Days of rage

Labor groups and activists have been hitting the town halls this month:

House Republicans are facing angry protests at home this month as liberal activists and labor organizers try to replicate the Tea-Party backlash that bit Democrats in August of 2009.

Liberal groups have been planning these protests for months. One organizer told The Hill in February that the campaign would “build to a crescendo” in August.

Another organizer said participants held 1,500 house meetings “a couple of months ago” to launch the movement, claiming “that’s twice as many as the Tea Party had.”

Hundreds of people showed up at the Wayzata Golf Club in Wayzata, Minnesota, Friday to protest a fundraiser for Reps. Chip Cravaack (R-Minn.) and Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.), which was attended by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Holding signs that blared “Jobs, not cuts!” and “People before profits”, the protesters, some wearing labor tee shirts, sought to put a hot spotlight on the exclusive event, which charged donors up to $10,000 to play a round of golf with the lawmakers.

Dozens of constituents held a rally in Duluth earlier this month to protest Cravaak’s refusal to hold a town-hall meeting in that part of his district, which is a Democratic stronghold.

On Thursday, Rep. Paul Ryan (R) the chairman of the House Budget Committee, called police to break up a sit-down protest at his district office in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Unemployed constituents took over Ryan’s office because they felt he was ducking their request for a meeting.

“There are unemployed constituents of Ryan who went into his office to demand a meeting and that’s when the sit-in started,” said Janet Veum, the communications director of Wisconsin Jobs Now, which helped organize the sit-in. Veum described Wisconsin Jobs Now as a coalition of community groups, faith-based organizations and labor unions.