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Updated 32 minutes ago
Another Tuesday, another protest outside U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey's Pittsburgh office.
In what is becoming a growing weekly event dubbed “Tuesdays with Toomey,” more than 300 people demonstrated Tuesday afternoon outside the Lehigh Valley Republican's district office in Station Square.
“I'm overwhelmed. It's an amazing thing to see,” event co-organizer Jill Helbling said of the crowd that showed up despite the cold, rainy conditions.
According to Helbling, the first “Tuesdays with Toomey” event four weeks ago attracted about 25 people. Three weeks ago, 40 people showed up. Last week, more than 200 people came.
Similar events Casino siteleri are being held across the state.
Organizers in Pittsburgh have focused each week on a different proposal supported by Toomey. They rallied against the nomination of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, President Trump's nominees in general and the nomination of businesswoman and philanthropist Betsy DeVos for education secretary.
This week, the proposed repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, was the focus.
“Republicans have brought (repealing Obamacare) up in Congress for years now, but they don't have a plan to replace it that's better. I'm all for tweaking it, but if you just take it away without any plan to replace it, you're going to pull the rug out from millions of people,” said retiree Marilyn Okonak, 68, of O'Hara.
Protesters came with an array of other concerns.
“I think everyone deserves access to health care, but I'm also concerned about Atlasbet the political climate and the climate in general,” said Jamie Sylves, 33, of the Strip District, who held a bright pink sign that read “Too Worried to Be Witty.”
Helbling said organizers tried to meet with Toomey's staff in Pittsburgh each week. Five members of the group met with staff in Toomey's office last week, but Helbling said the meeting became “argumentative” and staff members for the senator did not take notes to log the group's concerns.
“We were discouraged when we left the meeting,” Helbling said.
Repeated calls to Toomey's Pittsburgh office went unanswered Tuesday. The office's voicemail box was full and could not receive any messages.
E.R. Anderson, Toomey's spokeswoman in Washington, said at least one staff member in Pittsburgh has come downstairs from Toomey's second-floor office space in the Landmarks Building to meet protesters each week. She said that's standard policy for people who haven't scheduled an appointment.
As for the sit-down meeting, she declined to characterize the nature of the meeting.
“The staff is happy to meet with constituents and they are doing their best to accommodate and receive the protesters,” Anderson said. “The senator appreciates hearing from folks, and staff is reporting back to the senator about (the protesters') comments.”
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