Walberg: People who can't afford a $200 Passport, "they shouldn't be voting" (audio)

Link to Audio: https://youtu.be/0nyXqHWegxs

A constituent provided me raw audio of Walberg's event in Bedford Township yesterday, and gave me permission to share it publicly. I have posted it unedited to YouTube (link above) against a background photo that was also taken at that event, with a portion of my transcript of a standout moment from that event.

I think Walberg is getting worse. He's incredibly rude to constituents throughout that audio. Walberg says grotesque, divisive, and cruel things constantly. He says nonsensical things too, such as:

(03:30 mark)

Walberg: “I don’t know how to produce an algorithm, but DOGE does. They know how to produce an algorithm that gets to the base, and then is able to go out to the systems, and other lines, and ultimately bring it back to a conclusion that says this is what’s happening. That’s how they were able to find that there are people 200 years of age, allegedly, still getting IRS checks, Social Security checks. They’ve been capable of doing that. I don’t know how to do that.”

Someone seated close to the audio recording device, can be heard voicing quiet sounds of approval of Walberg's nonsense throughout the event.

I have not been able to attend any of Walberg's government events in over 3 years, since November 12, 2021. The events are still secretive, and held during working hours. I learned of this event in advance thanks to a Republican who ran for Bedford Township Trustee in 2024, who received an email about the event and posted that publicly online. That posting got shared around and eventually shared with me and my friends. So, this event seemed to be more well-attended than most of Walberg's events. Some of my friends who were able to attend told me afterwards that there were about 100 people in attendance, mostly of retirement age. I still have a regular job during the day.

The thing that upsets me the most about Tim Walberg is all of his Anti-Democracy stuff. That was the #1 item on my "Ten Worsts of Tim Walberg" report last year. The first big public sign of that was in Bedford Township on May 4, 2021, when Walberg plainly said, "I don't support democracy". That quote became the subject of a series of billboards, and a series of claims from Walberg and his allies that he had been taken out of context; yet they never provided any context or their own, and never attempted to suggest that the opposite was true - As if Walberg was a champion of Democracy. So, yesterday Walberg returned to Bedford Township, to spread more of anti-democracy talk, in more cruel and specific terms than last time. Taking a deeper look beyond those words - What does it mean for the state of things when a politician can afford to behave in such an offensive manner towards a room full of constituents, with no concern for losing their votes?:

(46:25 mark)

Walberg’s staffer, Dustin Krasny, read constituent’s written question: “What will SAVE Act’s effect have on women, seniors, and poor voters? Isn’t this repetitive law, and aimed at voter suppression?”

[12 seconds of silence as Walberg presumably pulled out his ID as a prop]

Walberg: “How many ways do I have to show this? How many places do I need to show this? [9 second pause] - Is it suppression of my freedoms? If I were wanting to purchase a six pack, did I have to show this?”

Constituent: “That’s not a passport or a birth certificate.”

[6 second pause]

Walberg: “You’re talking of voting.”

Constituent: “Yeah!”

Walberg: “Showing – showing the fact that you are an American citizen in order to vote.”

Constituent: “But a $200 Passport, some people can’t afford.”

Walberg: “Well, then they shouldn’t be voting.”

[Sudden uproar among audience – exchange continued, I didn't transcribe all of it]

(49:30 mark)

Walberg: “We don’t have floods everywhere. And if we had an organization – governmental organization that got in, and helped those people get up and running again, not like FEMA – We wouldn’t have the lengthy time. But you always some problems. If we have a tornado, which we’ve had in Monroe County, and all of our records get blown away, and now I’ve gotta go – I’m gonna move somewhere else in the country, that’s a different story, but there are a limited number of people that do that. That’s why we need government officials on the ground, helping people who are legal to find that as quickly as possible. Some, if it happens around the election time, they may lose that opportunity. We wanna reduce that. But, just for those few people, to let it continue to go that we have states that don’t require a proof of citizenship for people to vote, that’s wrong."

Worsts of Walberg - Backside

Link to 2-Sided Flyer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yhsbRAOPqEdCsCcKAW7fGHvpsqb70hUE/view?usp=share_link

Link to printable PDF of this "Expanded Backside" report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jz8EoV9kW_KPripMutXXymnx9j8F2fn4/view?usp=share_link

There are two purposes of this report: 

1)        To present mostly unseen research that I cut out of my earlier “Ten Worsts of Tim Walberg” draft in April. I wanted that report to be like a short flyer, but I neglected to utilize the backside of the flyer. So, that led to: 

2)        To fill out the flyer’s backside by showing how Walberg has misused our public office for years to shill for the Heritage Foundation’s agenda. That organization authored the contemptable, “Project 2025”.

