Welcome to what is the 897th original profile here at “Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day”, where we’ll be discussing the U.S. House Representative from Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District, Jim Banks, who was first elected back in 2016, when we entered the darkest timeline. Prior to that, he entered the political arena in the Tea Party Wave back in 2010, served six years in the Indiana State Senate, and in his time in Hoosier State politics, he voted against the Medicaid Expansion, co-sponsored a bill to drug test welfare recipients, another bill to defund Planned Parenthood in Indiana, and helped pass an anti-choice bill extreme enough that it required women to bury or cremate fetal remains that was quickly overturned by the courts. He is also a tool of ALEC, having been their errand boy to bring forth right-to-work legislation.
Jim Banks’ activities since arriving in Washington, D.C., has not backed off of this hyper-conservative brand:
- February 16th, 2017: Banks 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.
- March 16th, 2017: Jim Banks 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.
- May 4th, 2017: Banks 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, postpartum depression, and sexual assault as “pre-existing conditions”. Oh, and a provision in the bill would make sure that Banks would be allowed to keep his healthcare plan as it exists under the ACA, which would be repealed for the rest of the country.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: Jim Banks 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: Banks 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: Jim Banks 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. Banks 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. Banks voted against HR 648, because he was gleefully enjoying the longest government shutdown in history.
- February 28th, 2019: Banks 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. Banks 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: Jim Banks 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).
- May 17th, 2019: Banks votes against The Equality Act, which would have prevented discrimination towards Americans based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.
- June 4th, 2019: Rep. Banks votes against the Dreamers Act, because he’s too xenophobic and partisan to care about immigration reform.
- July 16th, 2019: Jim Banks 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”.
- December 18th, 2019: Banks 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.
- January 10th, 2020: Shortly after Congresswoman Ilhan Omar mentions in an interview that she still has PTSD from her time as a child refugee from Somalia… Jim Banks comes along to minimize her suffering, and try to pretend that she’s not being honest about her condition, and that her remarks were “offensive to our nation’s veterans”.
- May 15th, 2020: Banks votes against the HEROES Act, to further support the healthcare industry and citizens affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District has a +18 Republican lean in the Cook Partisan Voting Index, tied for the most conservative district in what is a decidedly red state. Jim Banks faces off against Democrat Chip Coldiron, a veteran and public school teacher, in November. We are concerned about the long term implications of Jim Banks being a mover and shaker in the Republican Party, as he just turned all of 41. Barring any scandal or a decision on his part to retire after a few terms… he could be a thorn in the side of this country for decades.
One Year Ago, August 2nd, 2019: Michael Folk (WV)… 2019 Update
Two Year Ago, August 2nd, 2018: Michael Folk (WV)… 2018 Update
Three Years Ago, August 2nd, 2017: Pete Nielsen (ID)
Four Years Ago, August 2nd, 2016: Michael Folk (WV)… Original Profile
Five Years Ago, August 2nd, 2015: Scott Renfroe (CO)
Six Years Ago, August 2nd, 2014: Stephen Broden (TX)