies and gentlemen, I go on my right side of Bloomington. Dear
- Representative Alchin, a quote from your left side. Aaron is a committed fiscal conservative and has
- a track record to prove it.
- And as a champion for Indiana's balanced budget amendment, she's bringing that same fiscal discipline
- to Washington. The big, beautiful bill that you passed was estimated to blow up the federal budget.
- The nonpartisan congressional budget office estimates that the effect of the big, beautiful bill on
- the federal budget is $3.8 trillion over 10 years.
- If you take this and divide this by the number of Americans, that is $11,000 for each one of you in
- the room and all the other Americans that live in this country. Since we're not planning to pay this
- debt tomorrow, we have to think about our future generations. The estimated over the next 10 years,
- 36 million Americans will be born. For each one of those 36 million Americans to be born over the next
- 10 years, that's a staggering $100,000.
- just for the privilege of being an American. Could you please explain to us how you can advertise yourself
- as a fiscal conservative, and that you have contributed to blowing up the federal debt? What kind of
- discipline have you shown by helping to blow up the federal debt? The congressional budget office also
- estimates the distributional impact of the big, beautiful bill. The top 10% of incomers in this country
- they will see their resources over the next four years go up by two and a half percent. At the bottom
- percent, at the bottom 10 percent, the 10 percent poorest of our brothers and sisters, their resources
- will go down over the next four years by three and a half percent. That's mostly because we're cutting
- SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, and similar programs. There's a plethora of social science research projects, research
- that shows that these are not just NANDOX, these are not just dollars blowing you in.
- these are investments to help people have a better life over the long term. Thank you. You know, even
- if you're not a fiscal honk like, say, myself, it is certainly rich for how she could call herself some
- sort of fiscal conservative while voting for budgets like these. And it's not like the money isn't there.
- The rich folks have it all. And she signed up on this bill, which gave massive tax cuts to the wealthiest
- among us. Now, do I have any billionaires in here? The one big, beautiful bill is after them? Yeah,
- I think so. Does anybody have a story about how the big, beautiful bill
- has offended them personally, or maybe will affect them in the near future if everything goes through
- as stated. Come on up. Share your story. I have a lookbook in a long-term care facility. Okay. Do you
- have anything written down? Not in that regard. Okay.
- Yeah, what you said, my concern is the Medicaid tests and what's going to happen to our nursing home
- residents. Given Donald Trump's continuing escalation of the Iran war and his ever-increasing demands
- for more funding, at what point would you demand a defined endgame and strict accounting for war spending?
- Congresswoman Houchin.
- A lot of folks here in this room probably aren't feeling the effects of this war the same way folks
- in Iran are, maybe, exactly, or our troops in the Middle East. We've seen, we're up to 18 now, U.S.
- service builders have been killed in this conflict that is illegal that they call for. They're lying
- about the number of casualties.
- Just this week, they got caught producing from 18 to 14 the number of war dead and then making up an
- excuse about lying. They're also lying about injuries that have been sustained in this war. Equipment
- losses, you name it, I don't know if we're going to get an accurate accounting of what has taken place
- while Trump and Pete Exxon are overseeing the Pentagon.
- And not to mention, the Pentagon struggles with accounting as it is. They haven't passed an audit in
- years and are years away from doing so. We've got someone else who'd like to share their story. Why
- don't you come on up? Hi, I'm Peg Houseman, also from Wilmington. Good afternoon, Representative Houch.
- You want to go out, Peg?
- I'd like to ask you about environmental policy and your support for the Lower Energy Costs Act.
- For years, you've told us that this bill is a way to boost U.S. energy production, lower energy costs,
- and rein in federal regulations that supposedly get in the way of economic growth. Of course, we all
- like the idea of U.S. energy dependence, cheaper power, less rent, and pay. But would this law even
- give us those results? And if it does, what's the price?
- The bill focuses on reproducing more fossil fuel by, for example, mandating oil and gas leases on public
- land, streamlining permits for mining pipelines, and making it illegal to ban fracking. But if you want
- cheaper energy, why would you go with fossil fuels? Renewables cost a lot less, even though they've
- gotten much less help from the government in subsidies.
- Last year, solar power was 41% cheaper, and wind was 53% cheaper than the cheapest fossil fuels. And
- even costs for battery storage, which is really important for nighttime energy, they have gone down
- 93% since 2010. That's why the adoption of renewables keeps going up in the US, in spite of federal
- attempts to discourage it. Can I have three seconds left?
- Okay, well fossil fuels are really unhealthy, and they also raise the level of greenhouse gases in the
- air, which means global warming gets worse year after year. So what does your support for this legislation
- say to you about your priorities? Is it really a choice between cutting the protection so we can have
- more fossil fuel production, or investing in protecting our air and our water, our public health? Why
- should we believe that you've chosen the right priorities?
- That actually ties in very nicely with the last question about that Iran war in the Pentagon. It's a
- war fought over essentially fossil fuels, right? So it costs more than just our failure to innovate
- in terms of renewable energy, in terms of adopting renewable energy. It's costing lives, it's costing
- talent and treasure and love of our service members and, you know,
- China is eating our lunch when it comes to renewable energies. You know, so much for a strong national
- defense and a strong national profile that Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi herself is supporting. And along the
- lines, it's not just that she supports the fossil fuels. She would say that she supports carbon-free energy.
