(Jason Reed/Reuters)



This is the same Paul Ryan who held 17 "health care listening sessions" during the 2009 August recess. Way back then, Ryan latched onto town hall anger in press releases, claiming to "welcome the debate," and even bragged on TV that "I shattered the attendance record at my town halls" and "my town halls ran about 9- or 8-to-1 against the health care bill." Now the shoe is on the other foot, so Ryan is avoiding open "listening sessions" with voters who reject his budget ideas.

Now Paul Ryan has gone pay-per-view , skipping free and open public town halls in favor of events charging $15 a person. Media Matters Action Network reminds us that just two short years ago, Paul Ryan thought town halls were a cornerstone of democracy.

That was back when Fox was firing up the GOP's teahadist base to lambaste health care reform. It made for good TV. But now that there's public outrage at his proposal to repeal Medicare, he's decided to avoid the scrutiny of public questioning. It's hard to blame him. If I wanted to end Medicare, I wouldn't want to face my constituents either.