On this date in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, as well as 2018, “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” published profiles of the U.S. House Representative from Michigan’s 7th District, Tim Walberg, a pastor and “family values” Republican once learned he had a staffer on his payroll who was arrested and plead guilty on child abuse charges, and yet it took six weeks from the point Walberg learned about it to give the guy a pink slip. This wacky pastor’s own political resume also includes calling for the impeachment of President Obama over his birth certificate, making comparisons between Democrats and Joseph Stalin over birth control coverage in the Affordable Care Act, has declared gay marriage as something that puts all of society at risk, has spoken on behalf of the Almighty itself on abortion, and claimed that Americans are in a moral crsis where they are slaves to football and pornography. Walberg’s voting record is, hands down, one of the most socially conservative in Congress (go figure, seeing that from a pastor). Honestly, that should be abundantly clear, because after the Supreme Court ruled on same sex marriage, Tim Walberg released a statement making his opinion clear… he believes gay people being able to get married is a violation of HIS First Amendment rights.
Yes, Walberg is enough of a hypocrite to pretend he cares about promoting a Christian agenda, but note that he voted for a tax plan that puts the burden upon the poorest Americans, an ACA repeal vote that would leave the sick to die, and he even voted against existing measures that are there to protect the disabled. As such, all has not been right between Rep. Walberg and his constituents. It started back on Valentine’s Day 2017, when they staged a protest at his office by dropping off 20,000 candy hearts to encourage him to have a “change of heart” on completely repealing the Affordable Care Act, and ask that he just work to fix its flaws. It would take several months before he finally would host a town hall, and on May 12th, 2017, he finally did so, being drowned out by boos on his meek statements about the actions of Donald Trump, and his vote for Trumpcare.
But when climate change came up, well, that’s when it got just plain sad:
“I believe there’s climate change. I believe there’s been climate change since the beginning of time. I think there are cycles. Do I think man has some impact? Yeah, of course. Can man change the entire universe? No. Why do I believe that? Well, as a Christian, I believe that there is a creator in God who is much bigger than us. And I’m confident that, if there’s a real problem, he can take care of it.”
So he doesn’t believe climate change is real, but if it is, no sweat, there will just be divine intervention to fix it, so we won’t do anything to prevent it…
At his second town hall of 2017, Walberg actually managed to be more infuriating to his constituents, telling a constituent who commented on how inappropriate it is to see a POTUS conduct themselves the way Donald Trump does on Twitter to “GET A LIFE.” Dumbfounded, another constituent incredulously asked if Rep. Walberg just really said that, and he doubled down, saying, “I did. I did.” He then proceeded to claim there was nothing in his power he could do to change the president’s insane Twitter ramblings… but that’s really not true, there are things he could at least ATTEMPT to do, if he cared.
After winning re-election in 2018 with 53.8% of the vote, Walberg has gone back to Washington, D.C. and made Michigan’s 7th regret that decision:
- January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Walberg voted against HR 648, because he was gleeully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
- February 28th, 2019: Tim Walberg votes against HR 1112, a bill which would have required universal background checks on all firearm purchases, and close the gun show loophole.
- March 14th, 2019: Rep. Walberg votes against HJR 46, which sane members of Congress voted for to reject Donald Trump’s “national emergency” regarding the U.S. border and his attempts to reallocate funds for a border wall without Congressional approval.
- April 4th, 2019: Tim Walberg is one of 158 Republicans who choose to vote against the re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act, likely because they feel the 2nd Amendment remaining absolute is more important than preventing people with a history of domestic abuse from owning a firearm (which statistics show, makes them more likely to use those firearms against women in their lives).
June 4th, 2019: Rep. Walberg votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
- July 16th, 2019: Tim Walberg is one of 187 Republicans who vote against a resolution to condemn Donald Trump for his racist statements that four people of color in Congress should “go back where they came from”.
We have no idea how Tim Walberg got a fifth term in office after telling a constituent to “GET A LIFE”, but we’re hoping he gets a firm boot to the ass in 2020.