Rep. Joe Walsh, Tea Party-Ill., is one of 39 House members to receive a perfect score from the pro-business, anti-regulation Americans for Prosperity on its annual congressional key vote scorecard.
“Americans for Prosperity is proud to count Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh among the Members of Congress who received a perfect 100% score in the first session of the 112th Congress. AFP especially appreciated his leadership on important budget and spending fights this past year. We look forward to his continued strong support of conservative free market principles,” AFP Director of Government Affairs James Valvo said in a statement.
Some of the “aye” votes that scored Walsh an A+:
-- H.R. 2, which would have repealed Obamacare.
-- The Walden Amendment, to prohibit use of federal funds for preserving the open Internet and broadband industry practices.
-- The Energy Tax Prevention Act, to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases.
-- Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s 2011 budget plan, which would have reformed Medicare and repealed Obamacare.
-- The Regulation from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which would have subjected all new government regulations to a congressional vote.
-- The Cut, Cap and Balance Act, to reduce spending by $111 billion and only grant President Obama’s request for a debt ceiling limit increase if Congress passed a Balanced Budget Amendment.
Walsh also received points for voting against the Omnibus Spending Bill which passed in December. (The White House singled him out as one of the Tea Party representatives trying to kill the budget deal.) Rep. Don Manzullo was the only other Illinois congressman to earn an A+.
“I am proud of my colleagues who have joined me this past year in fighting to bring some discipline to Washington and to get our fiscal house back in order,” Walsh said in a statement. “Although we have made some short-term progress, this economic and fiscal crisis is far from over. Big government and reckless spending are strangling the American economy. I will continue to fight for drastic spending cuts, a balanced budget, and private sector job growth to get America back on track in 2012.”
Buy this book! Ward Room blogger Edward McClelland's book, Young Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President , is available Amazon. Young Mr. Obama includes reporting on President Obama's earliest days in the Windy City, covering how a presumptuous young man transformed himself into presidential material. Buy it now!
