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People gather in Mesa on Feb. 18, 2017, to protest U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake's decision to not hold a town-hall meeting. The protest was held near the senator's house, but Flake was apparently not home at the time. Wochit

Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., is interviewed on Capitol Hill on March 24, 2017.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)

WASHINGTON Reps. Leonard Lance of New Jersey andRyan Costello of Pennsylvania appear to be the only swing-district Republicans who voted for their partys bill to replace Obamacare who will directlyface constituents over the April recess, according to a USA TODAY analysis of scheduled town halls compiledby Townhallproject.com.

Fourteen Republicans from competitive congressional districts sit on the three congressional committees that voted last month for their partys controversial health care plan before GOP leaders pulled the bill from the House floor because it lacked support to pass. The lack of town hall meetings in key swing districtsduring a spring break that lasts until April 23 underscores the partys precarious political position on health care and peaking civic activism byprogressives.

Costello and Lancehad both voted for the bill in committee but opposed the final bill, saying changes made by House leaders made it more likely the bill would raise costs and reduce coverage for theirconstituents.

The migration away from public forums has been going on for months, despite complaints from constituents and local media. There have been roughly 30 recent newspaper editorials slamming lawmakers for avoiding town halls and calling on members to face their voters, not only in bluer portions of the country like New York but also in critical battlegrounds like Pennsylvanias 6th and 7th districts, represented by Reps. Pat Meehan and Costello.

Costellos office screened participants for his Saturday town hall through the online reservation site Eventbrite and forbid videotaping, leading the local Democratic Party chair to call the event staged. Others lawmakers are holding question-and-answer events over the phone or Facebook Live, a social media tool allowing them to speak to a camera while avoiding uncomfortable public exchanges with the citizens they represent.

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After a February congressional break generated spirited and even hostileface-to-face meetings with constituents including one lawmaker who snuck out a back door to avoid an angry crowd grass-roots organizers creditedthe power of those imagesin sending a message to moderate Republicans.

TheGOP bill to repeal and replace Obamacare stoodat 17% approval by the time it was pulled from the floor, according to a late March Quinnipiac survey. Republican leaders announced just before the break that they are still negotiating provisions of the bill and have not given up on passing it this year.

Republicans have already squandered a lot of political capital on a bill that went nowhere. The longer the health care issue lingers the more displeased members of both bases are, said David Wasserman, the House analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.

One member who's drawn criticism for avoiding town halls is Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill. In an email, his spokesman said the congressman has averaged more than one telephone town hall per month. "As we've seen around the country, large, unstructured events tend to devolve into shouting matches. Both sides compete with each other over who can scream the loudest," said David Pash. Tele-town halls are "a much more effective way to engage a larger number of people, including those who aren't able to make it to an in-person event," he said.

Rep. Peter Roskam arrives for the meeting of the GOP conference with President Trump as he rallied support for the GOP health care bill on March 21, 2017.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)

Rep. Lloyd Smucker of Pennsylvania, another vulnerable Republican who voted for the bill in committee, isn't doing town halls, but his spokesman saidhe hasn't ruled them out and he's received and responded to more than 42,000 constituent emails, letters and phone calls and held tele-town halls. "There are numerous ways Rep. Smucker can engage with his constituents. We are constantly determining which combination of the many different outreach tools we can use is most effective," said Bill Jaffee.

While the strategy may be smart in the short term, allowing members to avoid images of themselves on thedefensive, in the longer term it could hurt, said Ross Baker, a political science professor who specializes in Congress at Rutgers University. Just like the Tea Party-driven protests against Obamacare in 2009 came with a price for House Democrats, who lost control of the House in 2010, Republicans should not ignore the current backlash, he said.If theres anything worse than being on the wrong side of a political issue its appearing cowardly and not facing your constituents, said Baker. Politics is all about accountability, he said.

Progressive organizers are flipping the script by scheduling town halls and inviting the members to attend them, setting up empty chairs and posting missing signs when the invitation is declined.

