Attendees at the Bill Foster Townhall on March 18 saw the temperature of the nation. Over 600 people filled the auditorium at Illinois Benedictine University. The composition of the audience was Democrats, but there were numerous protesters who were planted in the audience to interrupt Representative Foster about every 15 minutes to ask why he did not vote for stopping funding for Israel when the Israelis continued to bomb Gaza. The protesters were given numerous chances to stop yelling and sit down, but all of them were eventually escorted out of the auditorium by police and security officers. Representative Foster said that he would meet with them at his office and to make an appointment after the presentation, but the protesters yelled that they had contacted his office and no one ever called them back.
After the last protester was escorted out, Representative Foster stopped his speech and took the time to address this question. He said that what happened to Israel on October 7th was horrendous, but the continuous bombing of Gaza has been too much. He talked about the importance of truth and trust and the fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu appeared before Congress and lied to Congress, and it is a disgrace. Foster talked to the Biden Administration about the issues with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Foster feels that Biden should have pushed back more on Netanyahu. Foster said that his political views mostly align with the J Street view, which is pro Israel, pro peace.
Representative Foster continued with his speech and then answered questions from the audience. He said that Congress has the power of the purse, and money has been allotted for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Republicans want to cut $2 trillion dollars from these programs to give tax cuts to billionaires. And Trump is breaking the law by using the allotted money for other things. However, Congress cannot initiate lawsuits, but third parties can, and so far the courts have been standing up to Trump. And Foster has been encouraged that a few courageous Republicans have dared to state the truth and draw a red line.
When Trump stated on March 18th that a federal judge should be impeached for criticizing Trump for not following the judge’s ruling, Chief Justice Roberts stated that “impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.” It gives you hope that Chief Justice Roberts drew a red line.
Many Republican businessmen have called Foster about Trump’s tariff policies. Businessmen know that the tariffs are going to raise the price of everything, including food, cars, appliances, and housing, and we already have a housing crisis.
People in the audience also challenged Foster by asking what he was doing to stop Trump when many of us are out protesting on the streets and in front of Tesla dealerships. Foster said that last month, he and two dozen other Congressional Democrats rallied outside the Treasury Building with hundreds of Americans. Representatives Schumer, Foster, Gomez, Frost, and other members of Congress asked to enter the Treasury Building to conduct congressional oversight of what Musk was doing, but they were not allowed to enter. The Democrats expressed concern about the lack of transparency and Musk’s access to personal data. Representative Foster and other members of Congress also demonstrated at the Department of Education. Again, they asked to conduct congressional oversight and were denied entrance.
Foster is encouraged that some Republicans in Congress finally reach the red line they will not cross and tell the truth. He said that N.C. Senator Tom Tillis’ impassioned speech on behalf of Ukraine was an example of that. The thousands of people who gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial on March 7th for the “Stand-up for Science Rally” was another example. The protesters included many federal researchers who lost their jobs and are concerned that our nation will fall behind in scientific and medical research.
Trump’s power over Republican members of Congress comes from the Republican primaries. There is a move to adopt ranked choice voting, which is already being used in some states. With ranked-choice voting, voters select multiple candidates in order of preference. If no candidate wins a majority for first choice, the candidate with the least first-choice votes (let’s call that person Candidate S), is taken off the ballot. Then the votes of people who had picked Candidate S as their first choice, are given to the candidates that those voters had ranked as their second choice.
Foster stated that one of the major problems with the Constitution is that it was written with the assumption that America would have a president who puts the interests of the nation first. We need to regain control of Congress and pass laws that will make our country secure.
For the final question, someone asked why he ran for office. He explained that both of his parents had worked in government positions when he was a child, and he was taught to put the interests of the American people before his own interests. He said he loved being a scientist and had a successful company, but he wanted to give back and serve America.