Crashing the D.C. fundraisers

by David Safier

I heard talk of this Monday night but didn't know it actually happened until Thursday evening. A group of Take Back the Capitol people went around to GOP fundraisers, They managed to make it through the doors and make their case to the check-writing attendees and Congresspeople. The interlopers attended fundraisers for Newt Gingrich, John Boehner, Lindsey Graham and others.

The Mother Jones story on the John Boehner event featured Arizona's own Michelle McDonnell, one of the three people who led our delegation to Jon Kyl's office on Tuesday.

Among the people under the carpet was 55-year-old Michelle McDonnell, an Arizona resident whom SEIU paid to fly out and join the week's protests. McDonnell told me she'd badly injured her ankle two years ago, requiring surgery. She lost her job as licensed therapist because she couldn't be on her feet, and could not find work in any other field. For a while, she was on food stamps and Access, an Arizona program, but the benefits ran out, and she nearly lost her home to foreclosure by Bank of America. What finally saved her was getting married to a man with an income.

"We are here because of Boehner," she said. "We want him to stop listening to just the 1 percent and do something that works for all people. We have a lot of people who need jobs, and they are talking about creating jobs, but they are taking jobs away." Specifically, she wants Boehner to extend unemployment, further reform the healthcare system. "We're here bc we are sick and tired. They are up there eating and having a wonderful party. And we are all here unemployed and don't know where our next meal is going to come from."

Last night, I ran into a participant from Idaho who gave me some of the specially created paper money they handed out, including a Lindsey Graham dollar bill. They go on my wall.