Virginia Organizing rallies at Hurt's Danville office

A dozen members of the Virginia Organizing Danville Chapter rallied Tuesday around the office of Rep. Robert Hurt, R-5^th District, to protest the Bush-era tax cuts.

They also expressed their concerns for Hurt’s vote for Rep. Paul Ryan’s, R-Wis., budget proposal that makes some changes to Medicare.

Tuesday marked the 10th anniversary of the Bush tax cuts. David Harrison of the Virginia Organizing Danville Chapter came out to support the efforts and express his displeasure with the massive cuts for the wealthy.

“We don’t necessarily have a spending problem, we have a revenue problem,” said Harrison. “The country needs the top 2 percent and major corporations to pay their fair share in taxes. By closing corporate loopholes and ending the Bush tax cuts, the country would be able to pay for vital services working Americans need.”

The group held signs outside of Hurt’s office for close to 30 minutes around noon before going inside. The signs asked Hurt to “stand up for Danville” and that “Danville seniors need Medicare, millionaires don’t need tax cuts.”

One sign also read that “Donald Trump needs a toupee not a tax cut.”

Marion Carter said she was there because the government was cutting her checks for Medicare and disability and she wanted Hurt to work to bring in more money and not to keep cutting it from people in the district.

The protest moved inside, where the group was greeted by Hurt’s Director of Constituent Services Denise Van Valkenburg. Hurt was in Martinsville for a legislative luncheon with the Martinsville Henry County Chamber of Commerce.

Van Valkenburg listened to the constituents and wrote down their names and concerns for Hurt. She also said she was mostly unaware that the group was coming by at that time, but was happy to have them visit.

“Rich people should not pick on poverty level people to make themselves richer,” said one of the rally members in Hurt’s office.

Danville organizer Nik Belanger helped coordinate the event and encouraged everyone to be peaceful. He said the main message was getting the concerns heard.

“The average millionaire in Virginia saves $71,000 because of the Bush tax cuts,” he said. Harrison also presented Hurt’s office with the Fairness in Taxation Act, which the group supported. They also provided literature showing that 45 percent of the Bush tax cuts benefits extension would go to the richest 5 percent of Virginia’s taxpayers.

While the group was critical of some of Hurt’s decisions, the congressman was pleased that Virginia Organizing stopped by his office.

“I am glad they came by,” said Hurt. “I take my position as an elected official very seriously and need take into account every viewpoint. And I can’t do my job unless I hear from my constituents. I appreciate it.”

However Hurt does not believe that the Bush tax cuts are a major contributing factor in the $14 trillion deficit.

“I think the problem we have is that we spend too much money in Washington and that is the bottom line. In the past two years, spending has skyrocketed and debt has skyrocketed. The debt for our country this year will exceed more than the gross domestic product,” said Hurt. “You don’t accumulate debt by not taxing enough, you accumulate debt by spending too much.”

He also said that the many of the concerns over the Rep. Paul Ryan proposal that Medicare will end or will drastically cut funding for people currently on Medicare are false and used as scare tactics for senior citizens.

“Nobody that is using Medicare, or who will be soon, will even be affected by these policies,” said Hurt. He insisted the Ryan plan could eventually lower health care costs by incorporating market principles.