Among the visitors to the Lexington-Rockbridge-Buena Vista Democrats’ booth at the Rockbridge Community Festival on Saturday was Congressman Cline.

Although Cline greeted us volunteers politely, he dodged questions about when he might hold another town hall meeting in the Sixth District. (His last town hall was in November 2024.) Asked when the next town hall will be, he said he would let us know.

He also complained about a sign at our booth calling out his vote for Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” He said it was untrue.

However:

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the BBB will increase the number of Americans without health insurance by 10 million by 2034, due largely to cuts of almost $1 trillion in Medicaid.

The Center for Medicare Advocacy reports that several provisions of the BBB directly target Medicare beneficiaries, including:

• New Restrictions on Lawfully Present Immigrants

• Blocking Improvements to Medicare Savings Programs

• Blocking Nursing Home Staffing Standards

• Limiting Medicare’s Ability to Negotiate Drug Prices

Cline said we should remove the sign.

We didn’t.

Congressman Cline thinks Donald Trump deserves praise for negotiating these dubious “trade deals.”

In just six months, President Trump locked in historic trade deals with the UK, Japan, Indonesia, the EU, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

That’s real leadership, meanwhile Joe Biden wasn’t allowed a seat at the table.

— Congressman Ben Cline (@RepBenCline) August 1, 2025

But before we join Cline in the accolades, here are some inconvenient facts to consider:

– U.S. administration claims historic tariff hikes and trade deals with EU, Japan, Philippines, but lacks detailed agreements or written documentation.

– Partners dispute U.S. claims of investment commitments, with EU clarifying zero-tariff benefits apply only to limited products like aircraft.

– Japan’s 5.5 trillion yen investment pledge faces ambiguity over profit-sharing ratios and funding structure, described as “loans and investments” without specifics.

– Vietnam and Indonesia reject U.S. tariff claims while disputing mineral export commitments, highlighting gaps between administration statements and partner confirmations.

– Lack of transparency risks undermining party unity and corporate trust, as key provisions remain unverified and negotiations on critical sectors continue.

And sorry, Congressman. All of these “deals” involve increases in tariffs on products imported from these countries– meaning, ultimately, higher prices for American consumers, especially those least able to afford them. Your Sixth District constituents are not exempt.

Although businesses have so far absorbed the brunt of new tariffs, by covering higher costs themselves or relying on earlier stockpiles of inventory to keep them going, that is quickly changing. Major retailers, including Costco, Williams-Sonoma and Target, that loaded up on products earlier in the year are beginning to deplete those reserves, analysts say.

…..

Walmart, the country’s largest retailer, has begun marking up baby gear, kitchenware and toys. Nike is raising prices on some of its shoes, and many others are beginning to warn consumers that price increases are around the corner. Procter & Gamble, the maker of Tide laundry detergent, Pampers diapers and Oral-B toothbrushes, said it would start raising prices in August on some products by about 2.5 percent to help offset $1 billion in tariff costs this year.

And finally, Congressman: please read Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution, which clearly grants Congress, not the President, the authority to set tariffs. Even if it had been cut out of the original at the National Archives, you would be able to find it in the copy you claim to carry with you everywhere you go.

Congressman Cline continues to heap praise on Elon Musk’s (remember him?) Department of Government Efficiency by uncritically regurgitating DOGE’s claims of supposedly massive savings.

.@DOGE has done a tremendous job rooting out wasteful government spending. 

The estimated savings?

$1,236 per taxpayer, totaling $199 billion. This is exactly how we get our country back on the right fiscal track. pic.twitter.com/OnXDjtW3W6

— Congressman Ben Cline (@RepBenCline) August 1, 2025

There are reasons to be extremely skeptical. CBS News reports:

The DOGE website reports a grand total of $199  billion saved, when factoring in real estate lease cancellations and other cuts such as personnel reductions. However, it provides no documentation for roughly half of that amount. According to DOGE, the savings equate to $1,236.02 per person in the U.S.

According to Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, “The amount they have per person is fiction. It’s transparency theater.”

A substantial portion of those purported savings is a result of cuts to USAID. A recent study in the medical journal The Lancet says those cuts could come with a human toll. By the study’s estimates, the loss in humanitarian aid could lead to 14 million deaths in children younger than 5 years of age by 2030.

But even if we accept the $199 billion in savings as accurate (which we shouldn’t), that would still be less than 10 percent of the $2 trillion in savings that Cline strangely considered a realistic possibility last November.

In fact it’s possible that DOGE will end up costing the government more money than it saves.

It would be nice to get some answers from Cline about this (and many other things). If we can find him.

The Waynesboro, Virginia, public schools will provide free breakfasts and lunches to all students without requiring applications from parents.

If Congressman Cline had his way, this would have been illegal.

Last year the House Republican Study Committee, of which Cline is a leading member, introduced a budget that would ban universal free school meals.

The budget — co-signed by more than 170 House Republicans — calls to eliminate “the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) from the School Lunch Program.” The CEP, the Republicans note, “allows certain schools to provide free school lunches regardless of the individual eligibility of each student.” 

“Additionally,” the Republicans continue, “the RSC Budget would limit spending in the program to truly needy households.”

The CEP allows schools and districts in low-income areas to provide breakfast and lunch to all students, free of charge. The program thus relieves both schools and families from administrative paperwork, removing the inefficiencies and barriers of means-testing, all on the pathway to feeding more children and lifting all boats.

As I wrote at the time:

It’s ironic that Cline– who regularly rails against excessive government bureaucracy and regulations– wants to require families to prove they are “truly needy” before their kids can get free meals at school.

…..

And of course, universal free school meals eliminate the hurtful divisions between children whose families can and can’t afford to pay.

Well done to the Waynesboro public schools– which will be keeping all kids fed regardless of parents’ income and despite Cline’s disapproval.