Tea party co-founder visits Yuba-Sutter, calls for ‘virtual Congress'

Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler once again called for a repeal of the Reapportionment Act, suggested a "virtual Congress" would be more cost effective and endorsed Mitt Romney for president — sort of.

Meckler's remarks came Monday during a speech and book signing at the regular meeting of the Sutter Buttes Tea Party Patriots in Yuba City.

Meckler, 49, also told Sutter Buttes Tea Party supporters they have more in common with liberals than they might realize.

"I've spent a lot of time with liberals and progressives lately ... I'm finding we have a lot in common," Meckler said. "The challenge is, can we find things we can agree on so we can take our country back."

Johnnie Wurm of Yuba City said he was pleased with Meckler's speech.

"We need some government workers, just less of them," Wurm said. "But we need teachers, and police and firefighters — and I'd like to see them get a balanced budget."

Meckler talked about repealing the Reapportionment Act, which set a 435-seat cap on members of the US House of Representatives, saying each congressman should represent smaller districts.

"Some people say I'm crazy when I say that. There'd be 6,220 members in the House of Representatives. My friends on the left always say, 'How would they get anything done?'," Meckler said with a smile, indicating that Congress wouldn't get anything done and that was the point.

Meckler drove the point home saying Congress, under that scenario, Congress could no longer meet in Washington, DC. "If we (repealed the Reapportionment Act) they couldn't all possible fit into the House chambers," Meckler said. "Do they need to be in Washington, DC all the time?"

Meckler compared his "virtual Congress" to virtual banking.

"If we can transact billions and billions of dollars, don't you think Congress could vote online? Absolutely," Meckler said.

Yuba City's Harold Shaw said Meckler's speech regarding "dynamic changes" was exactly what the country needs.

"We keep electing the same people over and over and getting the same results and we need those dynamic changes," Shaw said.

Meckler also told a young girl that Romney would "absolutely" change the country for the better and give her "a future."

However, Meckler later backed away from fully endorsing Romney's candidacy.

"Mitt Romney is not my choice of political candidates, but Barrack Obama is even less of my choice," Meckler said. "But, Barack Obama has a more expansive view of government and Mitt Romney has a less expansive view. Whether or not (Romney) lives up to that, I don't know and remains to be seen."

CONTACT Rob Parsons at rparsons@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4785. Find him on Facebook at /ADcrimebeat or on Twitter at @ADcrimebeat.