June 14^th, 2012 Easton, MD - Congressman Andy Harris held town halls yesterday in Easton and Ocean Pines. During the hour-long session, Harris took questions from postal workers, environmentalists, and others. While the Congressman worked hard to avoid giving meaningful answers on a host of issues he showed, once again, how out of touch he is with the needs of his constituents and the issues that affect the Eastern Shore.

The most telling moment was when Harris was asked about his commitment to protect the Chesapeake Bay by a Talbot County resident. Harris’s response was that “regulation had not done anything to improve conditions on the Chesapeake Bay.” 

He then went on to argue that regulating pollutants did not help and that we did not know enough to even say that the pollutants we were regulating really caused the problems.  Harris has shown repeatedly that he is uninterested in protecting the Chesapeake Bay; this has ultimately gained him the scorn of the League of Conservation Voters, who rates his environmental record at a 9 out of 100, one of the worst ratings in Congress.       

Harris’s anger got the best of him when local postal workers confronted him about his unwillingness to work with them, or even answer their questions, about the plan to close the Easton Distribution Center.  Instead of respectfully answering their questions, Harris chose to pit them against others in the room by pointing to one worker and saying, “she wants you to pay for her job,” and “a lot of these people would love to have what you have.”  He said all of this after accusing the President and other Democrats of engaging in class warfare.

Harris’s opponent, Wendy Rosen, had this to say about the exchange. “Andy Harris consistently wants to either balance the budget or give tax breaks to his wealthy friends and force hard working Americans to pay for that.  People on the Eastern Shore are working hard for their money and trying desperately to save for retirement.  His lack of concern for his own constituents is more than just disturbing; it is hypocritical. The Easton Distribution Center employs many residents of the Shore and losing those jobs would have a ripple effect through the local economy, ultimately damaging local businesses.”

At one point during the afternoon Harris joked that “maybe he was too simple minded,” to understand where the people he disagrees with were coming from.  With his poor voting record and his extremist ideology Harris knows that he needs to turn to lies, misinformation, and peoples worst fears for him to win in November.  Harris must be simple minded if he believes he can trick the voters one more time.