- She's a big fan of nuclear. They want to have small modular nuclear reactors here in Indiana. We're
- apparently being slated to serve as a gig thing for this unproven technology. Anybody want to own one
- of these in their backyard? I think so. I think so. Just would like to come up here and share.
- I live in Bloomington, Indiana. I have a question for Erin Houchin. She was a staffer for Dan Coats
- in 2011 to 2014, and I'm going to address that here. Former Director of National Security Dan Coats
- clashed with President Donald Trump over a Russian election interference, expressed deep private concerns
- regarding Vladimir Putin, and was frequently sidelined on key diplomatic decisions. Coats publicly affirmed
- Russian election medley? Coats was not informed of the details regarding Trump's private meeting with
- Putin at the 2018 Helsinki summit? Dan Coats resigned in August 2019 and cited deep suspicions that
- Vladimir Putin had something on Donald Trump. They are announcing you worked as a staff member to Dan
- Coats from 2011 to 2014, while Coats was Indiana's U.S. Senator. Do you believe Putin has something on Trump
- and that Russia meddled in the 2016 election to help Trump, and you believe that this assistance is
- continuing today? Yes. Yes. Aaron claims to be a strong supporter of Ukraine. So we'll see. But alas,
- we saw the president just
- Within just the last couple weeks, talk about election interference. And he said that China was interfered
- in the 2020 election. Venezuela interfered in the 2020 election. And he released all sorts of documents
- that supposedly prove this news sledge they didn't. What these documents that he pointed to didn't suggest
- is that Russia has and is still interfering in US elections. He conveniently admitted that, Eric, I
- want your wife.
- I believe you were next one to come up. Well, thank you Representative Halton for not being here. My
- name is Susan Rennie and I'm from Monroe County. Today is the 36th anniversary of the Americans with
- Disabilities Act.
- And if you know anything about what's happening in Washington, DC, Representative Houchin, then you
- know that it's under attack. A recent memo from the Department of Justice is signaling that the federal
- government will no longer enforce the immigration mandate under the ADA, which puts thousands of Hoosiers
- at risk of institutionalization.
- something we've been working on for the last 40 years. People are now able to live independently in
- their community with support. And now the federal government is going to allow states to start
- institutionalization again. It's going to shift the burden from integrated care into costly state-run
- institutions. Those institutions actually cost four to five times more
- and support in the community. So, Representative, given your commitment to fiscal responsibility, how
- can Congress support states in maintaining cost-effective community-based care for your constituents
- with disabilities? That's a really important question. I actually did a podcast episode just the last
- couple weeks
- about this with a couple of advocates for disability rights. And one of the things we talked about is
- if this administration keeps going down this path, what they're doing is repeating the eugenics policies
- that we had in this country from the early 1900s and onward. Even Indiana, it turns out, was a leader,
- a pioneer in eugenics, not exactly a proud in history. To Hamilton, we see Indiana history repeating itself
- again and again, I don't know, next weekend up in Fishers, Michael Beckwith is hosting a, what amounts
- to a modern day clan rally with former border patrol commander Greg Robino. There will be, yeah, who
- was right, there will be a, quite a large counter protest, I understand, on that day. Did they find
- a place to do it? Because I heard they were having trouble finding a place.
- a place to actually host them. Well, they're not announcing it because it's a private gathering. They
- don't want folks to know where they're going to be so we can protest. But there is a protest, I understand,
- in a park out there. Lots of information for that available on Facebook. Is anybody coming up there
- next Saturday? I am. It's very important for Hoosiers to make our
- voices heard that we will not tolerate a return to the 1920s here in the 2020s. Who else wants to go
- ahead and come up? I saw Dan back there. That's great sharpness.
- My name is Daniel Siegel. I live in Bloomington here, and I'm also on the State Coordinating Committee
- for Jewish Voice for Peace. Congresswoman, if you're not familiar with the Jewish Voice for Peace, we
- have nearly three quarters of a million active members and supporters. We are the fastest growing Jewish
- identified organization in the country, and we are the world's largest
- and designs Jewish organizations. In Palestine and Israel, Congresswoman, some 14.5 million of our fellow
- human beings live. Roughly half of them are Jewish and have full citizenship rights. The other half
- are Palestinian. Two and a half million of them have second-class citizenship rights.
- For instance, they live in the 48 borders, but are restricted from living in over 90% of the lands,
- have restricted rights of movement and speech. The other five and a half million Palestinians are not
- citizens and are daily denied their freedom and equality by the Jewish supremacist Zionist state. You
- have always supported this Jewish supremacist state, and since October 23,
- You have supported the genocide of this Jewish supremacist state against our Palestinian brothers and
- sisters. How do you justify your support for genocide? My Jewish parents, may their memories be for
- blessings, brought me up to know that never again meant for all human beings.
- for everybody. How do you justify your support for the genocide? You have voted for every funding, every
- weapon of mass murder to be distributed to the Israeli state to kill more and more Palestinians. And
- that has taken money away from what we needed here for Medicare for all, low income housing, universal
- low income housing. How do you justify your anti-life,
- pro-Palestinian faith policies. It is a moral obligation to unequivocally defend Israel and I find it
- ironic that she used the word moral there because it's clear to anybody on the set of working eyes that
- what is happening there is immoral.
