Citizens Pack MCC Auditorium to Interact with Mark Kirk, Don Manzullo and Joe Walsh – Part 1

Three of Illinois congressmen came to Crystal Lake Saturday afternoon to communicate with constituents.

It was in no way a one-way affair.

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk

U.S. Senator Mark Kirk, Congressmen Don Manzullo and Joe Walsh, plus American Enterprise Institute Resident Scholar Andrew Biggs first spoke to the crowd.

“My name is Mark Kirk and I’m here to lower taxes, cut spending and create jobs,” Kirk boldly began. Kirk gave recognition to the newly-elected Walsh, “whom I am so proud to partner with.”

Kirk spoke of the Tucson shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and how the shooting “should not stop the American tradition of Town Hall Meetings…open Town Hall Meetings.

“We need to continue that,” he said, adding, “I don’t think Congress should start a Secret Service for itself.

Commenting on the civil discourse topic, Kirk observed, “We’ll be more effective if we’re more respectful.

This chart shows the deficit increased when one party controlled both Congress and the White House.

“Our job is to defend your right to say anything you want anyway you want to say it anywhere you want to say it.”

Kirk attacked one-party rule, pointing out that Americans generally don’t want the same party to control both Congress and the White House. A slide was projected showing that debt increased most when one party had control of both branches of government.

Kirk views the upcoming vote on increasing the debt ceiling as “a unique lever,” an opportunity to ratchet down spending. He does not favor one massive increase in the ceiling, rather advocating a series of votes in return for expenditure cuts.

He argues some increase is necessary for Social Security checks to be paid in May, but does not support following the example of Springfield Democrats by raising taxes to balance the budget.

Kirk introduced U.S. Representative Don Manzullo as “the man I used to be a staffer for” when he worked for the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Manzullo reply was to note that Kirk “had gone to the Far Side.”

Freshman Congressman Joe Walsh reacts to a bit of ribbing from his more senior colleagues. Don Manzullo is to his left.

The Egan Republican admonished those in the audience to point to Joe Walsh’s narrow victory to those who “say your vote doesn’t count.” He explained that if 130 or so votes had shifted, Melissa Bean would still be in office.

Manzullo took a friendly jab at Walsh, saying, “You never quite know what he’s going to do, but I’m a senior and he doesn’t know what I’m going to do.”

Manzullo urged people to stay involved. Otherwise, he said, “a handful of people can take us down the tubes, literally.”

U.S. Representative Manzullo

He spoke against the “Fat Police” in the Federal government who were intent upon banning cake sales and Girl Scout cookies because they have too many calories.

“They going to dictate what kind of pizza you can eat. An apple is more healthy than pizza, but pizza’s more fun,” the self-identified Italian who grew up in the restaurant business said.

Last in the pecking order was Joe Walsh.

He revealed that this was his eight Town Hall Meeting since taking office. He held one last night in Barrington on Health Care Reform and was in Fox Lake having coffee with people Saturday morning.

Woodstock resident Walt Dembos shouts his opposition to the vote to repeal Obamacare.

When he announced one his first votes had been to kill Obamacare, there was a mixed response.

One man shouted,

“I don’t have health care. I haven’t had it in nine months.”

A policeman in the auditorium took a few steps in his direction but then stopped.

“I was sent to do some very, very big things,” Walsh replied.

“We were not sent here to be timid.

“We were sent to take government and seriously prune it down.

U.S. Representative Joe Walsh

“If our Republican majority doesn’t do those big things and forget why we were sent there, I think we’re in real trouble in two years.”

Walsh said that he thought “a growing number of people have had it with how big our government has become.

“Should we raise the debt ceiling?” Walsh asked.

“I say, ‘No.’

“I say, ‘No, but we can’t not consider raising the debt ceiling unless there is a serious effort made and agreed to make real cuts.

“We can’t be timid this year.”

More tomorrow about the remarks of the American Enterprise Institute economist Andrew Biggs and the beginning of the question and answer session.


Comments

Citizens Pack MCC Auditorium to Interact with Mark Kirk, Don Manzullo and Joe Walsh – Part 1 — 6 Comments

  1. So was No Child left Behind. without it our kids can still be educated.

  2. Maybe the guy with no healthcare can’t get it because he has “pre-existing conditions”. Maybe he’s been denied coverage or works a minimum wage job and the costs are too high for him to pay it. Let’s not assume to know his position.

    As someone who has lived elsewhere in this world, I will say that American healthcare is great, if you can afford it.

    Both myself and my husband work very hard and are not freeloaders in any way, shape, or form but it’s getting harder and harder to afford healthcare.

    And the insurance companies are just making more and more profit every year. It is ridiculous.

    This nation can do better for all of its citizen if people would just be less selfish and start looking at how we as a nation can work together to raise standards for everyone.

  3. Lets recind NAFTA and then charge the companies import taxes and tariffs to bring their products back into the country. I think then our Country wouldn’t be burdened with insuring the workers.

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