“Crazy/Stupid Republican of the Day” isn’t about to pause for an election hangover, we’re moving on to our 536th original profile, where we’ll be discussing outgoing U.S. House Represtentative Stephen Fincher, from Tennessee’s 8th Congressional District. Fincher was swept into office at the age of 37 in 2010 as a part of the Tea Party Wave, and after redistricting, held a highly conservative constituency… and he voted like it. Before he had even won office, however, Fincher was considered ethically suspect, as he had received a $250,000 loan towards his 2010 campaign from a bank who just so happened to have Fincher’s father on its board of trustees, then conveniently “forgot” to mention it on his financial disclosure forms. Being the Tea Party year, though, voters were far too angry that healthcare reform happened and were willing to overlook blatant plutocracy, nepotism, and illegal activity because you have to have priorities.
Once he got to Washington, D.C., Rep. Fincher joined the Republican obstruction efforts that have permeated American politics the past six years. Perhaps his most famous moment, though, was the extreme hypocrisy he showed in 2013 during debate over the FARM Bill, as related to food stamps. Fincher actually tried using the Bible to argue against helping to feed the hungry, quoting Thessalonians 3:10, “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.” Now, never mind the fact that welfare reform in the 1990s has created a welfare work requirement that would justify them still having food stamps… never mind that Jesus is actually pretty explicit about feeding the poor and hungry, and oh yeah, 45% of those who benefit from food stamps through SNAP are under the legal age that one can even work in the first place (y'know, children). This gets to be a more staggering conflict of interests when you learn Stephen Fincher owns a farm and has collected over 3 MILLION DOLLARS in government subsidies on it, more than any other member of Congress. Yes, he’s that much of a hypocritical motherf***er.
I mean, obviously Republicans are going to make arguments about their love for smaller government vs. bigger government, but perhaps making that argument in terms better than “cut the legs off the EPA”, would be healthy? Because yeah, Fincher said that back in 2012, and there’s video.
Fincher’s entire office on Capitol Hill had a reputation for being incredibly mean-spirited, as in 2014, he had to fire his communications director after she decided to get on social media to criticize the dress and behavior of First Daughters Sasha and Malia Obama at the annual Turkey Pardoning Ceremony at the White House, and saying they had “no class”, among many other comments directed at teenaged girls that in a neutral context, would have qualified as cyber-bullying.
Here is three terms of Fincher extremism, coming right at you:
- On January 5th, 2011, Rep. Fincher co-sponsors the first attempt by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He has voted for every attempt to do so since.
- On February 18th, 2011, Fincher votes to defund Planned Parenthood.
- September 15th, 2012: Stephen Fincher votes for the “No More Solyndras Act”.
- June 19th, 2013: Rep. Fincher votes against restoring $20.5 billion towards the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.
- 30th, 2013: Fincher votes for the 2013 Government Shutdown.
- October 16th, 2013: Stephen Fincher also voted against reopening the federal government and ending the 2013 Government Shutdown.
- Feb 26th, 2014: Fincher goes “all in” on the faux-scandal surrounding the IRS researching SuperPACs by co-sponsoring and voting for the “Stop the Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act”.
- July 10th, 2014: Rep. Fincher votes for House Amendment 1040, to prevent the implementation of the dreaded United Nations Agenda 21 Treaty, that in spite of just being recommended climate change guidelines, have many conspiracy theorists within the extreme right convinced it’s a plot for global domination.
- February 3rd, 2015: Stephen Fincher votes for the 60th Republican attempt at repealing the Affordable Care Act. This in spite of the fact that the law is not just working, but better than experts predicted.March 3rd, 2015: Fincher votes against funding the Department of Homeland Security as part of a Republican protest of President Obama’s executive orders on immigration.
- May 13th, 2015: Stephen Fincher votes for HR 36, a 20 week abortion ban.
- September 11th, 2015: Fincher votes against the United States’ nuclear treaty with Iran.
- September 18th, 2015: Rep. Fincher votes for a bill with most House Republicans to defund Planned Parenthood, based on highly edited “sting” videos submitted by a Pro-Life advocacy group that have been repeatedly debunked by investigators.
- November 19th, 2015: Fincher votes for the American Security Against Foreign Enemies Act, reacting to the terror attacks in Paris by jihadists from France and Belgium by trying to create greater restrictions to keep out Syrian refugees, of whom exactly zero were involved in those attacks.
- February 2nd, 2016: Stephen Fincher votes for HR 3762, the 61st attempt by Congressional Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act (which is still working better than was predicted).
- May 19th, 2016: Rep. Fincher votes against House Amendment 1079, which would have prohibited the use of federal funds for discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. So if you were wondering, yes, he’s pro-discrimination, apparently.
- September 28th, 2016: Months after funding was requested to prevent Zika Virus, and after several cases have begun to be diagnosed in the United States, Stephen Fincher still votes against HR 5325, which would provide funding towards preventing its spread. (Remember, this is from a hard core Pro-Lifer determined to defund Planned Parenthood.)
Stephen Fincher announced he was not running for re-election on February 1st 2016, shocking experts who thought at the age of 43, that he had a long, long career ahead of him, especially when you realize his Congressional District had a +19 Republican lean. As long as he survived a primary, he was all but guaranteed re-election. His sudden reluctance to remain in office made no less than 21 Republicans jump into the primary for a highly safe red seat. The only question is… why did Fincher bail on remaining in Congress? Does he honestly just see it as that much of a waste of time, or did his time on the Agriculture and Finance Committees allow him to influence the law to help himself and his father get rich? Was there some scandal that forced his hand, or…? We may never know, but at least we’re rid of him.
One Year Ago, November 9th, 2015: Jack Kimball (NH)
Two Years Ago, November 9th, 2014: Pete Hoekstra (MI)