- You know, it turns out, I've got an APEC tracker up here right now, our congresswoman has taken nearly
- $35,000 in funding from pro-Israel political action committees. Her humanity can be bought relatively
- cheaply, it appears. That's not that much for a congresswoman. Disappointing for sure. I'd like to...
- question to the congresswoman, a politician who has been in politics for many, many years in the state
- before going to federal. My name is Tommy Allison, also a retired politician. From one politician to
- the other, I want to ask how you can send out
- I am older, so I'm getting mailings from my congresswoman to seniors. And the latest one was how much
- she has done for seniors, how much she cares about seniors. And there's something that has stuck in
- my cross about that particular concern.
- Because during COVID, there were many, many deaths in the nursing homes of our seniors, our parents,
- the families could not get their parents out of the nursing homes. And it was not only the patients
- that were trapped and had extreme deaths, but the staff as well.
- And this is something that she wasn't aware of. It was something that she knew about. Most of the nursing
- homes Medicaid pays for. That's our tax monies. It comes through federal to the state, and the state
- must oversee that payment.
- And part of that, it means that they must live up to staffing levels, or they can be sued. The state
- had always obeyed that, had law obeying that the parents, the children that had people in nursing homes,
- that they could sue if their staffing levels were not
- kept up. She was on the policy committee for the Republican Party. Behind the scenes, they decide what
- bills even go to the super majority. And they decide what goes forward doesn't go forward. So she decided
- what went forward. And what went forward was that the state changed the law and said that
- The people could not sue the owners of the nursing home. And that meant that there is no responsibility
- in the nursing homes at all. Before that, the state looked the other way as far as the staffing. They
- would notify, and when the state examiners came by, they were fully staffed for that day.
- But now there is no recourse whatsoever. And so we have her to be explained why she can say she cares
- about seniors when our seniors in the nursing homes are on Medicaid and there's no other choice. So
- she's responsible. And she should stand and take that blame.
- Thank you so much. I can attest to this personally. My wife is one of those nurses who will work in
- a long-term care facility during COVID. She still works in one of those long-term care facilities.
- Let me tell you about the staffing levels. They are running tight. They do never have enough hands on
- deck, certainly not as many as they need on a day to day basis. And, you know, in certain states, this
- is maybe not something this is an option,
- change because she's a federal level, but a state like Indiana is a right-to-work state. And we do not
- have much in the way of nursing unions like they do in states like California and Massachusetts,
- for example, where they can collectively bargain for mandatory patient-to-nurse ratios. We don't have
- that here. And along the lines of Organized Labor, I want to say
- Congressman Mnuchin has a 0% lifetime record from AFL-CIO. And on the topic of seniors, I hope to be
- one someday. And I hope to have social security available to me when I retire, if I ever get to retire.
- And these cuts that she voted for in this one big, beautiful bill will
- You know, they say they want to protect Social Security, right? Well, I understand that the Congressional
- Budget Office, they themselves, not exactly a partisan think tank, said that the insolvency date for
- Social Security
- moved up about a year from the passage of this bill. Any folks here on social security know that are
- currently a lot? Has anybody seen effects of this bill yet? And some questions? So far, so good. Or
- any other social security questions? Anybody want to talk about social security?
- No takers there? Anybody else want to share their story or questions for the Congresswoman? I see one
- in the back. I see a couple in the back. See, that's how they pitch it. The people that are already
- in it aren't going to mail it. They always put in the cuss, so they kick in down the road.
- and I've followed your office so many times, they recognize my voice. But today, I want to talk about
- ICE. No one disputes that our right to have secure borders and enforcement of immigration. But how you
- solve them matters. I come to speak about my grandson who goes to Fairview School.
- I went to the Christmas program this year. The principal there cares about diversity. He in fact celebrates
- diversity. And it brought tears to my eyes when I saw all those kids there, some of them going to bed
- at night, fearing that their parents might get arrested or taken away. No child
- And my grandson should not have to fear for his classmates. Aaron Houchin doesn't seem to care about
- that. No child should have to fear about their parents being arrested. We are now witnessing ICE murdering
- American citizens on the street. This is not okay. There is nothing okay about that.
- And the FBI has just come out and said, we're not going to investigate that anymore. What that does,
- it gives a license to everybody, to kill anybody on the streets that they don't like. This is not okay.
- Ms. Houghton, what are you going to do about that?
- Now, Ms. Hutchins doesn't appear to do anything about that. She is a big fan of President Trump's immigration
- policy and talks about how it's, you know, raining in these criminal aliens. You know, the majority
- of the people they're bringing in has no violent criminal record. And, you know, crossing the border
- illegally is a civil offense. It certainly doesn't warrant the kind of
- Why are you with a nun? For a police officer. A nun. They, like, detained a nun. Yeah, yeah. Well, and
- they're hiring whoever off the streets. We saw this recently in Maine, the guy that killed this man.
- The wrong person, by the way. And they've got the wrong people many times, and they're trigger-happy.
