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As politicians debate in Washington, activists vent their views to local staff

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 15, 2011 - While area members of Congress are in Washington enmeshed in the debates over federal budgets and debt ceilings, their offices back home are under civil siege.

Local groups and individuals on both sides have shown up to hold rallies, wave placards -- or just talk -- to make clear their views on the financial matters.

On Thursday, a conservative cadre of about 20 people with Americans for Prosperity -- a low-tax, small-government group -- showed up at the Brentwood office of U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis, to lobby in favor of a balanced budget amendment.

Meanwhile, at least twice in the last month, several hundred activists with labor and other progressive groups have held rallies outside the offices of U.S. Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., to highlight their concerns about cutting entitlements such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

"This is about protecting services for our seniors and children,'' said spokeswoman Julie Terbrock, program director for Missouri ProVote, during last week's rally outside Blunt's office in Clayton. Participants carried signs declaring "Hands Off Medicare, Medicaid" and "No More Denials of Care."

A similar rally had been held earlier outside McCaskill's St. Louis office.

The conservatives gathering Thursday carried no signs. "We didn't just want to stand outside,'' said new Americans for Prosperity state director Patrick Werner, formerly chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Todd Akin, R-Wildwood.

Werner and his allies all walked inside to crowd into Carnahan's local office. They met with Carnahan's district director Jim McHugh, who listened as various people emphasized their concern about federal spending and the federal debt.

Although officially the meeting was not about the debt-ceiling controversy, several told McHugh they opposed raising the ceiling. The group included St. Louis lawyer Ed Martin, a Republican who came close to ousting Carnahan last fall.

"Now's the time. We have to hold the line,'' Martin said, adding that he didn't believe all the warnings of financial disaster if the debt ceiling isn't increased by Aug. 2. "It feels like a 'Chicken Little' moment,'' Martin said.

Several people also told McHugh to tell Carnahan to oppose any cuts in Social Security or delays in sending out benefit checks, saying that other federal spending should be cut instead.

When it comes to protecting Social Security, the progressive groups agree. But their broader message to McCaskill and Blunt has been "we can't just be balancing the budget on cuts,'' Terbrock said.

Among the participants outside Blunt's office was Kirsten Dunham with Paraquad, a nonproft that promotes independent living for people with disabilities. "We're very worried about cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security,'' she said. "We believe that Medicaid (which provides health care coverage to the disabled) is particularly vulnerable."

Police surrounded the entrances to the building housing Blunt's office, but there were no reports of altercations. Several rally representatives went to Blunt's office to present his aides with letters and placards signed by people asking that entitlements be protected.

Both sides plan ;to continue to press their concerns, regardless of what happens with the federal debt ceiling.

Jo Mannies is a freelance journalist and former political reporter at St. Louis Public Radio.