Group Plans MacArthur Protest Thursday Outside Toms River Radio Station

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Frustrated that Rep. Tom MacArthur will not hold a face-to-face town hall meeting, a group of Ocean County constituents are planning to protest Thursday evening outside the offices of WOBM, the radio station where MacArthur conducts a regular "Ask the Congressman" radio call-in show.

MacArthur is scheduled to be on the radio station at 7 p.m. Thursday for the monthly show, which airs on WOBM 1160 AM and can be heard online at www.mybeachradio.com.

"Representative MacArthur is on record as saying that he doesn't want to host an open Town Hall meeting because "paid" protesters might prevent him from hearing from his constituents. Let's gather outside the station to let him know that we are REAL, UNPAID, FIRED UP people who will actively resist the Trump/MacArthur agenda," the protest organizers said in a Facebook event posting about the protest.

Protesters are being urged to meet outside the Ocean County Library's main branch in Toms River at 101 Washington St. at 6 p.m., with the plan to walk to the offices of WOBM on Robbins Street at 6:15 p.m. with the hope of seeing MacArthur as he walks into the office for the radio show.

MacArthur has vocally pushed back against those who are demanding he hold a face-to-face town hall meeting, saying those meetings are being hijacked by outsiders whose sole goal is to be disruptive.

A town hall organized in Marlton Wednesday by the group "Indivisible" in partnership with New Jersey Citizen Action was MacArthur said, nothing more than a set-up to embarrass him. He said the event organizers invited him to participate a day after they announced in the Courier-Post that they were holding the event and inviting him, and that the lead organizer, Eileen Hill, canceled a scheduled meeting with him on Tuesday at the last minute.

MacArthur has opted instead to host "tele-town halls," where the congressman hosts a conference call for constituents to call in and ask questions. In calls on Feb. 13 and Feb. 22, the callers who have spoken have identified themselves as being from towns throughout the Third District. The questions have covered a mix of topics, from the concerns about health care to the heroin epidemic, and there has been a mix of opinions from those who support changes sought by President Donald Trump and the Republicans and those who oppose them.

On Wednesday night's call, a woman who identified herself as Anita from Brick told MacArthur she would like to see the congressman — or someone — tell Trump to stop tweeting and stop complaining about the news media.

"Nobody took a beatin' like Bush, like Obama," she said. "He's gotta stop the nonsense already. Tell him to put his big boy pants on."

Several callers asked about the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans have vowed to repeal.

A caller named Jeff from Moorestown asked about it, saying the provisions of the ACA have hurt his business and his employees, whose salaries have been affected by the rising costs associated with the ACA.

MacArthur, who voted against the move to repeal it, has said the act is broken and in need of repair, but blindly repealing it isn't the solution either.

"We can't pull the rug out from under the 11 million Americans who have coverage now who didn't have it before," he said. But he said the flaws in it that have driven up deductibles and the cost of coverage have to be fixed.

"Every American should be able to buy health insurance," MacArthur said, relating a story about how his father had to work three jobs to pay off medical bills after MacArthur's mother died of cancer when the congressman was 4 years old. "He did that until I was 21 years old," and MacArthur said it was in part because someone paid off the rest of the bills that his father was able to quit working three jobs at that point.

MacArthur also said that without insurance, he himself would have been broke because the medical bills for his oldest daughter, Gracie, who was born with special needs and died at age 11, exceeded $1 million.

"So I understand how important it is that every American have some kind of health insurance," he said. MacArthur also said whatever is done to repair the ACA must be done with both parties involved. "It can't be one party pushing it through," he said.

MacArthur has met with constituents face to face, he said, noting that he met with protesters who gathered outside his Burlington County office and joined a meeting of the Evesham Township Democrats on Tuesday night that he described as productive.

"We didn't yell or point fingers," MacArthur said. "We talked honestly and respectfully. We certainly disagreed in some areas, but we did it respectfully."

Though organizers are urging people to attend Thursday's protest, they, too, are pushing a message of peaceful protest.

"Tom MacArthur is not DT," wrote Emma Mammano, one of the organizers. "I think it is important to keep this in mind. His meeting with the Burlington group was an important act of good will. ... It is possible to be angry and have disagreements but still interact with integrity. But as one of the co-sponsors of this protest, I felt it was important to state that I want this to be a peaceful and respectful event. Yes we can chant, hold signs, and all the rest. But let's keep our focus on the issues and recognize we are all just human beings doing our best."

"My life is grounded in compassion and a desire to connect to what is good in each human," Mammano wrote. "Spirituality compels me to speak up when I see injustice and suffering. But that doesn't mean I can't still honor those with whom I disagree."

"Ask The Congressman" can be heard beginning at 7 p.m.

Rep. Tom MacArthur, Patch file photo