May 11, 2012

Congressman Joe Walsh Tanks First Debate

Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-08) tonight soundly lost the first debate to strong Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth. Walsh simply could not defend the indefensible: Congressman Walsh is a deadbeat on jobs who voted for an irresponsible budget that protected tax breaks for billionaires and Big Oil while ending Medicare and making seniors pay $6,000 for the same health care. For all his bravado about taking on Washington, Congressman Walsh’s record shows that he is part of the problem.

“Tonight, Congressman Joe Walsh failed to defend his irresponsible budgeting decisions that cost Illinois jobs and ended Medicare for seniors, but protected tax breaks for billionaires and Big Oil,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Congressman Joe Walsh failed to meet his personal financial responsibilities, and now he’s failed Illinois families by pushing an extreme deadbeat agenda that is more focused on limiting access to women’s health care than creating jobs or responsibly tackling the deficit.”

Background

Walsh Voted to End Medicare, Costing Seniors More than $6,000, While Protecting Tax Breaks for Big Oil and Millionaires. On April 15, 2011, Walsh voted in support of a budget, which according to the Wall Street Journal, “would essentially end Medicare.” If enacted, this budget would begin affecting millions of seniors almost immediately, and cost increase seniors’ an additional $6,359. Additionally, the Republican budget provided people with incomes over $1 million would receive an average tax cuts of $125,000 a year and secured no deficit-reduction from removing Big Oil’s tax breaks. [H Con. Res. 34, Vote #277, 4/15/11; Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11; National Journal, 6/2/11; CBO, 4/5/11; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/20/11]

Walsh Voted to End Medicare, Protect Tax Breaks for Big Oil and Millionaires, Encourage Companies to Ship Jobs Overseas. On March 29, 2012, House Republicans supported a budget that would end Medicare’s guaranteed benefit, protects $40 billion in tax breaks for big oil, provides people earning more than $1 million a year with an average tax cut of $394,000, and provides incentives for corporations to shift profits and jobs overseas. [H Con Res 112, Vote #151, 3/29/12; New York Times Editorial, 3/20/12; Center for American Progress, 3/20/12; Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/27/12; Tax Policy Center, Table T12-0078 and T10-0132; Citizens for Tax Justice, 3/22/12]

Walsh’s Condo Foreclosed Upon the Same Month he Announced Candidacy.  “A suburban congressional candidate who's stressed the need for fiscal restraint lost a condominium to foreclosure [in October 2009], the same month he announced his bid for office, court records show.” [Daily Herald, 3/3/10]

Walsh Paid $3,300 Per Month to Rent an $860,000 Home. The Chicago Daily Herald reported that after his foreclosure, Walsh paid $3,300 per month to rent the house which was valued at $860,000 and included an in-ground pool. When the paper questioned how someone who claimed to earn $40,000 per year could afford the price, Walsh admitted living above his means. [Chicago Daily Herald, 3/07/10; 5/20/10]

Walsh Owed Nearly $25,000 in Tax Liens. According to the Chicago Daily Herald, “Starting in 1992, Walsh was handed several liens for failing to pay state and federal income taxes, together totaling nearly $25,000, according to records from the Cook County Recorder of Deeds. The first lien, in June 1992, was for failing to pay $2,239 in federal income taxes. In June 1994, Walsh was handed a lien for failing to pay $21,566 in federal income taxes, some going as far back as 1985. Six months later, the state placed another lien for Walsh's failure to pay $778 in state income taxes. He eventually paid them off and the last lien cleared in 2001. […] Walsh called the $2,239 and $778 tax liens ‘miscalculations’ on taxes, as far as he and his ex-wife, Laura, can tell. The $21,556 lien, the one that, as Walsh says, ‘jumps out at people,’ comes from failing to pay taxes on an education trust fund set up by his grandfather to pay for his education at Grinnell College and later the University of Iowa in the 1980s. The fifth of nine children, Walsh said his grandfather had set up similar funds for his eight siblings, but said he was the first to ‘get dinged by the IRS […] I had no idea that (money) was taxable,’ he said.” [Chicago Daily Herald, 10/19/10]

Walsh was  Sued for over $100,000 in Back Child Support. In July 2011, the Chicago Sun Times reported that Walsh was being sued for $117,437 in back child support owed to his ex-wife and three children. Despite claiming he was out of work and between jobs and thus unable to pay child support, Walsh had loaned his congressional campaign $35,000 as well as traveled to destinations such as Mexico, Italy and Nicaragua. [Chicago Sun-Times, 7/27/11]

Want the latest updates? Follow the DCCC on Facebook and Twitter: