Walz Says Pelosi "Zeroing In" on His Support for Job-Killing National Energy Tax
Walz Says Pelosi “Zeroing In” on His Support for Job-Killing National Energy Tax
Tim Walz Owes Minnesota Farmers a Straight Answer: Will He Vote to Kill Their Jobs?
Washington- Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN) has been taking a lot of heat in Minnesota for failing to stand up to Pelosi and protect the jobs of farmers in his home state. Now that Pelosi and Democrats in Congress are trying to force through their climate bill and impose a devastating national energy tax on every American who flips on a light switch, Minnesota farmers want to know if Tim Walz will vote to kill their jobs?
“This really shouldn’t be a difficult choice for Tim Walz, but apparently he’s still wavering on who to put first: his party leaders in Washington or his constituents who are counting on him to protect their livelihood,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Minnesota voters are still asking Tim Walz what happened to all of the jobs he promised to create by voting for the failed ‘stimulus’ bill, so they’re really wondering why he would ever back a national energy tax that could lead to the destruction of even more middle-class jobs.”
The reason Nancy Pelosi is “zeroing in” on Tim Walz’s vote is simple – he votes with Democrats 94.9 percent of the time (according to the Washington Post’s party unity score). But since fellow Minnesota Congressman and Chair of the House Agriculture Committee, Collin Peterson (D-MN) has been such an outspoken critic of the Democrats’ climate bill, Walz is now caught between protecting jobs for his constituents and toeing the line for Democrats in Washington.
Even Tim Walz’s own campaign treasurer’s comments show that he’s dancing around the issue, and continues to play games with the future of middle-class agriculture jobs in Minnesota.
“… your writer falsely claims that Tim supports a piece of climate change legislation called ‘cap-and-trade.’ Either your writer willingly mislead readers or he simply is not paying attention. Several major publications have accurately portrayed Tim’s position. Most recently, the newspaper Politico quoted Tim as being undecided until a thorough review of legislation can be completed and the full extent of its impact is known.
“Folks who know Tim understand that he is a careful decision maker. He works to gain as much knowledge as possible about a major piece of legislation before making up his mind. I just wish the letter writer from St. James was as careful.” (Jerry Maschka, Campaign treasurer, Tim Walz for U.S. Congress, “Your View: Walz hasn’t taken stand on ‘cap-and-trade’,” Mankato Free Press, 6/14/09)
If Walz wants to know more about the bill, he can click here and read it – and then let his constituents know how he plans to vote on it before it’s too late: http://www.rules.house.gov/111/LegText/111_hr2454_sub.pdf
Or he can read the letter signed by the Minnesota Crop Production Retailers and the Minnesota Agriculture and Growth Council:
“As currently drafted, H.R. 2454 fails to address the most important concerns of the U.S. agricultural sector…. Particularly in this difficult economic period, we must ensure that our environmental goals are met in a way that does not endanger jobs, investment or food security provided by our agriculture sector.” (Letter from Agriculture Energy Alliance to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, June 11, 2009)
Will Walz Really Vote to Kill Minnesota Farmers’ Jobs to Please Pelosi?
“‘We’re getting there,’ Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said last week. ‘It’s a close vote.’ Clyburn said his whip operation started two weeks ago in preparation for the floor debate with a large focus on the farmers. ‘I think there are some real concerns that the rural communities have, especially the co-ops, as to how they are faring, and the states that they represent, how they fare in all of this as opposed to larger states,’ he said. ‘And so we’ve got to work out all of those equity issues.’ Several of the farm state Democrats said they have the impression their every word is being monitored. ‘I don’t think its paranoia, but I feel like when the speaker’s talking now maybe she’s zeroing in on me,’ said Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), a member of the Agriculture Committee. ‘Because the minute I said I don’t think the Senate is going to pick it up or we’re moving fast enough, we had a sophomore meeting where the speaker said the Senate’s moving along and we’re going to take it up next week.’” (Darren Samuelsohn, “ House cap-and-trade bill remains in holding pattern,” Energy & Environment Daily, 06/22/2009)
“House Democrats filed a 1,201-page energy package late Monday night and said they are confident that they will resolve all outstanding issues in time for a vote Friday…. Peterson had been negotiating for protections for the ethanol industry and agricultural interests under the cap-and-trade scheme, warning that he had the votes to kill the bill if farmers and rural areas weren’t protected.” (Steven T. Dennis, “House to Vote Friday on Climate Bill,” Roll Call, June 22, 2009)