JANESVILLE – Frustrated residents delivered 86,000 postcards to Paul Ryan’s hometown office in Janesville, WI today. During the congressional break, Paul Ryan has scheduled no meetings with constituents and refused to meet with the crowd gathered outside his office. Many of Ryan’s constituents — and voters across the country — say they’re unable to reach him to share their concerns with Congress’ failure to hold the Trump Administration accountable and plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The delivery was planned by Ultraviolet, a national women’s rights campaign that combines innovative, cutting-edge organizing with grassroots, people-powered actions to fight for equality and progress.
Wisconsinites were permitted to deliver the postcards but staffers would only speak to two residents and Marina Dimitrijevic, executive director of Wisconsin Working Families Party. “You work for us,” chanted the crowd, when told that Ryan would not meeting with them, even over the phone. Ryan staffers refused to say when he would next hold a public event so that he could hear from voters.
“Paul Ryan listens to Wall Street and ignores Main Street right here in Janesville. He has received over $5.6 million dollars from the financial industry last cycle — more than any other member of Congress, save one senator,” said Dimitrijevic. We know what side Paul Ryan is on, and its not ours. He favors tax breaks for hedge fund managers and letting big banks to write the rules of the economy. His greed and eagerness to benefit the richest Americans over working families shows he has lost touch with his constituents and isn’t representing Wisconsin values.”
Video of the delivery and discussion with Ryan’s staffers is available here:
Posted by Marina Dimitrijevic on Wednesday, February 22, 2017
“Whether House Speaker Paul Ryan has intentionally cut off his phone line from the public or failed to accommodate a high volume of calls, it is unacceptable to shut off the American people from having their voices heard,” said Nita Chaudhary, Co-founder of UltraViolet. “Millions of Americans are scared and stand to lose so much—whether it’s families living in fear of deportation, parents worried about providing their children affordable health insurance, or women uncertain if their access to safe, legal abortion services will be in jeopardy. That’s why we left messages for Paul Ryan the old-fashioned way, with thousands of postcards delivered right to his home town. Speaker Ryan’s office may not be taking our calls, but our voices will be heard.”
This press release is from Working Families Party.
