Keep an eye on GOP Rep. Joe Walsh from IL-8. If you're looking for somebody who personifies the Teabagger Paradox perfectly, the suburban business consultant turned politician is your man.
Mr. Walsh, 48, will get about $1.4 million annually to run his operation and plans as many as three district branches. He’ll sleep in his office in Washington, while his family stays here in McHenry. And get this: he’s turned down the usual congressional health care, pension and retirement packages.
“I don’t think congressmen should get pensions or cushy health care plans,” he said. His wife is not exhilarated with the latter decision; she has a pre-existing medical condition and is now forced to hunt for a plan.
Mr. Walsh had an initial campaign debt of about $90,000. That soared several fold because of legal bills related to a lengthy recount battle. A New Year’s Eve party at the Lakemoor Banquet Hall will raise money for a congressman-elect happy to take checks from lobbyists and political action committees.
“If JPMorgan Chase wants to give me money, fine,” he said.
It’s no surprise that he’s unhappy with the tax deal congressional Republicans cut with President Obama. “We cut taxes, raised spending and contributed to the deficit,” he said. “Republicans should have held out for something better.”
His legislative goals are repealing Mr. Obama’s health care legislation and seeking major changes in Social Security and Medicare. I asked if reducing the size, scope and power of government is a means to an end or an end in itself.
“An end in itself,” he said, without pausing. “I think we were sent to D.C. to cut spending and grow the economy. We have to talk about cutting real programs” — and agencies — “like the Department of Energy and Department of Education.”
One of the first votes he’ll confront is on raising the federal debt ceiling. Many economists warn that voting down an increase would be a mistake, and the House Republican leadership agrees. Mr. Walsh will vote against it. “On principle and policy, the leadership is wrong,” he said. “This is a teachable moment on my part.”
The Club For Growth guys must have wet dreams about cloning Joe Walsh and replacing as much of Congress as possible with them. Don't kid yourself about what "major changes" to Medicare and Social Security means, either. He goes on to say he has no intention of working with Democrats, and that governing through anger is the way to go, saying he's "absolutely" prepared to lose in 2012 if it means he was instrumental in shredding the safety net, blowing up the country's credit rating, and dismantling as many executive branch agencies as possible.
Sure, he gets credit for not taking government health care or pension programs. But this guy is a fanatic, plain and simple. He'll take all the corporate lobbying cash he can get his hands on to wreck the lives of the very people who sent him to Washington: blue state seniors.
After all, anyone who outright says that the middle class has it too good in America is not exactly going to be on the side of working class or fixed income Americans.
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