I really do have the worst congressperson in the world  (he was, after all, the guy who god-blessed a self-proclaimed “proud right-wing terrorist” as a “great American”), and I will prove it to you below the jump.  But first, let me show you the type of people who have been electing my congresscritter to office for the past 24 years.

That’s the main thoroughfare in my little mountain town, and that’s the mentality I get to live with.

But just wait until you hear the latest from my congressguy.

Unbelievable. But not unprecedented.

Just last December, Wally Herger, CA-02, introduced one of his go-nowhere bills that was supposed to ease the pain of homeowner’s insurance rates going up as a result of FEMA redrawing the floodplain maps. This affects a great many people along the Sacramento River in northern California’s Second District.

I say it was a go-nowhere bill because Herger is famous for his grandstanding political ploys that do nothing for his district. This is how worthless Herger is: His last successsful bill, the Quincy (another small mountain town) Library Act, was 12 years ago. This means that during the eight years of the Bush administration, back when deficits didn’t matter, Herger got absolutely nothing helpful done for his district.  Zip, zero, nada.

As always, Herger’s bill went nowhere, as it was introduced purely for show.

Last week the House passed HR 5114, a flood relief bill that would ease the pain of homeowner’s insurance rates going up as a result of FEMA redrawing the floodplain maps.



HERGER VOTED NO ON THE BILL.  Why?

Because it was introduced by a Democrat.  And Herger votes with the Republican party 96 % of the time.  Pretty much the only time he doesn’t vote with the Republicans is when he accidentally hits the wrong voting button. That’s right– Herger voted against his own constituents and against the same concept he himself proposed only 7 months earlier because he’s the rubber stamp of the Party of No.

Nice work if you can get it, never having to think for yourself.  At this point I don’t think Wally is even capable of thinking for himself.

Here’s another recent gem from WallyWorld:  Herger is now circulating a petition in the House to “Repeal and Replace” Health Care Reform because, you know, the “American people” don’t want it.  This despite a recent Bloomberg Poll showing that 61% of the selfsame American people have no interest in repealing Health Care Reform.  Mostly, they want to see how it turns out.

Wally knows darned well his little petition doesn’t have a chance of getting through the House, much less getting past a Presidential veto, but this is how he operates in Washington. He’ll do anything to politically boost his party, and he’ll vote against his own constituents if the Republican party tells him to.

This is a guy who is now a born-again believer in deficit reduction.  But it doesn’t matter to him that tossing out Health Care Reform would add $138 billion to the deficit (courtesy of Rachel Maddow). But hey, don’t let facts get in the way of your ideology, Wally!

Want more?  How about this:  89 days into the Deepwater Drilling Disaster, Herger still supports deepwater drilling and still has a statement on his website claiming that:

I’ve long supported efforts to allow for the exploration of oil and natural gas in a small section of the frozen “ANWR” tundra in Alaska.  ANWR spans nearly 20 million acres, but energy exploration would only occur on 2,000 acres, or .01 percent of the land area.  And importantly, 21st Century technology would also allow us to recover energy resources without harming the environment.

(emphasis mine)

I don’t know what 21st Century Wally’s living in, but in my reality-based world deep water drilling is demonstrably unsafe, and the technology for dealing with spills is decades old.

Look, I don’t like to complain just for the sake of complaining.  I’m a solutions-oriented person.  And my solution to having a lazy rubber-stamp of a Congressman is to get the word out that Wally Herger has a serious opponent this election cycle.  I’m not talking about the kind of place-holder candidate the Democratic party occasionally throws out there against Herger.

I’m talking about Jim Reed.

There’s a sort of resigned meme in the Second District that Wally’s in office until he dies or decides to retire. That no one can beat him.  That it’s such a red district no Democrat has a chance against him. But that’s not true.  The district is changing– there’s now only 45% registered Republicans.  Reed, a moderate Democrat with Republican supporters who are fed up with Wally,  is running an aggressive and focused campaign.  I was recently at a Reed strategy meeting where an impressed supporter who has worked to unseat Herger numerous times exclaimed, “This campaign is 200% more energetic and organized than anything I’ve ever seen against Herger!”

So, do us all a favor.

Help us retire the Worst Congressperson in the World.

The world will be a better place for it.