No, No, No, No, Joe Won't Vote Yea No More

Why doesn’t Rep. Joe Walsh just tape down the “no” button on his desk, and take the rest of this Congress off?

On Tuesday, Walsh voted against a continuing resolution that will fund the government while legislators debate a complete appropriations bill. Walsh was one of over 50 Tea Party-affiliated Republicans who voted not only against this bill, but have voted against every major spending bill that’s come before Congress this year. They essentially make up a third party, and have forced House Speaker John Boehner to work with Democrats to pass legislation to keep the government running. (Walsh’s opponent in the upcoming 14-th District Republican primary, Rep. Randy Hultgren, also voted against the resolution.)

Walsh released this statement on his vote:

The American people elected us to cut spending, create jobs, and get our fiscal house in order. This continuing resolution and temporary funding is not what Congress was elected to achieve, and is disingenuous to our constituents. We need real solutions to the real problems America is facing not short term fixes.

In April, the Republican controlled House passed the Ryan Budget which sent forth specific guidelines for putting the fiscal house back on track. The continuing resolution passed today does not follow these guidelines, and strays from the plan we passed just months ago. Congress continues to kick the can down the road. Americans have seen continuing resolution after continuing resolution with no clear end in sight and no real solution to this economic disaster.

The American people elected us to fix the problem, and I will continue to fight to get our fiscal house in order.

The Ryan Budget, named after Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, was voted down by the Senate, 57-40, so it would be a legislative absurdity to pass it in the House again. But Walsh will settle for nothing less than nothing. Congress now has until Nov. 18 to craft a permanent appropriations bill, which Walsh will also vote against.