- They wouldn't pass a background check in any normal circumstances. And this stupid bill gave
- The Department of Homeland Security, over $170 billion, they would be one of the most generously equipped
- militaries on the face of the earth if they were their own military force. Concerning, to say the least,
- I saw another hand over there. You want to come on up?
- I'm going to have a hard time following two really good speakers, because Carolyn's comments about nerves
- were about me. I am a constituent of Aaron Houghton's here in Monroe County. And I'd also like to talk
- about an issue that is trying to find a solution to a made up problem. I have changed my name twice
- due to marriage. How many women in here have changed their names due to marriage? Yeah, lots of us.
- Never do that again.
- Good afternoon, Representative Houghton. I'm going to talk to you about voting rights and your support
- for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Save Act, legislation that you co-sponsored and voted to
- advance in the House, including last week when Representative House Speaker Johnson tried to hide parts
- of an increasingly separate House bill and resolution. Do you know about that? Yeah. So the bill would
- require people registering to vote in federal elections to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship
- such as a qualifying passport, a birth certificate, or other documentation, or other approved evidence
- of citizenship. No one disputes that only American citizens should be voting in the federal elections.
- That is already federal law. Supporters of the SAVE Act argue that it closes potential loopholes in
- the voter registration and strengthens public confidence in elections. The bill also directs states
- to verify citizenship and remove non-citizens from voter registration roles.
- But in fact, documented cases of non-citizen castings, ballots, and federal elections is exceedingly
- rare. And the bill will create new obstacles for eligible citizens who lack ready access to the required
- documents. Roughly half of Americans do not possess a current passport. Some voters do not have access
- to certified birth certificates. And others have changed their names through marriage or divorce, creating
- doctor education issues that
- complicate their voter registration even when citizenship is not a question. These burdens would fall
- on lawful voters, not on individuals attempting to vote illegally. In fact, those who are less likely
- to have access to paperwork or funds to maintain a passport are disproportionately low-income and people
- of color. It is not a coincidence that this bill affects them most because guess how they vote, right?
- Sorry, I know. I'll round it up. My question is this, Representative Thompson. If existing federal law
- already prohibits non-citizens from voting and instances of non-citizens voting are exceedingly uncommon,
- why do you support imposing new documentation requirements that prevent eligible Americans from voting?
- And I would like you to answer that.
- This woman isn't just a fan of the same act, she is a co-sponsor of the same act, which should more
- accurately be the suppression in voter elimination act.
- You know, put some numbers behind it. The Chair for American Progress said 69 million married women
- whose current legal name may not match their birth certificate could be affected. And you mentioned
- the hurdles for low-income folks. 60 million rural voters could face travel burdens under the bill's
- in-person requirements, right? So what does this mean? You have to go to the DMV.
- or wherever to get your ID, the post office, or a passport. You have to present all these various documents.
- All of these things cost time and money. So what is the safe act in that case? It is a poll tax. And
- a poll tax is a historical way to suppress the vote and suppress a certain kind of vote if you know
- what we mean. Now, I know I saw it.
- Why don't you come on up and tell us or ask the Congresswoman? Representative, why are you choosing
- to ignore the reality that Trump and his family are using the office of the presidency to enrich themselves?
- pulled up on that for a reason over the line of memory, but I want to say President Trump became something
- like 2.2 billion dollars richer just within the past year. That is not normal. I want to say he made
- more money in the last year than the last 18 presidents combined.
- I think I saw that somewhere. It's clearly corruption. It is clearly self-dealing. Have you seen the
- folks in the administration be accused of gaming the market with these prediction betting apps? Those
- things should be legal in the first place, but they're very clearly used to engage
- self-dealing when it comes to things like war, market manipulation. The man goes out and tells people
- to buy a Dell computer after he bought up many, many shares of Dell stock. It is a bald-faced corruption
- any way you look at it. Who else wants to ask a question of the Congresswoman Ringer?
- My name is Pat, and I am in the room having a question. First of all, I have one comment on the questions.
- I hate to go to the doctor and ask, when you go to the doctor, they say, not how you're feeling, but
- what insurance do you have? Given the rising cost of health care, including mental health and medications,
- do you consider health care a right or a privilege?
- I know the Congresswoman says she's out to protect Medicaid and Medicare for people who truly need it.
- She's very concerned about things like waste, fraud, and abuse. It turns out all the waste and fraud
- typically occurs higher up the food chain. It's not the end users, it's the providers, the kind of people
- who are donors to her campaign. Why don't you come on up and ask the Congresswoman
- I don't really have a question for the congresswoman. I want to thank her. Because she is the reason
- I am running for her seat. She ignores me like she ignores the rest of her constituents and I had enough.
- Every draft legislation has solved most of the problems presented today.
- She is a prime example of why the two-party system is broken. Accountability. I'm running as a writing
- independent, and I will lose. Lloyd. Lloyd. Lloyd Taylor. We all know, despite what we want to believe,
- that you will win.
- I'm not the only one who thinks the two-party system is broken. Then somebody else might win.
- Thank you. All right, I know I saw some more hands out there. Who wants to go ahead and come on up?
- There we are. A man in a fantastic hat.
- Great. Thank you so much for being here and participating in our interview. Good afternoon, folks. I'd
- like to thank everybody for being here. Unfortunately, I think the guest might be playing hide-and-seek,
- folks. I haven't seen her yet. I'm sure she's around somewhere though. I've only got three issues.
