Rep. Hoyle holds Town Hall in Florence

“When I was growing up, and I am of a certain age, we had one news program. We watched Walter Cronkite and then came out and discussed the same thing but came to different opinions,” she said. “Now what we have is that we literally hear different facts. So many people have outsourced their social interactions and communications to social media, where the algorithm is run by people that feed you information that you already believe, so we’ve stopped talking to each other. That outsourcing of our social interactions and communication has made it so that we are not respecting each other as Americans.” Hoyle said the practice is detrimental to the country but has also become the impetus for political town hall meetings where people can interact with elected officials. Hoyle said that as an elected official, she is there to help and speak to the electorate, regardless of political party preference. 

Citizens United

Hoyle said one issue that should not be partisan in nature is the influence of money on politics.  She recalled Citizens United, where “Money was ruled as speech and corporations were ruled as people.”

“I don't know about any of you, but none of my neighbors are corporations. None of my neighbors are billionaires and that is not a partisan issue. We Americans have now had our campaigns sold out to the highest bidder and that is extremely detrimental..” she said over building applause.  

Many Americans are now asking themselves what they can do in the face of what appears to be a growing constitutional crisis, she said. 

Hoyle said the lines between the three branches of government are being blurred. She said that during a recent discussion with the Appropriations Committee,  she asked why the Republican majority is handing over the power of the purse and legislators ability to weigh in on proposed tariffs. 

“Let me tell you where I come from on tariffs. I worked in an American manufacturing company and we were devastated by NAFTA,” she said. “ It was a terrible policy that sold out American manufacturing and we lost a lot of working people who felt that, again, we were selling off our manufacturing to the highest bidder.” She said that while tariffs play a role in the economy, she believes in fair trade policies that ensure American workers are given priority over people in other countries. 

“They [tariffs] should be used with surgical precision and not just blanket tariffs without investing in American manufacturing, because you know who's going to pay that price?” she asked, to an audible “We are” from the audience. Hoyle said those jobs need to be brought back in a way that doesn't put more economical burden on other consumers. 

People voted

“Donald Trump won the election because people were frustrated. People were frustrated with government. Anyone that doesn't think there's waste, fraud and abuse is delusional. That's just a fact. That there is too much red tape in government, that's a fact and we need to address it, but this wholesale breaking of our agencies and government services, where people are now having trouble contacting Social Security,” she said. “They fired so many people at GSA and NOAA without looking at what they do. They fired the people who know how to run the tsunami warning system. Is that cutting waste, fraud and abuse? No. Is that making our government more efficient? No.”

Hoyle said she has talked to fishermen and firefighters who say they cut people at NOAA  who are working to tell us what the weather is going to be. She said people were cut from the US Forest Service who are responsible for predicting and fighting wildfires.

She said that while some of those jobs have been restored, The Trump Administration has said it will ignore the rulings of judges about whether those actions are legal. 

“We can't allow that to happen,” Hoyle said. 

Hoyle recalled speaking to a nurse  who had moved her family from Florida to work for the veterans administration, who was turned away as she arrived to start work.

“She was told, I'm sorry your job is no longer needed,” Hoyle said, noting that she comes from a military family, “I can tell you that my father earned the right to the care he receives from the government.” She said that careful fulfills the promise made to veterans that their country would take care of them. 

“Whether it's social security, the VA, or Medicaid, or Medicare, and by the way, the massive cuts to Medicaid are going to affect our ability to have rural hospitals,” she said, as an audible reaction went through the room. “My district, over 70,000 square miles from Lincoln County all the way to the California coast, has more Social Security recipients than 87 percent of the districts in the country.” 

Hoyle said the first bill she introduced after being elected was designed to expand the solvency of Social Security and to ensure that people can have an increase of benefits of 2,500 per year by taxing people that are making more than $400,000 a year, the same as you pay.  Firefighters, police officers, nurses, pay the same amount as Elon Musk or George Soros- that’s not right.”

Hoyle closed by saying Americans need to Again become citizens who work together to do what's best, and that our tax dollars come back to invest in “the most beautiful place in our country.”

Democracy for sale

Tiffany Muller, President and Executive Director of End Citizens United, explained that the grassroots organization is made up of 4 million members across the country who come from a variety of backgrounds  who share the common belief that the power of democracy resides with the people, not just those who can write the biggest checks. 

“Who do you think has a bigger voice in our democracy right now?  You all or Elon Musk?” she asked as the audience responded “Musk.” 

“I do not think someone who writes a $300 million campaign check should then get to have carte blanche over how our government operates,” she said. “Everywhere I travel across the country I'm hearing the same concerns. Will my kid be able to graduate college and get a job that allows them to afford the American dream? Will my Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid be protected? Can I afford my prescription drugs? A lot of what we see is that the answers to that depend on who's calling the shots in government. Since the Citizens United decision, too often it's the big money corporate special interests.”

