

You'd think that, by now, GOP congressmen would get that their constituents will always voice their opinions. Representative Rod Blum of Iowa apparently didn't get the memo before he spoke at a town hall about "pregnancy insurance" being a "crazy regulation" and apparently didn't think twice about it. He's now in the national spotlight after a woman who was at the event responded in a letter that's now going viral.

On May 8, Blum held a town hall at Dubuque High School in Iowa. The town hall, similar to other ones, did not go well. Plenty of people showed up to protest him and the town hall lasted for more than an hour. One particular moment that made people angry is when Blum spoke about what else he'd like to change in Obamacare with the American Health Care Act. "Get rid of some of these crazy regulations that Obamacare puts in, such as a 62-year-old male having to have pregnancy insurance," said Blum. You can watch a clip of the moment ahead at the 41-minute mark.

As you can see in the clip, people did not like Blum's response at all, including Barbara Rank. The 63-year-old retired special education teacher did not ask Blum a question during the town hall, but instead let her thoughts simmer. She then wrote a letter to the Dubuque Telegraph Herald on May 12 that summed up her feelings as to why people need to pay for something as "crazy" as pregnancy insurance. In it, she wrote, "Why should I pay the salaries of politicians I didn't vote for, a tax cut that doesn't affect me, or a loophole I can't take advantage of? It's called democracy, a civil society, the greater good. That's what we pay for."

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Reddit user Shwinstet loved her response so much, they posted it to Reddit.





The Reddit post quickly went viral, unknowingly to Rank. She didn't know more than 100,000 people had seen her response and supported it until her daughter told her, reports The Washington Post. Blum, on the other hand, believes his words don't portray what he actually meant. "He was referring to the idea of patients being able to choose health insurance policies that fit their needs, rather than one size fits all policies filled with government mandates," said a spokesman to The Washington Post.

Perhaps Rank's letter sends a clear message to congresspeople; citizens are watching and listening and won't hesitate to question your actions.