It was one year ago today that “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” presented our first profile of the eleven-term U.S. House Representative for Ohio’s 1st Congressional District, Steve Chabot, who felt it necessary during Congressional testimony regarding Hillary Clinton’s e-mails from former Attorney Genereal Loretta Lynch to give her a history lesson about that time that Bill Clinton was receiving fellatio from Monica Lewinsky, and they went and tried impeaching the president. What does that have to do with Hillary Clinton’s e-mails, or Hillary Clinton, directly at all, you ask? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. But for whatever reason, Chabot thought it relevant to remind everyone that Bill Clinton got a hummer in the Oval Office one upon a time, just in case Loretta Lynch or the public had never heard before. That isn’t entirely an isolated incident regarding Hillary Clinton getting smeared by Rep. Chabot, though, as after several Benghazi hearings through the past three or four years that have turned up no evidence of any wrongdoing, no rumored “stand down” order, and no evidence that an order to send in the military would have saved the lives of any of the four people who died in the attack on the embassy, he still has told the public that a “smoking gun” proving Clinton’s involvement was criminal was found.
He doesn’t save his baseless accusations for just Hillary Clinton. When news first broke over the supposed “IRS Scandal” (which ended up not showing any targeting of conservative groups, specifically by the IRS), Steve Chabot seized on the opportunity to wonder “How high up does this go?” and insinuating that it was on an order that went all the way to the Obama White House (It didn’t go anywhere, really).
This isn’t to say that Rep. Chabot is a boy scout, himself exactly. Shortly after he was re-elected back into office in the 2010 Tea Party Wave, he hosted his first town hall in his district (while his fellow Republicans were in the process of gerrymandering to make more favorable to him by the 2012 elections). And during that 2011 Town Hall, Chabot ordered police present to begin confiscating cameras so that no one could photograph or film what was happening for “security reasons” that were never explained… Chabot apparently wanted to control what might get out and onto Youtube, also taking care to only allow pre-screened questions to be asked by those present. This plan to restrict his constituent’s rights backfired because it was caught on camera by the media, whose cameras were NOT confiscated.
Anyway, over his decades in the House, Chabot has one of the more partisan records not just for legislation he’s supported, including being a co-sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act, voting for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton for lying about having an affair with Monica Lewinsky,voting for a constitutional amendment to allow government buildings to erect monuments of the Ten Commandments, and an amendment to ban same-sex marriage. He has voted for a myriad of strict anti-choice legislation, has twice tried to defund Planned Parenthood, and is so conservative in terms of pro-life that he voted for the Terry Schiavo Incapacitated Persons bill. Chabot’s record on bank legislation is disastrous, as he voted for the Gramm-Leach-Billey Act, which repeals key parts of the Glass-Steagall Financial Regulation Act, and opens the door for big banks to create the 2007 Sub-Prime Mortgage Housing Crisis, and against Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform, to resolve that crisis. He voted for the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. Chabot voted for the 2013 Government Shutdown, and then voted to keep the government closed when the time came to reopen it.
- February 16th, 2017: Chabot votes for HJR 69, to make it legal for hunters on wildlife reserves to kill several species of hibernating bears or wolves while they’re sleeping. Because… well, the logic really isn’t there as to why, it’s just awful.
- March 16th, 2017: Steve Chabot votes for HR 1181, which would allow veterans deemed mentally incompetent to continue to own firearms, and not have them taken away without a judge’s written order. We feel safer already.
- March 28th, 2017: Rep. Chabot votes for SJ Res 34, which allowed internet providers to sell the data information of their customers’ internet usage to businesses. Well, so much for privacy.
- May 4th, 2017: Chabot votes for the House GOP’s healthcare plan, that would kick rougly 24 million people off their health insurance plans, allow up to 28,000 more people to die a year, give $50,000 in tax breaks to millionaires, and would eliminate coverage for pre-existing conditions which would include such medical conditions as pregnancy (current or past), postpartum depression, or prior sexual assault. Oh, and a provision in the bill would make sure that Chabot would be allowed to keep his healthcare plan as it exists under the ACA, which would be repealed for the rest of the country. He and his Republican compatriots threw themselves a beer bash to celebrate taking away healthcare from millions and then gloated about it with Donald Trump at a White House press conference, as well.
- June 8th, 2017: Steve Chabot votes for HR 10, the GOP’s attempt to repeal Dodd-Frank financial reform, because what the country really needs is to allow the big banks to make the same mistakes that imploded the economy only a decade earlier.
Steve Chabot won in 2016 by almost 20 points against human rights activist Michele Young, while his district is only supposed to have a +5 lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index. It will be interesting to see how 2018’s Blue Wave plays out, and if it sweeps out Chabot or not, given his consistent support in this session of Congress for some of the most unpopular legislation to hit the floor of the House in nearly a decade.
One Year Ago, July 20th, 2016: Steve Chabot (OH)… Original Profile
Two Years Ago, July 20th, 2015: Carly Fiorina (CA)
Three Years Ago, July 20th, 2014: Sarah Palin (AK)