Muller said that in 2010, with Citizens United, the Supreme Court put a For Sale sign on our democracy.” She said that in the last election cycle $20 billion was spent on elections.

“ I don't care if you are a Democrat, or Republican, or Independent, I think we can all agree that $20 billion could be better served in lots of other ways…” she said, drowned out by applause. “Another thing I think we all can agree on is that I think we should all know where that money is coming from. It needs to be disclosed and transparent so that we can trace back conflicts of interest and corruption and make sure we're able to hold our elected officials accountable. That is just common sense.”

Transparency

She said that when the Supreme Court made the decision, it was claimed that such things would be transparent and accountable, but it has not been. She said that about 75% of the money spent on our elections can no longer be traced back to its source.

Muller spoke of the Disclose Act, Which would expand prohibition on campaign spending by Foreign Nationals, and require that  election candidates disclose advertising funding sources. 

“We need a Federal Election Commission that will do its job and actually hold those who break the law to account,” Muller said, “and actually fix it. Being a member of Congress shouldn't be about lining your own pockets.” 

She said things like stock trading by Congress members are things all Americans can agree on, while Big Pharmacy lobbyists outnumber Congress members 3 to 1.

“Now, you wonder why  prescription drug prices aren't coming down?  Maybe it's those 1500 lobbyists and the $300 million we spend every single election cycle,” she said. “Let's get rid of it.”

Muller said citizens need to keep the pressure on to adopt common sense reforms and take democracy back from big money interests. 

Questions, comments

The first commenter noted what he called “a mess in the Democratic party, saying the Senate leadership doesn't have the will to fight, but the people still do.”  He asked what can be done to replace Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer.

Hoyle quoted a colleague in the House who said “The Republicans are our opponent but the Senate is our enemy.” 

Hoyle noted that while she is not in the senate, a leadership election will occur in two years that could change that if every eligible voter is allowed to vote. 

Hoyle also said she voted no on the continuing resolution.

“Congress has said ‘We are spending money in this way’ and the executive branch Is ignoring it,” she said. “That's not right, and I wasn't going to vote for that.” 

She said she was comfortable with her vote, but also stressed that while she is proud of Oregon's senators, she disagrees with Schumer.

She said that while she and her colleagues have different ideas about how to achieve what's best for Americans, “Nobody elected Elon Musk.” 

Inciting a collective gasp in the room, Hoyle and Muller said Musk has now received $38 billion in taxpayer-funded contracts. 

“I never, and no one ever, elected Elon Musk,” she said. “If the government was shut down, people would suffer,  and they would determine who an essential worker would or wouldn't be. I think Chuck Schumer made the wrong decision. I think it's weak.” 

Hoyle said if the government wants to look at spending inefficiencies, it should look at defense contracts. She said that while an additional $6 billion was sent to the Defense Department, it also recently failed its 7th financial audit. She said that about 50 percent of the budget goes to defense contractors with zero oversight.

What can you do?

Another commenter asked, when the president stops following the law, what can be done? 

“I can say that, as a democrat, we are not in the majority. It is why I make it clear that our  constitutional duty is to ensure that we have separate and equal parts of government, and I have Republican colleagues who are willing to give that away, which I think is reprehensible, but we still have the courts…” Hoyle answered as the audience started to stir. “The Trump administration, right now, is saying that they are going to try to ignore the courts. Justice Roberts, just yesterday, said he can't do that. So what we need to do is continue to show up. I'll tell you what, it's going to be on us to show up and take it to the streets to protect our democracy.”

Hoyle urged citizens to tell their own stories about how top level cuts are affecting them.

She added that around her district, even in the most conservative areas, both Republican and Democratic voters dislike the cuts being made to the veterans administration, NOAA and the Forest Service’s fire detection abilities. She said she has normally calm colleagues in the Federal Bureau of Investigation who are “freaked out,” repeating that Americans need to tell their own stories and communicate that “this is not normal.” 

Call it out

One commenter recalled that it was instilled in her as a child that no one should be allowed in government with a criminal record. She asked how it was possible for that to happen in the US Presidency, and with appointed officials in the White House.

“We, has the American people, are a represented democracy where the American people vote,” Hoyle responded, “and they did elect Donald Trump.” Hoyle added that a great number of American people do not believe anything bad about the president or his appointees. She said that while she simply disagrees with some appointees, others are wholly unqualified to hold their appointed positions.

“ That is the choice of the president…  but we cannot underestimate the power of misinformation, and outsourcing our social relationships. Again, we are not operating on the same sets of news, or even facts.”

Calling misinformation the most detrimental thing to happen to the United States, Hoyle noted, “there is a significant portion of our population believing that the 2020 election was stolen. Even though 62 court cases were lost and it wasn't proven, the fact is, by having those court cases come up and then we have bots and misinformation and social media where it feeds into the lack of faith in our basic democracy. That happened because we handed over the right for people to buy our elections.”  

Hoyle said she herself lives in a rural community of differing political views, but everyone in her community, regardless of political preference, will help each other when asked.