- Number one, it's our bedroom. Yes. Number one, what can we do? What have we been doing? They need to
- dig into it and inspect the big room right there. And we can see that a lot of times.
- Maybe a service. Number two is our farmers. A lot of our farmers are having problems right now. Diesel
- fuels have, fertilizers have, skis have. A lot of them are going out of business on the cover level.
- What are they doing to help them? A third issue I have is the legalization and decriminalization of
- cannabis. That's what it wants to do. That's right. It wants you to mess, and that's what it wants to
- do. That's what it wants to do. And it's turning you back down, and that's what it's going to help you with.
- And I wish you would have been here so we could talk during that speech for ourselves.
- Who is next? You know, Rick, those topics you mentioned are all related in their own way. You know,
- Houchin's support for President Trump and his illegal war in Ukraine is making more veterans who will be
- started boiling when they come home if we keep doing things at the current rate. And this war is also
- affecting our farmers very, very much so. You mentioned the price of diesel. Obviously, you need to
- have to run a lot of your farm equipment to fertilize it. The prices are also going through the roof.
- But it turns out a lot of that stuff passes through the straight-oers, or at least it should be. It's
- not doing it right now. And we might not be seeing it this growing season, but come next spring. And
- as things are resolved by then, our farmers are in real trouble.
- My name's Kevin Craig, Carolyn's husband, actually. And chauffeur. I want to ask, first of all, good
- afternoon.
- I want to ask you about the Congress's constitutional responsibility in deciding when the United States
- goes to war. Most Americans recognize that the federal government has a duty to defend the nation and
- protect our allies. They also understand there are times when military force may become necessary.
- to protect American lives and national security. But our Constitution deliberately divided the war-making
- powers of government. While the President serves as Commander-in-Chief in the Armed Forces, Article
- 1 gives Congress the authority to declare war. The Founders place that responsibility in the legislative
- branch because they believe that the decision to send Americans into combat should never rest with one
- individual alone.
- In recent years, presidents of both political parties have relied increasingly on the executive authority
- to conduct military operations without obtaining a formal declaration of war or a new authorization
- from Congress. But Congress has gradually surrendered one of its most important constitutional
- responsibilities. When Congress continues to appropriate military funding while declining to vote directly
- on whether the nation should enter or continue hostilities,
- election representatives avoid accountability. My question is this, Representative Pouch. What does
- Congress's approach to war powers say to Hoosiers about your commitment to the Constitution? If the
- United States is engaged in sustained military hostilities against Iran, why should Hoosiers believe
- Congress has fulfilled its constitutional duty if it has not explicitly debated and authorized that conflict?
- And how, as U.S. citizens, can we stand behind the executive branch of our internationalist,
- interventionalist government when we're involved in a foreign conflict that has no foreseeable end in
- sight? This is what the Constitution says about war. What do they say about an excursion?
- And if you listen to them, the first one was over. This is a whole separate conflict since the ceasefire.
- You know, she had an opportunity to weigh in on this. Just this week, the House of Representatives voted
- on another War Powers Resolution, which passed. It passed. Not through any helpers. She voted against
- this War Powers Resolution. An handful of Republicans broke ranks. Not air and action.
- Who else wants to come up and ask the brave Congresswoman a question here this afternoon? Hi, it's Andrew
- Sherman. I assume that Congresswoman
- Ocean wouldn't be here. But ask a question that maybe she could answer if she's privy to what happens
- here. Can't hear you. Use your mic. In her July 24, 2026 letters from America, historian Heather Cox
- Richardson relays a New York Times article
- The litigation revealed that President Trump did not fund some appropriations to the states for the
- sole reason those states did not vote for her. If this is not true, please address the information set
- forth in that article. In any case, please indicate whether or not you support that approach towards
- congressional
- Specifically, I know just recently it turns out that they've been withholding Medicaid funding to blue
- states because they don't like the way they vote. And again, they think they're going to blame waste,
- fraud, and abuse. But you know where the waste, fraud, and abuse is coming from. And FEMA as well. They
- are withholding FEMA funding from hopeful folks across the board. And it's not just blue states.
- But especially... They need that money to clean up the disaster in the reflecting pool. Who else wants
- to come up and ask a question for the congresswoman? Yeah, right there. Let's hear from her. I'm so
- glad we got a chance to do this today. And hopefully the congresswoman will get a chance to hear our
- questions.
- Well, I'm sorry, because most people ask all the questions I have, but nobody's brought up the Department
- of Education. My name is Donna Kincaid, and I've taught in Monroe County for 33 years. And we're the
- reason all the rest of you have jobs. The Department of Education is slated to close by December of
- this year. And it was established to make sure that all children in all states had the protective rights
- and services.
- And the dismantling of this Department of Education is now threatening the services. For example, all
- of these services that begin being, sorry, dispersed over 14 different agencies. And just as a quick
- one, the Department of Labor will now be handling adult education and higher education. The Department
- of Health and Human Services will handle special ed and 504 plans. If you're a parent, you know 504
- plans help your children get those services.