 

1. Walberg Named Among “Magnificent 11”

·      June 21, 2011 – Press Release: Walberg named among Heritage Action’s “Magnificent 11”: https://heritageaction.com/blog/supporting-the-magnificent-11-2

 

Throughout 2011, the “Heritage Action arm of the Heritage Foundation spent $300,000 on mailers, and online promotion for 11 male Republican Congress members that it deemed the, “Magnificent 11” alongside symbols like Sheriff’s stars and Western graphic designs. The Press Release doesn’t specify why those members were selected for investment and promotion, which included Steve King, Mick Mulvaney, and Alan West. The press release just described them with such vague dramatic flattery: “Despite unrelenting liberal attacks, eleven fearless leaders came to the defense of our future.”

 

·      December 20, 2011, The Heritage Foundation Sponsored a luncheon in Jackson Michigan to also platform Walberg as the event’s featured speaker: https://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/2011/12/us_rep_tim_walberg_featured_sp.html

 

 

2. Cites Heritage Foundation in Town Halls

Constituents laughed at Walberg for citing Heritage Foundation for, “solid research”

·      February 20, 2018 – Coffee Hour – Northfield Township, MI

(Video: 12:00 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv9tPR-dwHk

 

Walberg: “The Bush tax worked. The Bush tax cuts worked very well. The longest sustained economy. The – uh, the – Uh, Reagan tax cuts worked very well.”

 

Older Constituent: “No. They did not! They increased the debt!”

 

Walberg: “The problem –” [interruption from various heckles, Walberg bit his lower lip in visible frustration]

 

Older Constituent: “They increased the debt, and that’s why Bush the next time had to up the taxes again, even though he said no more taxes. It’s what Reagan left Bush that caused the problems.”

 

Constituent: “What I’m hearing is, ‘It worked / It didn’t work.’ Where’s the research that shows that it works?”

 

Older Constituent: “Thank you.”

 

Constituent: “Where’s the research that says this works?”

 

Walberg: “You have to look at the solid research from entities like Heritage Foundation.”

 

Other Constituent: “Pfft! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! [long sustained laughter and heckles throughout room, Walberg grit his teeth in visible frustration as constituents continued to heckle]

 

Constituent: “Middle of the road research!”

 

Background Constituent: “Give us a site!”

 

 

3. Attends Heritage Foundation Paid Trips

 

·      Source Note: I obtained the following documents years ago from the House Gift Travel Disclosure site. That site currently only contains disclosures going back to 2018: https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/GiftTravelFilings

 

·      January 25 – January 27, 2012: Walberg and his spouse attended a 3-day expenses-paid trip to a Heritage Foundation retreat at the Four Season Hotel in downtown Philadelphia. 9 years after this, Walberg’s fellow 2020 election-denier, Rudy Giuliani attempted to hold a press conference at that same hotel, but accidently organized it at the Four Seasons Total Landscaping company 11 miles northeast of this hotel (exhibits below).

Page from Walberg’s disclosure form of the 2012 Heritage Foundation-paid trip

Draft agenda from the Heritage Foundation’s 2012 Retreat in Philadelphia

2013 Heritage Foundation Retreat was all about stoking a Government Shutdown

·      February 6 – February 8, 2013: Walberg attended a 3-day expenses-paid trip to a Heritage Foundation retreat at the Royal Sonesta Harbor Court hotel in downtown Baltimore (exhibit below). This retreat was one of the most consequential retreat events that Walberg ever made to the Heritage Foundation, because it was the last one before Republicans in Congress caused the Government Shutdown later that year, which lasted from October 1, 2013 through October 17, 2013. Walberg and other unthoughtful and uncreative Republican congress members caused the shutdown as a weapon to lash out recklessly, and ineffectively attack the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare). The Heritage Foundation formed their more explicit political activism branch, “Heritage Action” in early 2010 just two weeks after the ACA was signed into law. The Heritage Action group led bus tours with Ted Cruz*around the country trying to hype the public up on the failed idea of using a shutdown as a weapon to stop the ACA.

 

·      *August 1, 2013 – Politico Article about Ted Cruz tour with Heritage Action: “Cruz to join anti-Obamacare town hall” - https://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/ted-cruz-anti-obamacare-tour-095056

 

Page from Walberg’s disclosure form of the 2012 Heritage Foundation-paid trip

Draft agenda from the Heritage Foundation’s 2013 Retreat in Baltimore

That Event is Where Walberg Received Book that he Later Plagiarized from in House Floor Speech

·      I previously wrote about how Walberg plagiarized lengthy passages of a House floor speech from two books, one of which was by the founder of the Heritage Foundation. At the time I wrote that report, I didn’t know how Walberg received that book until I stumbled upon photos from the 2013 Heritage Foundation retreat in Baltimore which showed rows of tables with velvety table cloths for the right-wing Congress members, and at each setting a copy of that book which Walberg would plagiarize from in his floor speech two months after that retreat (exhibit below):

Link to Photo: https://flic.kr/p/pcuyQX

Link to my original report about Walberg’s plagiarism: https://www.takecaretim.com/2018/07/walbergs-plagiarism-from-house-floor.html

 

Link to my video about Walberg plagiarizing other speeches: https://www.takecaretim.com/2020/07/video-parade-of-walbergs-plagiarism.html

 

Walberg received that book two months earlier at the Heritage Foundation retreat in Baltimore

