Proud Progressive
Professional politician, Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin, (D-WI), began her political career in 1986 on the Dane County Board of Supervisors and a year on the Madison City Council. Then in 1983 onto the Wisconsin Assembly representing the most liberal Madison district before being elected to Congress in 1998; after 7 terms was elected in 2012 to the US Senate succeeding Herb Kohl. So, another Poster Child has spent the bulk of her life in government with little or no experience in the private sector. Her voting record, as you’ll see below, shows that inexperience in a lack of understanding of economics and what makes for freedom and prosperity.
Current problem
Ron Honl, a whistleblower from the Veterans Administration in her district came to her many times with evidence of the need for an investigation pleading with her to intervene but she ignored him. She not only did not act on the information she didn’t even pass it along to someone who could have followed up. She had for several months the information regarding the exceptional high rate of opiate prescriptions coming out of the Veterans Affairs center in her district. Three deaths there linked to the over medication are being investigated by the VA Inspector General and Baldwin is lawyering up as the Republican party of Wisconsin and now one of top aides are going after her in connection with the matter.
She fired the aide offering her a generous severance package with a confidentiality agreement. The aide, Marquette Baylor, rejected the deal and is considering a sexual discrimination lawsuit against Baldwin, an avowed lesbian.
Baldwin describes herself as a proud progressive and her voting record proves it –she is one of the most liberal members of Congress. She along with many of our Poster Children is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The CPC supports strong environmental laws, government control of healthcare, unlimited support for labor unions, same-sex marriage, much higher income taxes and many more welfare programs among other big government issues of a statist nature.
Her support of obamacare is over the top: she even voted for a bill (HR 525) to give veterinarians obamacare grants and benefits. Being a lesbian she was an early supporter of same-sex marriage –in 1994 while in the Wisconsin legislature she proposed legalizing same-sex marriage in her state.
By Their Votes Ye Shall Know Them
With that brief background you’d expect conservative scorecards to be very low rated and you’d be right: HeritageAction rates her lifetime 16%; Conservative Review grades her “F” at 4%. Liberal rating from Americans For Democratic Action gets 95% for the last year they publish.
The respected independent public policy groups that follow the voting records for a specific purpose, not partisan politics, are instructive: Citizens Against Government Waste calls the Junior Senator from Wisconsin “Hostile” to taxpayers at 4% –in contrast the State’s Senior Senator Ron Johnson who is applauded as a “Super Hero” to taxpayers at 100%. The Club for Growth shows her at 5% in favor of economic freedom for votes favoring free trade, free markets, rational tax policy affecting job creation, growth and prosperity. Again, Sen. Johnson is at 95%. The National Taxpayers Union gives her an “F,” their Big Spender category.
There are numerous groups that rate congress from one view or another but these are instructive sufficient to understand Sen. Baldwin as one who favors Big Government statism over individual freedom. As we said in the beginning, her lack of real world experience, never having to work for a living or raising a family in the environment created by the laws she passes on the people affects her votes.
Unarguable Testimonial from one who knows from experience
Our argument for term limits is that instead of career politicians we need turnover so that those elected can go home and live under the laws they passed. Sen. George McGovern had a long career in politics but after he retired he went into business –a hotel with bar and restaurant and convention services—which went bankrupt after two years. “In retrospect, I wish I had known more about the hazards and difficulties of such a business,” McGovern said about his first real experience in the private sector. “I also wish that during the years I was in public office, I had had this firsthand experience about the difficulties business people face every day. That knowledge would have made me a better U.S. Senator and a more understanding presidential contender.” Career politicians are destroying the Republic!