Its not an attractive quality in an elected official to be as nervous as a Christmas goose when youre dealing with your constituents, said Baker. Its something people remember.

One top target for Democrats, Mimi Walters of Californias 45th district, acknowledged in a recent radio talk show that she used to hold town halls but she wont anymore because she believes activists simply use them to generate campaign attacks. The whole goal is to try to get as much press as they can, and then try to get me to say something that they could use against me in the campaign, she said on AM 870s The Answer. Walters, who has held 10 town halls since 2015, also said town hall attendees want to get a lot of press.

These members are staring at the ghosts of 2009, and images of angry town halls held by Democrats are making them think twice, said Wasserman. I dont think anyone begrudges members for wanting to take steps to make sure a town hall is a civil affair. But you dont want to appear as if youre dodging, said Wasserman.

For instance, during a debate last year, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska bashed his opponent, incumbent Democrat Brad Ashford, for avoiding constituents. I will be doing town halls in every part of this district, he said at the time. Over the recess, he is holding personal meetings with constituents and taking an overseas trip but will not hold town halls, according to his office, which says he is planning to announce one forApril 29.

Costellos town hall restrictions drew the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union. It raises serious Constitutional concerns for a sitting Congressman to host a public event at a courthouse, forbid any recording, and deny entry to any constituent who doesnt turn over their cell phone at the door, ACLU spokesman Karthik Ganapathy said in a statement.

On Friday, Rep. Larry Bucshon, R-Ind., took questions on a wide variety of topics via Facebook Live, with about 100 people tuning in. The event demonstrated the limits of social media since there was no opportunity for follow-up questions. For instance, while Bucshon addressed the outstanding health care bill, his comments were vague. Were working through that. Its a difficult and complicated process because health care is difficult and complicated, said Bucshon.

The only pushback was a parade of angry emoticon faces dancing across the screen, mixed in with a few thumbs up emoticons.

Bucshon promised to interact more directly with constituents in the coming weeks. Youll find me all over the district, he said.

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Republicans avoid town halls after health care votes - USA TODAY

The dust has barely settled since North Carolina partially repealed its controversial bathroom bill two weeks ago, butlawmakers there are already proposing another boldnew way to curb LGBTQ rights.

Three Republican lawmakers on Tuesday filed a bill that, if passed, would make same-sex marriage illegal in North Carolina, and nullify any suchmarriages that have already been officiated.

House Bill 780, or the Uphold Historical Marriage Act, asserts that the U.S. Supreme Court overstepped its constitutional bounds in its historic 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges,which made same-sex marriage legal nationwide.

That ruling voided Article 14, Section 6 of North Carolinas state constitution, which said the state would recognize marriages or civil unions only if they are between a man and a woman. The bills authors, Reps. Larry Pittman, Carl Ford, and Michael Speciale, note that 61 percent of North Carolinians in 2012 voted in favor of upholding Article 14.

In the past year, the state of North Carolina has become somewhat synonymous with LGBTQ discrimination.

Last May, it passed its infamous bathroom bill, also known as HB2, that prohibited transgender people from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity. That prompted a legal showdown between North Carolina and the federal government and cost the state millions in lost business and events, including a Bruce Springsteen concert and an NCAA college basketball championship series.

Civil rights advocates were dismayed by last months HB2 compromise that repealed the bathroom bill but also barred local jurisdictions from passing laws to protect LGBTQ residents from discrimination until 2020.

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North Carolina Republicans are trying to ban same-sex marriage - VICE News

If you want to make a progressive squirm, tell him that history is cyclical. Whether they realize it or not, progressives borrow their entire worldview from Christianity, and therefore have a fundamentally millenarian view of history. The idea of cycles makes them uncomfortable.