“They are good people who believe fundamentally different things than I do,” she said. 

Hoyle spoke briefly of immigration, noting that the people saying the US has too many immigrants are the same ones who refuse to fix the immigration system. 

“They're more interested in demonizing people who came here for a better life. I want a work  program that allows people to go back, so we know who's in our country, but when we are sending green card holders to internment because we don't like their speech, without any due process…  Do you think it's going to stop with them because we don't like what they say? absolutely not.”

Hoyle spoke of the Save Act HR22, which would require birth certificate proof to vote, disenfranchising people who have changed their name, including women who did so by marriage.

“Tell me, how does that protect our elections?” Hoyle asked. “You can't even use your real ID.  we are going to have to protect our elections, we are going to have to speak up, and these are the stories that matter.  I beg you, reach out to your neighbors, and to people who don't think the same as you do. talk about things that you're concerned about. I talk to conservative farmers who are extremely worried about the tariffs and … can't find people to do the work that is backbreaking that feeds this country. Who's going to do that work? Fundamentally, we need to fix our immigration system, we need to secure our borders, we need to fund border patrol, which we haven't done either.”

Regarding the question about what Americans can do, Hoyle said Americans need to make sure elections cannot be bought, that Americans are receiving real, valid information, and vote in two years to achieve a democratic majority in the house in order to have balance again.

In two years? 

“We don’t have two years,” the next commenter said. “We have a coup and we need to do something now.” 

Hoyle said she agrees and is doing what she can now and focusing on things she can control by asking questions of top level officials like, “Did you actually need to fire everyone who can fight wildfires? Did you actually need to fire the people who oversee our nuclear weapons? Was that part of your plan?”

“By calling out what's happening, which is breaking the system so that we can sell off our federal lands, sell off our Postal Service and privatize our VA… There is a role for private business, I don't think it should be to buy off our government and campaigns, but here we are.” 

Hoyle said her role is now to speak to her Republican colleagues, testify in Congress, show up to make sure she can vote, and let people know what's actually happening in a factual manner that applies to them.

Hoyle spoke of the damaging floods that have occurred  in Western Lane, Curry and Douglas County, noting many people were recently fired from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

“They want to eliminate FEMA, so talking about actual impacts in a very real way matters, and if it means we have to take this to the street if we have an executive branch that that is not recognizing the judiciary, there will be a time for that,” she said, “but what we need to do is keep communicating and absolutely find every way we can and right now, that's showing up and not getting into our partisan silos on social media where we have an echo chamber of what we already believe.”

Fairness Doctrine

The next commenter asked if it would be possible to revise and bring back the Fairness Doctrine, eliminated during the Reagan Administration, which previously made it illegal for the three networks, ABC, NBC and CBS, to use their broadcast licenses to influence public opinion or set a biased public agenda.

“Is there a way we can bring that back?” Hoyle responded, “We could have a bill. Do I think that this current majority in administration will pass it? Absolutely not, but it is on the list of things that we must do if we are going to come together as a country again, to make sure that we are operating off the same set of factual information.” She said news needs to be brought back to being information, rather than entertainment. 

Muller noted that the Fairness Doctrine also existed in a time before 20 was spent on elections. 

“The problem that we have now is that so much of the coverage we see are these advertisements that are being purchased which the Fairness Doctrine didn‘t apply to,” she said, noting the flood of election advertisements and difficulty in tracking their funding sources. 

The final commenter said the major concerns of residence in Florence revolve around the solvency of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. It should be noted that the vast majority of people in the events center were elderly residents. 

“When Elon Musk called Social Security the biggest Ponzi scheme ever, this is a person who has never had to earn anything. his father gave him proceeds from an emerald mine in South Africa, he has never had to struggle. Social Security is so critical and it is not an entitlement, it is an earned benefit,” Hoyle said to applause. She noted that her recent bill, co-authored with Senator Bernie Sanders, aims to extend the solvency of social security by 75 years, And increase the benefit by $2,500 a year, which she said is significant for a lot of people. 

“We know they want to push to privatize Social Security,” she said. “If we look at the stock market right now, it's crashing, that is a terrible idea. Social Security does not cost the government money but  what we need to do is make sure that our police officers, firefighters, teachers, nurses, ordinary people, are not paying the  same exact amount as billionaires.  These programs affect our rural communities more significantly than they do a lot of our urban communities, although they are affected as well.”

Noting that President Trump campaigned on a promise not to touch Social Security and Medicare, Hoyle said legislators and citizens need to hold him to that. 

The preponderance of democratic audience members became apparent when one man, in obvious dissent, attempted to yell something unintelligible from the seats. For a few moments, the interaction escalated to yelling, almost drowned out by the applauding crowd as Hoyle asserted, “We’re not going to be silenced, that’s not who we are!” 

Following the Town Hall, Hoyle and staff remained in the lobby for a short time before driving to another in Eugene.