Congressman Tim Walz and the DNC must be very worried, and rightly so, about Walz’s re-election in November if they are already showing political ads in March. The ads say that we should “thank Congressman Walz for giving us health care.” No, we should fire Congressman Walz for giving us a deficit that can potentially bankrupt us, a bill that will bankrupt many small businesses who can’t afford mandated health care, taxpayer-funded abortions and increased taxes on everyone, to name but a few of the terrible, hidden provisions in this bill.

During the recent Easter recess, many of the nation’s elected officials came home and conducted town hall meetings to hear from their constituents. Not Walz. He instead decided to speak to a partisan crowd at Owatonna High School, where he was endorsed for re-election. He gave the same speech, using the same talking points, that all of the Democratic leaders have been using since the passage of the bill. All of the positive talking points that is.

And then in the Owatonna People’s Press, we see that Walz has requested funds for U.S. Highway 14. Not for the highway completion, which will take $165 million, but $3 million for an environmental impact study. Congressman Bart Stupak and his gang of 10 pretended to be holding out for language in the bill rejecting taxpayer-funded abortions. They held out until they received last minute deals giving them a total of $1.3 billion in earmark funding for their states, then voted yes. Walz only “requested” funds so that he could get his name in the paper to show the folks back home that he’’s really doing something.

I’ve been an infrequent visitor to Washington, D.C., but each time I go I make appointments to see my senators and congressmen. On my last two trips I’ve had set appointments, with times and dates, to see Congressman Walz. Both times he’s walked right past me sitting in his lobby, greeted someone else, in one case Tim Penny, who I had just been talking to, and left without even a handshake or a nod. I was turned over to a 20-something aide who, after searching for five minutes, couldn’t tell me the congressman’s position on immigration reform. So much for being responsive to his constituents. Tim Walz must go.

Elliott Eisman

Owatonna