Last Saturday, Democrats in the Legislature held “Budget Listening Tour” meetings across the state, hoping to project the image that they were listening to their constituents and not just staging political rallies under the auspices of official business.

A few Republicans who attended these sham public meetings emailed us some interesting facts and observations. (Keep those tips coming [email protected])

The most common refrain we heard in email was that the meetings were packed with CEA organized teachers and the vast majority of the crowds were gung ho about increasing taxes. At one meeting Senator Cheri Jahn asked attendees who supported increasing taxes to raise their hand and virtually every one in the room did. 

Asking teachers sent to a meeting by the CEA if they want to raise taxes is like asking a room full of dictators from oil producing nations if they want the price of crude to rise. 

We don't think the tax hike cheerleaders at the Fiscal Policy Institute would have pulled their tax hike initiatives over lack of support if that Senator Jahn “poll” was even close to the real sentiment of these Democrats' constituents.

But the most interesting anecdote came from a town hall with Representative Labuda where she told a conservative activist that she only robocalled Democrats to let them know about the event, claiming she didn't have the money to robocall Republicans.

We're pretty sure Rep. Labuda could have called the CEA or one of the unions and gotten a quick infusion of $4000. That's if she really cared about hearing from Republicans and Independents. They're only 60% of her district. 

It seems Democrats forgot that the meetings were supposed to be part of a listening tour and not a tax hike rally for Democrat lackeys.