Thats why Tom Ashbrook was so unnerved yesterday. Dont get me wrong, Ashbrooks radio program out of Boston, On Point, is usually a measured, thoughtful discussion of politics and current events. Its one of the few NPR shows that doesnt suffer from the obvious, sometimes cringe-inducing bias.

But Tuesdays show was a notable exception. One of Ashbrooks guests was Neil Howe, author of a book published in 1997 called The Fourth Turning, which argues human history is cyclical, not linear, and that its major cycles are marked by catastrophes like war or economic collapse. Specifically, Howe and his co-author William Strauss argue that history in America and most modern societies unfolds in a recurring cycle of four stages, or turnings, of about 20 years each. Each stage has its own characteristics, moving in progression from maturation, growth, decay, and then destruction or crisis.

Howe has described this last period, the fourth turning, as a time when institutional life is reconstructed from the ground up, always in response to a perceived threat to the nations very survival. He identifies 1945, 1865, and 1794World War II, the Civil War, and the end of the revolutionary eraas fourth turnings that constituted new founding moments in American history. He also says that were in a fourth turning right now.

Its an interesting theory, and theres ample historical evidence to recommend it. Theres nothing unorthodox about suggesting that history moves in cycles, of course, and the authors observation that our current moment in history, both economically and geopolitically, closely mirrors the 1930s is in many ways correct.

But among liberal commentators the book has now become synonymous with white nationalism and the alt-right. Why? For one reason, because Steve Bannon really likes it. But thats not the only reason Howes book is problematic. The larger problem is that it refutes the progressive view of history.

As a good progressive, Ashbrook couldnt let that lie. Setting aside his usual fair-mindedness and calm demeanor, he tried to brand Howe as an apocalyptic ideologue yearning for Armageddon. What bothers Ashbrook and other hand-wringing critics of Howes book is the idea that once you recognize were in a crisis cycle, some people (like Bannon and Trump) will want to accelerate the crisis to feed their own apocalyptic tendencies. At one point, Ashbrook asks, unaware of the irony, Are you encouraging people to race toward the rapture here?

Of course, a cyclical view of history precludes the idea of a rapture. Howe noted his book is descriptive, not prescriptive, and that a cyclical view of history is in fact the opposite of an apocalyptic view, which is all about history coming to an end. We can navigate these periods well or poorly, he says. This is not anti-choice, it is simply saying, be aware of the season youre in.

Ashbrook countered that World War II and the Civil War were kind of apocalyptic because millions of people died. Its not something that one would steer toward given the choice, he says.

Probably without realizing it, Ashbrook showed that a truly progressive worldview is far more dangerous than Howes cyclical theory of history. If you dont believe that nations must sometimes make hard choicessay, to stamp out slavery or Nazismthen a choice will eventually be thrust upon you under far worse circumstances. Ashbrook suggested, no doubt without meaning to, that America could have chosen some other course than to destroy Nazism. But as Howe said in reply, We had to fight them somewhere.

Progressives take it as a matter of faith that history has sides, that it is heading in a certain direction, and that its up to us to usher in a secular paradise. For progressives like Ashbrook, merely anticipating a crisis in the age of Trump makes a crisis more likely to happen, which mightharm the progressive cause. Hence, writers like Howe are guilty of enabling people like Bannon.

After all, humanity is supposed to be marching toward that secular paradise. Even when bad things happenlike Trump and Bannonits okay because, as Obama liked to say (quoting Dr. Martin Luther King), the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. Or, as Ashbrook asked Howe, What about working for peace, justice, international equity? The things that might hold a crisis at bay?

But because some crises cannot be held at bay, utopia can be a dangerous destination. A hundred years ago, we were determined to stay neutral in the First World War, to work for peace and justice and international equityeven in the face of a European conflict that saw mass civilian casualties and the first use of chemical weapons, on the western front. Eventually, a choice was forced upon us and we went to war, but not before millions had already been slaughtered.

