Congressman-Elect Walsh Visits Lake Zurich for Town Hall Meeting

From the moment congressman-elect Joe Walsh, R-8th district, strode in to a town hall meeting at the Lake Zurich police station and started talking to a capacity crowd on Sunday, he emphasized that he's not interested in becoming a career politician.

"I ran because, just like most of you, I'm concerned and frightened about what's been going on in Washington, the out-of-control spending" Walsh said at the beginning of the meeting. "I'm not a politician, but I felt I needed to do something, so I decided to run for office." Walsh laughed as he mentioned that had he known what a pain running for office would be, he might have thought twice about it.

"We have to cut spending and grow the economy. Cut capital gains and abolish the estate tax. And we've got to help small businesses. Shame on the government for maintaining an environment of uncertainty for small businesses."

People continued to trickle in after the announced start time of noon to listen and perhaps talk to the new congressman from Barrington. Eventually, the room was filled up, as approximately 100 people occupied every chair and all of the available floor space. The town hall-style meeting was scheduled to last until 1:30 p.m.

Walsh ran on a "fed up with Washington politics regardless of party affiliation" platform, and benefitting from Tea Party support,  went to great lengths during his campaign to state that he is isn't going to become a professional politician who makes Washington a longtime second home.

"If I can't be available to you, listening to you, then I'm not doing my job," he said. "It's more important for me to be home listening to you than being in Washington. I'll be sleeping in my office in Washington and spending as little time there as possible."

Walsh will be representing the 8^th congressional district of Illinois, which includes most of the state's northern suburbs, taking in parts of Cook, Lake and McHenry counties. Just as Democrat Melissa Bean upset long-standing Republican Phil Crane in 2005, Walsh pulled off a mild upset over Bean this past November, winning by 291 votes.

Walsh stressed that he was interested in what the audience had to say, and wanted to open things up to a Q&A session to get a better idea of what was on the minds of those in attendance.

"I don't want to stand up here and filibuster," he concluded, "and all I ask is the same of you. I want to hear what's on your mind and answer your questions. But please, no speeches."

Walsh also mentioned that while he was doing several more "listening sessions" - a term he said he doesn't really like - in assorted towns running up to his swearing-in on January 5,  he will continue to visit communities on a regular basis once he takes office.

Walsh ran on a platform of financial conservativeness and fiscal responsibility, and when the Obama administration's health care reform plan came up, he spoke of it derisively and consistently referred to it as "Obamacare." Much of the audience voiced their approval of Walsh's characterization of the new health care plan.

"We have one of the best health care systems in the world. What did Obama do? He's taken the first step towards an entirely government-run health care plan." When someone asked what can be done to derail Obama's new program, Walsh had a ready response. "We should deny funding for the different pieces of the bill as they come up over the next two years. Then get someone in office who can make the changes that are necessary."

Asked what would be his alternative for Obama's health care policy, Walsh mentioned that he would be paying his own way regarding health care insurance for himself and his family, and that he's turned down the various pro bono policies that are available to him as a congressman. "And my wife has a pre-existing condition, so I'm just like a lot of people out there."

Walsh continued that health care is only going to become an even greater financial burden on the government. "We are aging, we are getting older and our health issues are only going to become more expensive."

Walsh claimed that what Obama is ultimately interested in doing is converting national health care policy into a Medicare template "which is already on the verge of bankrupting five or six states."

When someone in the audience again asked Walsh what his solutions would be, he mentioned tort reform, and the freedom for people to be able to acquire insurance in whatever state they choose, in keeping with his mantra of championing a free and open market.

While health care took up more time than any other topic, eventually Walsh and the audience moved on to discuss other areas of concern.

Walsh stated that he is definitely a term-limit guy. "You go to Washington to serve, not to enrich yourself. It's an honor and a privilege to serve." This statement was greeted with applause.

The last half of the meeting covered a number of issues, including state pension bailouts by the federal government, elimination of some of the government-appointed czars (which someone mentioned originated during Republican George W. Bush's administration), campaign finance reform, the scaling back of big government, reversing the trend of jobs leaving the country, and immigration reform.

Concerning the latter, Walsh said that "both parties have to deal with this issue and they don't want to touch it. We have got to secure our borders. That's all there is to it. We have got to secure our borders. But we have also got to make the process of getting into our country simpler."

Walsh also said he is  in favor of profiling at airports. "Call it what you want," he said, "I want my government doing whatever it takes on the front end of this problem so there's less to do on the back end." Walsh also emphasized that there is irrefutably a "Muslim extremist strain" that are determined to do whatever they can to wreak havoc in America.

When Lake Zurich's Bob Schlereth  suggested that the single greatest reason the country is in hock is because of the defense budget, Walsh smiled and waved his finger at him. "I know you and I smell a filibuster," he warned, apparently familiar with Schlereth, and reminding him of his message at the outset of the Q&A.

Schlereth then quickly made his point that he believed the government is spending an exorbitant amount on defense, and Walsh responded that  to support all of America's military personnel fighting on two different war fronts, he couldn't envision a cutback.

"I know that this is an area where fiscal conservatives are criticized, because they talk about tax cuts and cutting government spending in all of these other areas," Walsh said. "I want my government spending what it needs to spend to keep this country safe."

Walsh said the recent mid-term election is the most important one of his lifetime. "John Boehner and Eric Cantor know that this class of freshman congressmen and senators realize that government has gotten too big. People are scared to death at the size of government."

When a man asked Walsh about the possibility of breaking up "too-big-to-fail" corporations under existing anti-trust laws, Walsh replied he was in favor of big business, and invoked Ronald Reagan's quote about making sure that business is in fact too big too fail.

After fielding several follow-up questions, Walsh thanked everyone for attending and spent some time mingling with the audience.

"I'm really pleased that there's a town hall forum here," said Martha Stamper of Long Gove. "Now if we can get more of the other side (Democrats) to come in and participate, that would be really good."

Long Grove building consultant Don Bartelt enjoyed Walsh's plain-spoken style. "He's metropolitan, from the Chicago area, but he reminded me of someone from the country. He was very straightforward. If he does what he says then he'll be fine." Bartelt then inserted a cautionary note. "If he doesn't do what he says, then he'll be out."

Schlereth, the man who Walsh scolded about filibustering, had plenty to say about what was wrong with the Republican party. "It's been hijacked, shanghaied by the neocons," said Schlereth. "The things that Republicans once stood for, true Republicans like Goldwater and Senator Bob Taft, are almost gone."

Schlereth does feel that there is one politician who continues in the vein of  traditional old-style Republicans. "Rand Paul," he said, referring to the newly elected senator from Kentucky, who like Walsh is part is part of the incoming class of freshmen headed for Washington next month.