Randy Demmer for Congress - Demmer on Walz: Messages Don't Mesh with Voting Record

From Rep. Randy Demmer's opinion piece published in the Rochester Post-Bulletinon May 12:

In a recent opinion piece published by several local newspapers, Congressman Tim Walz bemoaned the lack of fiscal discipline that he and his colleagues in Congress have displayed. He mentions the high costs of debt service and the dampening effect that deficits have on the economy and on job creation, and rightfully reminds the readers of the responsibility we have to our children and future generations.

He makes a strong case for the need for fiscal discipline, and I agree wholeheartedly with his message. We must take swift action to reduce the deficit and restore common-sense budgeting priorities to Washington in order to avoid a fiscal meltdown.

There is a problem, however. The concerns expressed by Congressman Walz when he's at home in the district and on the campaign trail in an election year just don't mesh with the positions and votes he takes in Washington. As a member of the majority and someone who votes the party line 97 percent of the time, he is calling attention to a problem that he himself helped to create.

Americans all across this country and voters right here in the 1st Congressional District are paying very close attention. They know what's going on in Washington; they know what's at stake this fall, and they are right to be asking questions about these inconsistencies.

For example, if Congressman Walz is so concerned with deficit spending and its long-term negative impacts, why did he support the President's FY10 budget? Why add $1.6 trillion to the deficit in only one year, making it the most fiscally irresponsible budget in our nation's history?

If he is truly worried about the consequences to future generations of our massive debt, then why has he voted not once, but twice, to raise the nation's debt ceiling to the tune of $2.2 trillion? Has he changed from his wholehearted support of Speaker Pelosi and his other colleagues in their reckless attempts to spend our way to prosperity with federal tax dollars?

Since Congressman Walz took office four years ago, the total debt held by the American public has more than doubled from $4.8 trillion to an estimated $9.9 trillion. He has supported Nancy Pelosi's government-control agenda and voted in line with her San Francisco values every time she has asked him to. He has approved government takeovers and voted for stimulus spending that have saddled our children and grand children with more debt in his four years of service than had previously been accumulated in the entire history of our nation.

How can the Congressman talk about our responsibility to "eventually pay that debt off," then turn around and support the creation of new programs and entitlements that studies show will continue to add to our deficit?

Take the health care takeover bill as an example. According to information released by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, this legislation is projected to actually increase health care costs, not lower them. Furthermore, it concedes that the deep cuts to Medicare used to help pay for the bill may be unrealistic and politically unsustainable, thus adding even more to the deficit. The same report also raises concerns about the solvency of the new long-term care insurance fund. It too would add to the deficit if benefits payable in the future could not be paid because premiums paid in now are spent to rescue current programs.

Minnesotans want a clear understanding of the positions their elected representatives will take on their behalf — not election-year rhetoric. Congressman Walz must answer for his unwavering support of Nancy Pelosi's liberal "tax and spend" agenda, in contrast with the fiscally conservative persona he is trying to project on the campaign trail. This November, he will be held accountable for the votes and positions he has taken that have resulted in the massive expansion of our government, skyrocketing costs, and loss of our individual liberties, and voters will elect a new congressman from Minnesota's 1st District.