Today, after eight years of the Obama administration refusing to make hard choices abroad, international crises are mounting. Before long, we will no doubt be forced to choose, despite our desire for peace, despite wanting to hold crisis at bay. Maybe it will be in Syria, where a half-million people have already been slaughtered, some of them by chemical weapons.Who says history isnt cyclical?

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Why Progressives Hate Steve Bannon's Cyclical View Of History - The Federalist

Millennials represent one of the most progressive generations in history. From their support for raising the minimum wage to establishing free community college, to backing Black Lives Matter, young people strongly support progressive values and policies.

But a new report shows that financial support for conservative youth organizations far outpaces support for progressive youth organizations, to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. In 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, conservative youth organizations had access to almost three times more money than liberal youth organizations.

This takes a real toll on young people who aspire to work in the progressive movement.

The report describes the struggles of one young woman,Sarah Duensing, who had her sights set on working on Capitol Hill after graduating from college. Sarah was told by her college career counselor that there was only funding in her state of Utah to work with conservative policymakers. Still determined, Sarah moved to Washington, D.C. to pursue a position on the Hill anyway, but was never able to find a paid internship. Ultimately, she gave up her dream of working on Capitol Hill.

There are many times in my life that I have been forced to choose paid work at someplace that was irrelevant to my goals, such as a testing center or Old Navy, instead of political engagement, just because I needed to pay the rent, Sarah said.

Her experience was certainly not unique. The report states that of the 100 U.S. Senate offices, 27 Republican offices and only 15 Democratic or Independent offices offer paid internships.

The gap in funding between conservative and progressive youth organizations has actually gotten worse. Progressive youth organizations are now out-funded by conservative groups by a three-to-one ratio, up from a two-to-one ratio in 2008. With the exception of one progressive youth organization in 2014, contributions to such groups have flatlined as contributions to conservative youth groups grow.

The 2014 total revenue of the largest conservative youth organization, the Charles Koch Institute, was greater than that of the four largest progressive youth organizations combined.

Progressives might assume that the difference is the much deeper pockets of the right. But in addition to giving more money, right-wing funders are offering support with fewer strings attached, with an eye toward the long-term health of the conservative movement. While progressive funders tend to support specific projects, often tied to voter turnout for elections, conservative funders are more likely to focus on leadership development, capacity building, or to give unrestricted funds.

This has paid off through a new generation of conservative elected officials, judges, and thought leaders who have been trained by a well-oiled conservative leadership pipeline.

Young people believe in progressive values. In just the few months since the election, nearly 100 new progressive organizations have taken root, many of them organized by young people. This enthusiasm needs to be supported and developed in order for it to translate into long-term change at the state, local, and national level.

A few initiatives have responded, including the Young People For program, which supports long-term leadership development training, and Generation Progress, which uses activism, journalism, and events to engage young people across the country.

The grassroots energy awakened by the 2016 election marks a real opportunity for reinvigorating the left. Many small donors, together, can fund a movement as well as a handful of the super-rich. But it takes organization and long-term thinking to have a serious impact on policy. Progressives can help by providing support to turn this passion into effective, lifelong advocacy.

Christin Cici Battle is the director of Young People For at People For the American Way Foundation. Maggie Thompson is the executive director of Generation Progress at the Center for American Progress.

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Progressives Need to Put Their Money Where Their Youth Is - Progressive.org

Becca Tasker, a junior majoring in anthropology, first started researching civil rights in middle school.

She had learned about the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American boy who was lynched in 1955 after being falsely accused of flirting with a white woman.

I was always into history, and I started learning about the formation and fight for civil rights in the U.S., she said. My parents encouraged my curiosity by buying me books when they could, and taking me to the library.

So on a chilly Wednesday night in March, Tasker taught four students gathered in room 227 of the Cathedral of Learning about civil rights and liberties when protesting. The event, called Know Your Rights! was part of a weekly meeting for Pitt Progressives, a new Pitt club focused on getting left-leaning students on campus engaged in the community.

