At Foster town hall, concerns over Social Security, tariffs – and if Democrats wants to impeach Trump again
In front of a generally friendly crowd in red McHenry County, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster explained Democrats’ “calculation” on whether to impeach President Donald Trump again.
An audience member at a Foster town hall meeting Wednesday at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake asked the congressman when the Democrats would move to impeach Trump, citing the deportation of immigrants without due process. Much of the audience clapped when the member finished their question.
The Naperville Democrat said he and probably most Democrats feel “we have to wait until we can get Republicans willing to stand up” and join the Democrats on impeachment.
Foster mentioned Trump’s second impeachment after protesters overran the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The Senate acquitted Trump after he left office, and Foster said sometimes it’s hard for him and his staff to work with Republicans who supported Jan. 6 “rioters.”
Other issues people raised at the town hall included Social Security, tariffs, and what some audience members described as an erosion of due process.
When asked about tariffs, Foster said the founding fathers “intended Congress to be the big dog in tariffs.”
“The president is someone who in principle should have the best interests of the whole country at heart,” Foster said, contending that, instead, the president sees tariffs as a “business opportunity.”
Foster said there are times when tariffs are necessary, mentioning the rare earth magnet industry.
When asked about Social Security, Foster said it has been the “third rail of politics” for generations, later adding that “the attacks have been attempted.” He said more recent proposals include privatizing Social Security.
The congressman challenged the narrative that the government is going bankrupt, noting that the national debt is $30 trillion, but household net worth is roughly $170 trillion.
“We have the ability to pay off our debt in full, and there is no need to cut Medicare, Social Security and everything that Republicans continue to do,” Foster said.
He added, “We simply need the political will” to make those with more wealth pay their fair share.
Some attendees were concerned with what they felt was an erosion of due process. When Foster was asked about due process, the audience clapped. Foster said the “value of the court system” is that “everybody gets their day in court. That is a fundamental American principle.”
He said in part that you can’t “send people to offshore prisons, period, full stop,” which got some pushback from the audience.
Foster was speaking in the northern part of his 11th Congressional District that dips into McHenry County, the only collar county that’s predominantly red after decades of Republican political dominance in the Chicago suburbs.
In McHenry, all the countywide officeholders are Republican, and the party enjoys a 15-3 supermajority on the county board. The portion of the county Foster represents went for his GOP opponent, Jerry Evans, in the 2024 election.