Regarding the recent editorial entitled, “Etiquette Can Go South Fast During Town Halls,” John D’Agostino bemoans the “rowdiness” of those who attend in-person town halls and sympathizes with our congressman’s refusal to hold them. Citing the experience of Tom Reed, Congressman Nick Langworthy’s predecessor during the first Trump Administration, D’Agostino hails Reed’s composure in “walking into a buzzsaw” when he faced constituents at a town hall in Stow in 2017. I was part of that buzzsaw, and yes, we were upset. Why? Donald Trump and the GOP were threatening to take away our healthcare. People who had finally been able to sign up under the ACA ; people with preexisting conditions, people whose employers didn’t offer healthcare, the disabled, the poor and low-income, were all terrified to lose access. Nothing was being offered to replace it; just some vague promise to come up with a plan. But thanks to people like us, and others across the country, both Democrats and Republicans who rose up in protest, the ACA remained the law of the land.

Governing is hard. And I do give Congressman Reed credit for meeting us in person. But I will point out that he was quick to follow up with claims we were “paid protesters” and “radical Left lunatics.” He also left before the end of his term… which brings us to his replacement, Congressman Langworthy. He has a lot more to answer for with this current administration, which seems to favor a destruction of government approach. Services to benefit people are out. Wholesale grift and corruption are in. Mr. Langworthy has to convince us this is what’s best for us.

I recently received the following text message from the Office for the Aging here in Chautauqua County:

“Many programs and services at the federal level that help older New Yorkers are at risk of being eliminated. These include health insurance counseling, funding to combat elder abuse, the home energy assistance program, SNAP, adult protective services, the long-term care ombudsman program, fall prevention programs and more.”

In addition to healthcare, the “Big, Beautiful Bill” that our congressman just voted for means we could also lose food and heat, not to mention a host of other “benefits” when funding is cut for inspectors at the FDA, weather monitoring systems at the National Weather Service, people who oversee environmental and workplace safety, rural hospitals, education, the VA, infrastructure to support our roads, and travel by air and sea.

In his weekly newsletters from Washington and his telephone town halls, formats that allow him to “control the narrative”, Congressman Langworthy claims the only cuts to Medicaid will be to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.” He touts the work requirement that will make sure only those who legitimately need it will be eligible. He doesn’t mention that the majority of adult Medicaid recipients already work; many in jobs that pay very little and don’t offer health insurance. The rest are elderly, primary caregivers, have an illness or disability, or are going to school. So the work requirement would only apply to about 7% of applicants. The forms to determine eligibility are so long and confusing, many will not be able to fill them out without help. And the people who used to help with that? Well, they’ve been fired by DOGE. Langworthy, Trump and the rest of the GOP care more about giving the wealthiest Americans a permanent tax cut than what the rest of us will lose.

John D’Agostino concluded his commentary with the statement, “Having control of the message is more important than allowing an unruly crowd to steal the show.” Really? If we were only more polite; if we would just ask nicely like Oliver Twist begging for some more gruel, maybe our congressman would listen? Oh yeah, in that story Oliver was thrown out of the workhouse and ended up on the street.

There is genuine fear driving us to raise our voices. It is the congressman’s job to listen and respond, because it’s not a “show”. It’s our lives.

Rachel Brown is a Greenhurst resident.