- The Department of Treasury is handling FAFSA and financial things, and if you are not entering a profession
- that is considered worthy, that means making money, you may no longer be funded. Let me tell you, that
- includes nursing, teaching, and lots of other social services. Oh yeah, we're all women. The Department
- of Justice is now handling any complaints about civil rights, and we know where that's going.
- So I just want to ask Erin, you've supported, she was on the education workforce committees for the
- 118th Congress. She supported the closing of this department, but she's also supported bills for making
- states teach the science of reading and parental right bills, which actually are the prerogative already
- of the state.
- So I'm going to ask Erin, what is your problem? Do you know the difference between the federal department
- and the states? Can you explain your thinking? Thanks for the email I got this morning. She said, thank
- you for contacting my office. I'm so happy to represent you.
- Thank you. Well, you know, I can't speak for the representative personally, but you know, the Republicans
- in this country, in Washington, Indiana state, have been chomping at the bit to dismantle the Department
- of Education. They want to privatize our public education system, you know, if you can make a buck off
- of it or a favor of it.
- But I want to address your point about why they're dismantling the Department of Education. The DOE
- only goes back to the 70s. I want to say the Carter administration is actually one that was first put
- in place. And one of the things they were most tasked with is equity in education. You mentioned the
- ADA, the special ed, and how that is being dismantled. Hand it over to HHS.
- But HHS is in good hands. Probably Kennedy, Jr. But the entire reason they attacked the education department
- in particular, but public education in general goes back to the long backlash against desegregation.
- And the Brown versus Board decision in 1953
- They've been chomping at this mainstream public education ever since. Did you want to come up?
- Come on up. Erin Houchet, as you know, this is a low percentage. 60 to 62% of Hoosiers aren't legalized
- weed. Why are you not listening to us when the majority of us want this? Also, you know that
- an estimation between the Fairbounce Foundation, Hoosiers spend between $1.2 and $2.6 billion a year
- on cannabis. That's going to other states, by the way, because it says 96% of Hoosiers live within 100
- miles of illegal out-of-state dispensaries. So we're losing hundreds of millions to tax revenue that
- go to our state. Let's legalize this already. The majority of us want that. So Erin Hodges, please put
- this on your list to do.
- They have to live with their adoption as a relative. The least we could do is get high about it. You
- would think this is something that can be monetized, that she would be in favor. And I can't explain
- her reasoning why, other than certain donors want to keep the intoxication market cornered. Right here.
- My name is Sandra Holman. I'm a retired registered nurse. I worked in the operating room for 45 years.
- And this has fallen out of the headlines lately, but I really want to talk about reproductive health
- and the fact that Ms. Huchin, you have daughters. God forbid any of them have had any problem
- with pregnancies where you miscarried because in this state,
- They're not allowed to even teach it in the medical school how to do a D and C for a missed abortion,
- which can cause a woman to go septic and die for something that is not necessary. And I want you to
- consider that and consider legislation for a national plan on how to address these problems with reproductive health.
- I don't want to minimize it because a woman's right to choose is a fundamental human right, as I believe.
- But she's such a supporter of women and children and mothers and giving birth, right? The policies she
- supports, I keep coming back to the one beautiful bill act because it's the only thing this Congress
- managed to pass, it has put
- Indiana's world hospitals in danger. And because they're so starved for funding, what's one of the first
- things to get cuts? It's their obstetrics and their delivery department. So I want to say we're up to
- 10 Indiana hospitals now that have closed or dropped their labor and delivery services just in the last
- several years. So I know a lot of folks, and particularly in the rural parts of the state, who took
- a drab little power to get to a hospital, you know, to get burned.
- was permitted in nature, because there are any complications in between their health and the hospital.
- It doesn't seem a very pro-life. Who else wants to come up? We've got something to say. Did I see some
- hands out there? Hey, got another question? Absolutely. No reason to limit to just one. I know. I've
- seen some folks in there that haven't come up yet. And I bet you got one.
- How do you feel about the decline of the Republican Party into a cult of personality that blindly obeys
- the corrupt orders of a wannabe dictator, Donald Trump?
- Representative Houchin, this is a very painful moment for me to see you sitting here like this. I remember
- our Congressman of the 9th Congressional District, Lee Hamilton, and it makes it especially painful
- to see what we've got. Representative democracy is in crisis.
- What do you advise or what advice do you have for thoughtful, sincere citizens in this representative
- democracy? Your voting record is 100% consistent with the MAGA agenda, which tells us that you are listening
- to your king and not to your constituents.
- Who else wants to come? I know we got Mr. Meyer, would you like to ask the representative? Hi,
- I'm Brad Meyer, the Democratic nominee for Congress.
- address her, I'd like to address you and say thank you all for being here. You showed up. She does not.
- This is not unusual. I, on the other hand, have had 17 live town halls, four virtual town halls, many
- meetings. In addition to that, I've been all over the district and I'm trying to represent you. How
- many people here are worried about the future? Their future? This is the crisis that we're facing. We're facing
- a crisis of confidence, right? When my wife and I lived the American dream, it wasn't easy, and it's
- not supposed to be, but we started with nothing. Literally, everything we owned fit in the back of the
- car. And we worked hard, we invested, we took risks, because we had confidence in the future, we built
- a life together. You talk to young people today,
- They have zero confidence in the future. 45%, only 45% of people 30 years old are doing better than
- their parents were when their parents were 30. Less than half. That's why I'm running for office, because
- we have, we've talked about a lot of things, and there's a lot of issues, but the big issue is we need
- to have a future that we can all look forward to. A future where we can say tomorrow's going to be better
- than today, and we can't say that today. And that's why I'm running.