 

Walberg Made Day-Trade Gold Investments During 2013 Government Shutdown

·      The same week that Walberg attended that expenses-paid trip to the Heritage Foundation retreat, on February 14, 2013, Walberg sold between $1,000 and $15,000 of his Silver investments. 6 days later Walberg purchased other precious metals investments in that same price range. Walberg disclosed those transactions on a PTR (Periodic Transaction Report). From October 2, 2012 until November 25, 2013, Walberg made 42 transactions in Gold and Silver investments. Those transactions all occurred during the yearlong planned hype and runup to the 2013 government shutdown and its immediate aftermath. Walberg continued to make gold investment transactions during the government shutdown. Walberg never filed any other PTRs before or since that year. Recall that a lot of right wing pundits such as Glenn Beck pushing people to invest in precious metals, and ran ads to that effect during that time (link below*). According to those PTRs, Walberg purchased between $19,000-$285,000 in gold and silver investments, and sold between $23,000-$345,000 in gold and silver investments during that year. Since Walberg sold more money than he purchased, it indicates he made a profit in the range of tens of thousands of dollars during all the shutdown hype and chaos that he stoked throughout that year. (exhibits below). Source: https://disclosures-clerk.house.gov/FinancialDisclosure

 

September 17, 2013 – *Reuters/Business Insider Article: “Why Conservatives Are Obsessed With Gold”: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-conservatives-like-gold-2013-9

Walberg’s gold investment transactions same week as paid retreat to Heritage Foundation event

Walberg made gold investment transactions during the 2013 Government Shutdown

4. Heritage Foundation: House Info Source

 

Walberg: Republican Study Committee gets its information from The Heritage Foundation

·      July 9, 2010 – Campaign Meet & Greet - Eaton Rapids, MI

Video (0:25 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wexVGNI3OT4 

Republican Study Committee sources information, “from organizations like Heritage Foundation”

Walberg: “The overwhelming majority of Republican members of the US House right now are strong, solid conservatives that are standing up and remaining consistent. They are the – uh, Michele Bachmanns [2007-2015], they are the Paul Ryans [1999-2019], the Peter Roskams [2007-2019], the Jeb Hensarling from Texas [2003-2019], Pete Sessions from Texas [1997-2019, 2021-present], Joe Wilson from South Carolina [2001-present] – Um, the – Uh, Joe Pitts from Pennsylvania [1997-2017], I could go on and on. About a hundred and thirty of them that are all members of the Republican Study Committee, which is a committee that finds its source of information from organizations like Heritage Foundation, and Hillsdale College, and others that provide resources, ongoing education, and shots in the arm for conservative members of Congress that stand true.”

5. Wore Necktie full of Heritage Foundation logos for years like one of their Employees

 

 

·      Photos sourced from Walberg’s Government Facebook Page, showing him at government event photo ops, wearing his official House Member Pin alongside a necktie covered in the Heritage Foundation logos (dates of posts with those photos below): https://www.facebook.com/RepWalberg

o   September 6, 2019 – In Tecumseh in a gym

o   October 2, 2019 – In Dundee with two cops

o   June 3, 2021 – In Jackson, at the SOAR house

o   August 5, 2021 – Holding a painting

 

Additional Sources and Examples of Walberg Pushing Heritage Foundation Propaganda:

 

·      Walberg’s campaign page brags about an outdated score from Heritage Action, “has a 98% score from Heritage Action this Congress”. That rating was for the Congressional Session from 2021-2022, while the Democratic Party controlled Congress. For the current disastrously unproductive Congressional term (2023-2024), in which Republicans took over, Walberg’s score from Heritage Action has dropped considerably to 67%, which has not been updated on Walberg’s campaign page as of July 2024 (exhibit below).

 

It is telling that Walberg is so proud to base his campaign upon a score from the Heritage Foundation. It shows that he desires approval from the Heritage Foundation, and values his own sense of political worth from their score of him. So, what will Walberg do politically to continue to receive approval from The Heritage Foundation? Link to Walberg’s campaign page: https://www.walbergforcongress.com/proven-conservative

The outdated 98% rating was for 2021-2022 term, but still on campaign page as of July 2024

 

·      Link to Heritage Action Legislative Scorecard for Walberg: https://heritageaction.com/scorecard/members/W000798

 

·      June 11, 2012 – Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal article about Walberg participating in their bus tour stop: https://www.dailysignal.com/2012/06/11/heritage-and-frc-visit-the-land-of-lincoln-and-birthplace-of-the-conservative-movement/

 

On June 5, 2012 - The Heritage Foundation and the hate group, “Family Research Council” held a joint “Values Bus” tour stop in Jackson, Michigan. At that event Walberg stumped for them and recited stuff from their “Saving the American Dream” plan.

 

·      April 15, 2019 – Walberg Authored article on Heritage Foundation’s Daily Signal site: “After 100 days, House Democrats have offered partisanship, not solutions.”: https://www.dailysignal.com/2019/04/15/after-100-days-house-democrats-have-offered-partisanship-not-solutions/