After the sugar buzz of last week’s election in Alabama, all of us got a bitter dose of reality with the FCC ending Net Neutrality and then last night’s this morning’s passage of an historic tax scam bill by Republicans in the Senate. Because House Speaker Paul Ryan is such a novice, the version House Republicans passed violated Senate rules and had to re-vote (happening now as I type this) (it passed, 224-201.) Thanks to this, Americans will get a Christmas gift this year like no other: a massive transfer of wealth from the middle class and poor citizens to the wealthiest among us. They also threw in a little Affordable Care Act sabotage by repealing he individual mandate which will mean millions of Americans will go without affordable health insurance.
The GOP talking points on this overlook their decades-long crusade against deficits that fly in the face of the fact that the #TrumpTaxScam will increase our federal deficit to the tune of a trillion and a half dollars. Few members of Congress have banged the Lower Deficits drum louder and with greater frequency than Michigan Republican Tim Walberg from the 7th Congressional District. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane to see what Mr. Walberg has said and is currently saying about the federal deficit:
- In 2003, Walberg signed Grover Norquist’s “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” which binds candidates and incumbents to oppose any and all tax increases.
- In 2007, Walberg said he “had to vote against the final version of” an appropriations bill in 2007 because it increased the deficit by $4.5 billion. (That’s only 3% of the amount the current tax bill raises the deficit, by the way.) A short time later, he took credit for an earmark he put in the appropriations bill he voted against that provided a grant to expand a runway at the W.K. Kellogg Airport in Battle Creek. After being called out for it, Walberg wrote an op-ed defending his no vote saying “Simply because I support Calhoun receiving its fair share of federal tax dollars back from Washington, D.C., does not mean I will vote for excessive government spending that increases the deficit.”
- In 2008, in his “Walberg Weekly Wrap-Up”, Walberg wrote, “I said Congress must not take action just to take action, and that I could not support putting future generations of Americans in debt to pay for this expensive band-aid that will not solve our long-term economic problems.”
- In 2011, Walberg co-sponsored a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution that would require a three-fifths of the House to approve debt ceiling increases and deficit spending. The House vote on this bill yesterday got only 52.8% of the vote and not one vote from Democrats.
- In a 2011 article in the Jackson Citizen Patriot, Rep Tim Walberg said, “We have responded to the people’s call to action and passed significant deficit reduction plans through the House, and we remain willing to make the tough decisions needed to put our fiscal house in order.”
- In 2012, Walberg said he would consider eliminating federal departments such as Education, Commerce and Energy to reduce the deficit.
- In 2012, Walberg voted against a payroll tax cut and said the key factors in his decision were the “bottom-line cost and the ultimate impact on the deficit and the debt”.
- In 2012, Walberg said, “The last thing I want to do is leave my kids and grandkids with a tab they’re unable to pay off later. And that means putting the federal government on a diet now.”
- In 2013, Walberg had this to say during the so-called “fiscal cliff” debate: “I believe the federal government needs to live within its means, because trillion-dollar deficits threaten our economy and opportunities for future generations. I will continue to support immediate spending reductions, reforming our tax code and a Balanced Budget Amendment to hold Congress accountable and require fiscal responsibility.”
- On his campaign website, Walberg has this to say about “fiscal responsibility”: “Tim Walberg understands the $19 trillion and climbing national debt threatens the future of our country and causes a significant portion of our federal budget to be used for simply paying interest on this debt. Tim voted for a Balanced Budget Amendment to force the federal government to live within its means, and he voted for fiscally responsible budgets that dramatically reduce the deficit and place our government on a path to long-term balance.” That is under this banner:
- On his Congressional website, Walberg has this to say about the federal deficit: “The federal government must solve its debt crisis by bringing spending in line with taxes – not taxes in line with spending.”
All of this rhetoric is empty and hollow promises that were shown to be lies by his multiple votes in support of the #TrumpTaxScam that will add $1,500,000,000,000 to our national deficit.
In the 7th Congressional District, people are already mobilizing to defeat Walberg in 2017. From Democratic Party organizations to the vast array of Indivisible groups in Ann Arbor, Saline, Chelsea, Jackson, Dexter, Lansing, and Eaton County (to name just a few), the people “represented” by Tim Walberg are sick and tired of his lies and hypocrisy that are all simply smokescreens for his subservience to corporate America. It’s no accident that Walberg gets support from the Koch brothers’ front groups like Americans for Prosperity and Club for Growth year after year. He’s their useful idiot in Congress who can be counted on without fail to support corporate interests over the interests of his constituents.
I join these groups in pledging to do everything in my power from organizing and publicizing Walberg’s hideous positions & votes to calling & knocking doors for the Democrat he’ll face in the 2018 General Election. It’s time to — in my wife’s words — “Reveal and Replace” Tim Walberg. I hope you’ll join me.
That gavel right there? The one that falls off the podium because it wasn’t set down with care? That is the most perfect metaphor for what the GOP is about to face in 2018 after voting for this wildly unpopular legislation that you could ever conceive of. https://t.co/dBSq1aWQ45
— Chris Savage (@Eclectablog) December 20, 2017
With a triumphant gavel bang, @SpeakerRyan presides over passage of House GOP tax bill. pic.twitter.com/Kg1uTDLc6h
— Evan McMurry (@evanmcmurry) December 19, 2017