- That's the issue that I'm going to be driving on. So the question for Aaron Houchin is, what are you
- going to do when I take your seat in Congress? Thank you so much. Well, that's a hard act to follow, but yes.
- It's Bob now. Let me pick Houseman again. One thing we never mentioned is foreign aid. We haven't really
- mentioned the world outside our borders to speak of. Louder. Oh, great. The world outside our borders.
- I worked with the Agency for International Development for many years. And I think it did a heck of
- a lot of good. And one of the reasons I know it did a heck of a lot of good
- is that since it was shut down abruptly at the beginning of the Trump administration, reliable knowledge
- and useful sources have estimated something like three quarters of a million people have died because
- they were hungry, because they couldn't get medications that they needed. Thousands of babies have been
- born with HIV who didn't need to be born with HIV if they'd only given a little shot to their mother
- right before they were delivering.
- that HIV has held the statistic. So this is not only incredibly inhumane and horrible and stupid, but
- it's also bad for the US. We don't need a bunch of sick, starving people to try to do business with
- or to try to have for allies. So why is this OK?
- I don't know how much was real and how much was propaganda that we were watching to growing up, but
- we always heard that the US was the good guy. We stood up to the little folks and took care of people
- around the world. And USAID was a program like that. And even if you want to look at it just specifically,
- it doesn't cost a lot of money.
- and it projects soft power in the world. It's a way to make friends. You're not gonna make friends in
- the world if you're taking food out of people's mouths. And here at home, it's a stimulus for farmers.
- It is a source for a lot of grains and farm products that wouldn't otherwise get bought up, that they
- buy and ship overseas for things just like this. A real cell phone, and that was,
- Elon Musk and Doge that cut, I would say, in the first months of the second term of the installation.
- What was the reason they gave for doing this? It was, well, we want to reduce the national debt. And
- we saw a couple of his little toadies interviewed not too long ago. And they said they were proud of
- their work because they thought, well, whatever they cut, it was more important to reduce the debt.
- And then one asked, did you reduce the debt? They had to say, well, no.
- We did, and we've talked about this previously today, that that has only gone up. As Garenhardt pointed
- out, we are burning through money even faster than we were before Trump took office. Who else would
- like to come up here and give a word to the Congresswoman today?
- in Davis Monroe County. On February 6th, 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a non-binding
- resolution, House Resolution 1001, declaring that former President Trump, quote, did not engage
- in insurrection or rebellion against the United States or give aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,
- end quote.
- Representative Houch and you were co-sponsor of that with other Trump hardliners such as Marjorie Taylor
- Greene and Paul Gossor. As constituents we have to wonder why because we all saw with our own eyes how
- our capital was stormed as well as what the bipartisan January 6th committee documented about it being
- a presidential plan
- of last resort, as well as hours of presidential inaction to stop it. It is noteworthy that you reported
- raising over $1 million in your bid to be elected by losers in 2022 when that seat was vacated by Trey
- Hollingsworth. Are we to believe that voters in Brown, Clark, Dearborn, Decatur,
- Floyd, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Lawrence, Monroe, Ohio, Ripley, Scott, Switzerland, and
- Washington County supply that much money? Who's funding your campaign and what did you promise them?
- politics these days ever since, and even before, but especially since the Citizens United decision in
- 2010, what we have is legalized corruption. And to your point, you know, we can redefine corruption
- as clean elections. We can redefine insurrection as patriotism.
- War is peace, freedom is slavery. Either the guy Orwell, I think, was his name when he wrote about this.
- Anybody else would like to share some words here with the Congresswoman back there? Yeah, you come on
- up. Somebody asked just one question. No, no. Karen Houghton.
- I'm talking to you about my friend Michael who's in hospice. He can't get on to Medicaid because he
- makes $1,382 a month. That's too much. He doesn't qualify for Medicaid. Let that sink through your head.
- And you're trying to kick off people who make less than he does.
- the cruelest human VA that has ever represented the ninth district of Indiana. By the way, has anybody
- seen him? Did he just slither off to Tennessee after he retired from Congress here in our district?
- That man was a carpet bag.
- Yeah, you know, I'm no mathematician, but if I can add correctly, that number you gave is certainly
- less than $24,000 a year, if not closer to 18, which is certainly half the poverty level. I know the
- Medicaid cap hasn't moved
- And you see things like this, just to qualify for Medicaid, you have to tether yourself to poverty.
- There is no other way to qualify at this point. And it's not right. It's certainly for people
- with disabilities. It makes you choose between living in poverty or participating in the workforce and
- having dignity in that way. It is, again, not very pro-life, despite what they call themselves.
- Anybody else have any words for the congresswoman here? Yeah, why don't they? We've heard from you yet.
