You think I am kidding, but I am not.
Scott Garrett is my Representative, and the best way to describe him is if you combine all of the extreme elements of Michele Bachmann, Rand Paul, Grover Norquist and (take your pick of) the most corporatist and Wall Street Executive friendly member of Congress, you still would have someone with a more progressive voting record than Garrett. When there is a bill that passes 403-25 or something like that, he is always one of the 25.
Always.
If you are interested, you can read more here or at Retire Garrett. But I’ll give you a bit more about Garrett after I pass along the good news that there is a very solid candidate, Tod Theise, who is running against Garrett – a progressive who I first came into touch with during the Governor race last summer. Here is his campaign site, which I recommend checking out as far as a contrast to Garrett, and I’ll be writing more about the campaign in the upcoming months.
But back to Garrett, there was recently a story about how Rand Paul wasn’t sure about his views on the Voting Rights Act. Well, Garrett was one of only 33 members of the House to vote against the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act (it also passed the Senate 98-0). Garrett and Rand Paul even have a history – when Rand Paul appeared at Webster Hall in 2009, Scott Garrett didn’t just attend, he was one of the guest speakers (go to the 1:20 mark), talking about how people across this country are "just starting to realize what is happening in this country".
And remember when Rep. Anthony Weiner ripped into that far right wing stooge who cited the fake Health Care memo on the House floor a couple of months back?
That was Scott Garrett too.
What else can I say about Garrett....oh, what about:
- Garrett was also the only member of the NJ Congressional delegation (currently 8 D’s, 5 R’s) to vote for drilling off the coast of NJ.
- He was the only one to vote against restrictions on price gouging by oil companies.
- He voted against child safety locks on guns
- He voted against a bill for federal regulations regarding clean drinking water.
- He was one of only four in the entire House to vote against an extension of unemployment benefits.
- He introduced his very own stimulus bill in 2008, consisting entirely of corporate tax breaks
- He voted against a federal ban on dogfighting.
- His former Chief of Staff left him to become Michele Bachmann’s Chief of Staff – helping her rise to the top of the loony bin.
- "Big Bad Jon" Cornyn’s campaign manager called Scott Garrett a "nut" – to his most recent opponent’s daughter!
So that’s Garrett – one of the biggest enemies of the progressive movement. And a shameless enemy at that.
The good news is that Tod Theise is a real solid candidate. You can read some posts about him from the good folks who run Blue America at both Digby’s digs and at Huff Post (of course, I’ll be writing about the race here and at Blue Jersey over the next few months, and hopefully he will post a bit too).
But Garrett has close to $1,000,000 in Wall Street and big insurance donations – so Tod could use all the help he can get. If you want to volunteer, let me know in the comments and I’ll pass it along, or send me an email (address in my profile).
And of course, if you are so kind as to be able to donate, you can do so here.
We have a real shot to send one of Congress’ worst packing. We have the right candidate, the right target and the right climate.