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Examiner.com. - Fort Smith
Matthew Olson
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Rep. Steve Womack (R) opened his job creation town hall earlier tonight with a prayer, and immediately followed that with the Pledge of Allegiance.  He also informed the audience that while he would have liked to stay longer, he had to get to a rosary service for Sam M. Sicard by 7 o'clock. 

Womack has a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, and as such, is very much involved in economic issues.  In light of that, the event centered around a presentation, "Putting America Back to Work."  The presentation contained pie charts and pointed out several times that it is "impossible to balance the budget by taking out discretionary spending."  It also featured an interesting "National Debt Set to Skyrocket" slide.

During the presentation, Womack said that the country will "never survive to 2050 under this (debt) trajectory" and insisted that federal spending at 25% of GDP is "unsustainable."

He also complained about the lack of power Republicans have, only controlling the House of Representatives.

Womack did make some important points, though, arguing against automatic "trigger" cuts and harping on about national security repercussions.  He went on to claim that at least 81% of Americans (but he said the number is probably higher) know someone without a job.

The congressman also said the stimulus "failed" and called it a "promise made, but not kept."

He went on to attack what he sees as needless regulation and said that he could "talk all day about the EPA."

The main points of the presentation, however, were that Congress should:

• Empower small business
• Fix the tax code
• Increase America's manufacturing competitiveness
• Maximize American energy production
• Pay down the debt and live within the country's means

Following the presentation was a few words from guest speakers Mat Pitsch and John Taylor, along with questions posed by constituents.

Important Highlights

Taylor stated his agreement with S&P about their decision to downgrade the U.S. credit rating: "I would have downgraded us weeks ago."

Womack asked the audience to remain civil during the event: "There are too many people to get into a bar room fight."

The first "question" was more of a request.  The citizen asked Womack to oppose all future trade agreements, and presumably, attempt to back out of most current ones.  Womack responded by affirming that he "believes in free trade" and said that the reason for a lack of competitiveness is that we "force our companies to do more things."

The second person asked for Womack's help in reducing federal regulation saying that federal government meddles into everything "from our kitchen to our bedroom."  Womack said that the House of Representatives "can not do this alone" and proceeded to blame Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) by name.

After that, there was a ruckus, with one Social Security recipient stating that he did not like Womack calling Social Security an "entitlement" because he had "paid into it," which met much applause from the mostly-older audience.

Next, someone requested that Womack support HR 2599, citing its supposed positives.  The congressman said that he was not aware of that particular piece of legislation and that he and his staff would "take a look at it."

A possible Tea Party member then practically threatened America's security, telling Womack to go back to Washington and say that "anger here is about to explode," hinting at potential riots all across America in reaction to a supposed "Beltway Bubble."  Womack said that he "totally agrees" with such frustrations.

Another constituent requested the elimination of all foreign aid.  Womack agreed, saying that he is "really not interested in continuing support for countries that don't give a rat's flip about this country," but did place a stipulation for Israel, claiming that "every weapons system in the Middle East is pointed at that country" and we should protect them.  This caused a good deal of applause.

At the end of the event, a rather brave person (presumably someone that considers himself more liberal) expressed his anger about the Tea Party "blackmailing" Republican legislators.  This met with some agreement, but once he went on to claim the stimulus "worked" and "saved 3 million jobs," the vast majority of the room laughed excitedly for a moment and continued to heckle the man for the remainder of his speaking.  However, while that was going on, at least one person near me left, cursing under his breath and muttering about the "ignorance" and "rudeness" of those laughing.

In response to the presumed liberal, Womack was polite, but insisted that "the private sector creates jobs, not the public sector."  And then he added that DC was the "only city to profit from all this."

The town hall then ended on a positive note with some closing comments from the speakers and Womack.