- Good afternoon, guys. Hello, my name is Lucy Lumen, and I'm here. I'm with Indiana Normal. And as a
- few of you already pointed out, which I thoroughly appreciate, that the importance of cannabis reform
- It's really important. It's something that we are not actively talking about as much as we should. It
- impacts our health care. It impacts over 50% of the drug arrests in Indiana currently right now have
- to do with cannabis for absolutely no reason. Like someone mentioned earlier, within 100 miles of where
- they live, they could get medical access on all surrounding states of Indiana. Our economy, our basis
- is going out to the winter. We're talking about how we can save or how we can do
- different social programs that are, we can start with cannabis reform. Even just not criminalizing it
- in Indiana could drastically save so much money for losers. Let alone the idea of them being able to
- have naturalized medicine that is meaningful, doesn't have all the side effects, isn't it tied to so
- many different opioid-related deaths and work injuries that decrease in states that have legalized cannabis.
- We take it for granted all the time in Indiana that
- We're going to be the last state. No, we need to be the next state. And representatives from Indiana
- need to realize the hurt it is doing at home, the hurt it's doing to Hoosiers. And whenever you travel
- to those other states around us and you hear about the medical miracles, just the things that people
- are experiencing that Hoosiers don't have that same access to and we need to, especially at the national
- level, we need to have that representation.
- We need to have somebody sticking up and realizing previously Reverend Hernandez said that because of
- the schedule one and because of her lack of awareness of organizations that have already previously
- supported that medical research, and now there are plenty more since she previously made that statement.
- So now with the recent federal recognition of that medical advancements and of those medical benefits,
- what do you say now? How are you going to advocate for Hoosiers?
- She's a fiscal conservative, right? And certainly it doesn't make financial sense for Indiana to watch
- its money go out the door to our neighboring states. Kentucky, for crying out loud. We shouldn't be
- getting laughed by Kentucky. But the money that we forgo just in that tax revenue is harmful to the
- state. But then think of the other costs that we're putting into incarcerating people that we arrest for
- possession of cannabis. I suspect, but I cannot vouch for this, but I suspect there's at least one private
- prison organization that probably could be found on the Congresswoman's donor list that is typical of
- Republicans in Congress and at the state level. There's a financial benefit to be had from locking people up.
- Good for her donors, good for Republican donors, not good for Hooters or anybody else for that matter.
- Who else has some words they would like to share with Mrs. Houchin here today? Yep, I'd like to hear
- from you again. I had something local I wanted to share.
- I have to do it again representing Pascha. Following the death of Senator Lindsey Graham, Professor
- Houston, who teaches at the IU McKinney School of Law in Indianapolis. This was reported in the HT and
- also other media in Indiana.
- Professor Houston delivered a congratulations call to Lindsey Graham's former Senate office, delivered
- it to Graham's sister, Darlene, who is taking his place. And she wrote, he wrote, congratulations, Darlene.
- Your brother is burning in hell for supporting Trump. And now you're working for the devil.
- Again, referring to Toronto. In response, several Indiana Republicans, including Lieutenant Governor
- Micah Beckwith, Senator Jim Banks, and you, Representative Houchin, called on Indiana University to
- fire Professor Houston. Indiana Lieutenant Governor Beckwith also threatened that if IU refused to fire
- Houston, the university should lose its state funding. However, distinguished law professor
- and constitutional expert
- Steve Sanders has publicly argued that because IU is a public university, firing Professor Houston solely
- because of her protected speech would violate the First Amendment. He said the legal question is whether
- her speech substantially interferes with her ability to teach food and drug law classes or interfere
- with the university's operations. He concluded he sees no such connection.
- My question is this, Representative Halston. Do you believe Professor Houston should be fired? And do
- you believe Indiana University should lose taxpayer funding if it follows the First Amendment? If so,
- how do you reconcile defunding a public university for adhering to our constitutional right of free speech?
- they like to claim that they're free speech absolutists, that they're very concerned about the First
- Amendment, yet when they hear speech they don't like, then consequences abound. But they can say whatever
- hateful, racist, sexist, dishonest word they want. Would anybody else like to share some words here
- with Congresswoman today?
- I know we still got this room for a little bit of time, and we would like to get everything on the record
- sweep in for us to get things on the record. I didn't just do a quick cursory search of any ties between
- Junction and the private prison corporations. I didn't want to make sure I corrected myself there, but
- that's a direct connection they have with us. Any other folks want to jump in here today?
- Thanks, everyone, for showing up. We have many groups at the back, so we'd love to talk to you. We have
- the room, actually, until 5.45. That's when the library closes, so don't feel like you have to run out
- just yet. So hang around, reach for the mingle with fellow voters, and have fun.
- I want to thank you all for coming today. This is one thing to be angry at your kitchen table, but it's
- another thing to stand up here in front of the room and be what you don't know, spend some time with
- us on a Sunday afternoon, and say out loud how our government here has affected you. You know, you've
- told us about your medical situations, and you've told us about your band members,
- about Social Security. So you just need to listen. And that is okay. Now, every one of those notes,
- yeah, those pink slips, make sure you save those. Give those to Carolyn right here. Those are gonna
- go to Erin's office. Because, you know, she doesn't get to pretend that we don't exist and this doesn't
- happen. We're going to put it right there in black and white or it's rather in pink. What we came here
- to talk about today,
- Thanks for getting me one here for organizing this. And thank you all for coming. Everybody's here.