Tasker, the social media coordinator for Pitt Progressives, covered the legal limits for American protesters, photographers and detainees. She instructed her audience on exercising their First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights without going too far and risking arrest or injury at the hands of the police.

This year, more than 250 protesters, some of whom were Pitt students, have been arrested in Pittsburgh and in Washington D.C. for aggravated assault, resisting arrest and trespassing charges all related to protesting.

Other campus groups have continued to raise funds for those who are currently still facing legal charges making Taskers presentation all the more relevant.

If you are detained, ask what crime you are being detained for. Until you ask to leave, you cant walk away you could be charged with a crime, Tasker told the students. How the cops will react depends on what theyre questioning you for, the color of your skin and what part of the country they stopped you in.

Sam Spearing, a junior political science major and Pitt Progressives business manager, said that knowing your rights is especially important for young people who are fresh to the political scene. Spearing referred to nationwide protests that broke out after Trumps controversial executive order banning travel between the United States and seven countries with majority Muslim populations.

[Knowing your rights] has a newfound relevance, said Sam Spearing, a junior political science major and Pitt Progressives business manager. Theres been a lot of civil disobedience recently at the JFK airport after the [first] travel ban, for instance.

Jeff Migliozzi, a junior marketing major and president of Pitt Progressives, said the group grew out of Students for Bernie, an organization dedicated to supporting Bernie Sanders efforts for the Democratic bid during the 2016 election. Although Students for Bernie was focused on the primary election and most of its group members did not join Pitt Progressives, it officially became a student group three months after the 2016 election.

Before the Pitt Progressives, the left wing at Pitt had to choose between the anarchists or the College Democrats. We wanted to fill in the void between them, he said. The Democratic Party is more corporate-leaning. As for middle ground between us and the anarchists, there is probably much less because we do not believe in violence or their general philosophy on society.

This meeting was about civil rights, but the Pitt Progressives meetings are different each week members will present a topic, listen to a guest speaker or hold an event. The gatherings are centered on a common desire to make students more politically active, according to Jeff Migliozzi, the clubs president.

The main goal of every meeting is getting students more involved politically in our community at the federal, state, city or university level of politics, Migliozzi, a junior marketing major, said.

The club recently had an open mic night March 29 for students to express their feelings about the election and the inauguration through poetry, rap and spoken word. At its next meeting on April 12, they will hold a poster-making party in anticipation of the Pittsburgh satellite of the March for Science on April 22, which they are planning and participating in. The March for Science, held on Earth Day, in Washington, D.C., brings attention to funding cuts to the sciences under the Trump administration.

The march is going to have thousands of participants and scientist speakers, so it is far larger in scale than anything else we have done, Migliozzi said.

Although Migliozzi would not say which guest speakers are attending the Pittsburgh satellite march, he said the organizers will announce the speakers next week in a press release.

According to Tasker, Progressivism isnt solely about action its about taking leftist ideologies and making policies that will work for the people.

[Progressivism is] about moving forward with our actions to make the world a better place, Tasker said. We want to continue the passion from the 2016 election and mobilize students to create a passionate movement to help the greater Pittsburgh area.

More broadly, the Pitt Progressives will focus on working toward universal health care, raising the minimum wage and resisting the Trump administration by supporting the sanctuary campus movement.

It is important that every person, progressive or not, defends the most vulnerable in our society, and that includes immigrants being rounded up by ICE. We are a nation of immigrants, and Pittsburgh is a city of immigrants, Migliozzi said.

And though Trump hasnt been in office for even 100 days, Migliozzi said Pitt Progressives is already looking toward increasing student engagement in the next election, four years from now.

Voter registration will be huge next year. National organizers of 2016 campaigns noted the lack of political engagement and turnout for such a big school, he said. We need to change that [through activism], and this can be done without any official party affiliation.

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Pitt Progressives aims to fill gap in the left - University of Pittsburgh The Pitt News