Freshman U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh, a tax-bashing Tea Party champion who sharply lectures President Barack Obama and other Democrats on fiscal responsibility, owes more than $100,000 in child support to his ex-wife and three children, according to documents his ex-wife filed in their divorce case in December.
“I won’t place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids unless we structurally reform the way this town spends money!” Walsh says directly into the camera in his viral video lecturing Obama on the need to get the nation’s finances in order.
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Before getting elected, he had told Laura Walsh that because he was out of work or between jobs, he could not make child support payments. So she was surprised to read in his congressional campaign disclosures that he was earning enough money to loan his campaign $35,000.
“Joe personally loaned his campaign $35,000, which, given that he failed to make any child support payments to Laura because he ‘had no money’ is surprising,” Laura Walsh’s attorneys wrote in a motion filed in December seeking $117,437 in back child support and interest. “Joe has paid himself back at least $14,200 for the loans he gave himself.”
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Keith Liscio, who said Walsh hired him to be campaign manager — Walsh disputes that — has sued Walsh for $20,000 in salary he said Walsh owes him. Both sides are trying to settle that case.
Staffers learned during the campaign that Walsh was driving on a suspended license. His license was suspended twice in 2008 for his failure to appear in court, and he was cited in 2009 for driving on a suspended license, according to the Illinois Secretary of State.
Walsh’s energetic Tea Party politics are making him the darling of cable TV.Yeah, I'll just bet they do.
Now here's my question. One of many, actually, but let's start here.
Anthony Weiner texts racy pictures of himself to consenting adults. It's the lead story for days. Shock! Horror! He must resign!
This hypocrite who beats his chest and swears he'll not let his kids have to deal with "one more dollar of debt" stiffs those same kids to the tune of 100k, not to mention not paying his staff, and oh, by the way, drives with a suspended license (which is an actual CRIME), and what we hear from the national media is...the sound of crickets chirping. The only place I've seen this story is in the Sun-Times (his local paper) and the liberal blogosphere.
Do you honestly think that if any of this stuff had come out about, say, Harry Reid, we wouldn't have Weinergate all over again? Can anyone with a remaining brain cell still claim that the media has a 'liberal' bias?
Your category for this post says it all, Dusty: Hypocrite.
ReplyDeleteHow these bozos have managed to buffalo a good-sized chunk of the population with their disinformation, lies, and other nonsense is totally beyond me.
More like a lazy bias.
ReplyDeleteKaren, there are two reasons, or possibly one reason with two facets. First, these Teabaggers are shameless liars. They're con artists. Grifters. They'll say the most outrageously untrue bullshit with a totally straight face and if you call them on it, they'll insist they're telling the truth and anyone who says differently is part of a liberal conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteSecond, the Democrats let them do it. Again, if this was a Democratic Congressman, every goddamn member of the Republican caucus would be on Fox and Friends or Morning Joe or Bill O'Reilly or whatever, howling for his head. The Dems don't have the nerve, or they think that wouldn't be "civil."
Well, fuck civility. I lost my civility the second or third time one of these right wing assholes called me a traitor over the Iraq War and told me it was people like me who caused 9/11. Now, we're being civil while these Tea Party terrorists suicide-bomb the economy so they can turn America into the Third World oligarchy they always dreamed of, complete with torture and a permanent underclass.
One thing: You do know, right, that the Koch Brothers funded the Tea Party? They have millions behind it, and are highly vested in keeping their billions left over for themselves. I venture to guess it costs them less to throw money at Bachmann and other TP candidates than it would for them to pay taxes.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, if they are successful the results will fall under the title of Unintended Consequences. Sure, they'll "win", but when the entire world is under deep financial crisis, their fortunes will fall, as well. And since their businesses depend on having customers, once no one else has any money they won't have such success there, either.
Second, I agree with you completely on the civility factor, and I don't get why the Democrats aren't getting more proactive about debunking the lies. And I'm more than a little fed up with the complacency.
The Murdoch scandal in the UK points up how complacent we have become. Fox has been allowed to hijack the national conversation, and we let it happen. Shame on us.