Welcome to what is the 895th original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing the U.S. House Representative from Alabama’s 6th Congressional District, Gary Palmer, who was first elected to office back in 2014, with a previous career of being the president of the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. Palmer’s focus on being a social conservative for a quarter century straight was evident through his first term in office, as he was raging about the Supreme Court’s ruling on same sex marriage, throwing tantrums about transgendered Americans using the bathroom of their sexual orientation and not of their birth, and his sponsorship of a bill to defund Planned Parenthood based on outrage over the fraudulent video sponsored by the Center for Medical Progress. He actually had the nerve to complain that Planned Parenthood frequently donates to Democratic candidates, which surprise, this motherf***er takes money from Koch Industries and Trinity broadcasting network, just to name a few.
What truly shows us that Palmer is a true extremist, was how back in October, he was one of 41 Republicans willing to crash a classified hearing regarding Donald Trump and Ukraine that would lead to Trump’s impeachment, a meeting that he and his party actively chose not to participate in. Anyone willing to follow Matt Gaetz’s lead is huffing paint, frankly.
As far as how he’s handled himself during the Covid-19 pandemic, Gary Palmer was calling for the economy to be opened as early as April 22nd (i.e. WAY TOO SOON and part of the reason we’re still seeing Americans die in the thousands daily) and besides that, Palmer is stupid enough to actually argue against the House voting for rule changes to allow for proxy voting and remote work to preserve his life, and that of any other members of Congress in the “at risk” group.
- January 22nd, 2015: Gary Palmer votes for HR 7, an anti-abortion bill that makes even some Republicans pause before voting for it because of its language that tries to define the conditions for what “rape” is, in it.
- February 3rd, 2015: Rep. Palmer votes for the 60th Republican attempt at repealing the Affordable Care Act. This in spite of the fact that by this point, the law is not just working, but better than experts predicted.
- September 11th, 2015: Palmer votes against the United States’ nuclear treaty with Iran.
- September 18th, 2015: Rep. Palmer votes for a bill with most House Republicans to defund Planned Parenthood.
- November 19th, 2015: Palmer votes for the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act, reacting to the terror attacks in Paris by jihadists from France and Belgium by trying to create greater restrictions to keep out Syrian refugees, of whom exactly zero were involved in those attacks.
- February 16th, 2017: Palmer 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.
- May 4th, 2017: Palmer votes for the GOP’s healthcare plan, that would allow 24,000 more people to die a year, give $50,000 in tax breaks to millionaires, would eliminate coverage for pre-existing conditions, and would treat pregnancy, post-partum depression, and sexual assault as “pre-existing conditions”. Oh, and a provision in the bill would make sure that Palmer would be allowed to keep his healthcare plan as it exists under the ACA.
- June 8th, 2017: Gary Palmer 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.
- October 3rd, 2017: Palmer votes for HR 36, the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, that would try to create an unconstitutional ban abortion at 20 weeks (even though medical science tells us fetuses do not have the capability to feel pain until 29 weeks).
- December 19th, 2017: Gary Palmer votes for HR 1, the GOP’s $1.7 trillion tax cut to benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations permanently that coincidentally also removes the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate and kicks 13 million people off their health insurance.
- February 18th, 2018: Rep. Palmer and his fellow Republicans decide that poor big businesses are suffering too much at the hands of the Americans with Disabilities Act too much, and vote for HR 620, which would strip most of the civil rights protections guaranteed by it.
- January 23rd, 2019: Rep. Palmer voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
- February 28th, 2019: Palmer 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. Palmer 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: Gary Palmer 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.
- May 17th, 2019: Palmer votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
- June 4th, 2019: Rep. Palmer votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
- July 16th, 2019: Gary Palmer votes 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”.
- October 17th, 2019: Palmer is one of 60 Republicans who vote against HJ Res 77, which opposed Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to abandon Syrian Kurdish forces in Northeast Syria to the mercies of a Turkish invasion.
- December 3rd, 2019: Rep. Palmer is one of 71 Republicans who votes against a resolution to disallow Russia from re-entering the G7 and makes it the G8 until it leaves Ukraine.
- December 18th, 2019: Palmer ignores his Congressional duty to hold a president who has been proven to commit high crimes and misdemeanors accountable and votes against the impeachment of Donald Trump.
- May 15th, 2020: Palmer votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Palmer seems highly likely to earn a fourth term in office, as no Democrats even filed to challenge him in his highly conservative Alabama district. Unless, if by some fluke, his district is reconfigured after the 2020 Census to be less conservative, he’s likely going to remain in office as long as he feels like staying in it. Which… is not a fact we’re thrilled about, to say the least.
One Year Ago, July 31st, 2019: Javier Manjarres (FL)
Two Years Ago, July 31st, 2018: Josh Mandel (OH)
Three Years Ago, July 31st, 2017: Joe Heck (NV)… 2017 Update
Four Years Ago, July 31st, 2016: Joe Heck (NV)… Original Profile
Five Years Ago, July 31st, 2015: Tom Smith (PA)
Six Years Ago, July 31st, 2014: Rich Iott (OH)