Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Where is Tim Johnson (IL-15)?

At one time, a fellow blogger from IL-15 legitimately asked What exactly does Tim Johnson do? The site no longer exists, but the justifying text does:

The current United States House of Representatives seems to be one of the laziest on record. By the end of the 2005-2006 term, the House is scheduled to have met 241 times. No House has served fewer days since the 1955-56 session. Even the infamous 1947-48 "Do-Nothing Congress" met for 254 days.

This is particularly strange considering the country is supposed to be in a state of war. I reckon there are plenty of soldiers serving in Iraq who would love to only work 140 days a year, as the House managed to pull off in 2005.

Our particular representative, the wiry Timothy Johnson, seems to fit right into to this culture of lethargy. Good ole Tim has only given one speech on the floor of the House since 2003. In fact, Johnson has only proposed 32 bills during his three terms as representative for the 15th district. While an average of around five bills per year may seem like a lot, Tim is in a tie for last place among all-time bill losers. He has never had a sponsored bill enacted.

To be fair, Johnson has co-sponsored some 483 bills during his three terms. Of course co-sponsoring a bill is about as hard as saying "uh-huh" when asked. This seems to be easy for Johnson, who has voted "ney" only five times this year (though I should mention that three of those votes were to protect the environment and one was against the USA Patriot Act). Tim is also Vice-Chair of the Committee on Science's Subcommittee on Research. I assume it is an honor to be Vice-Chairman of a subcommittee of a committee.

What is striking about Johnson is his seeming vulnerability on a host of issues. He votes against giving bonuses to soldiers, accepted $25K from Tom Delay's ARMPAC, and is strongly opposed to stem-cell research. Moreover, he seems genuinely disengaged from the process of governing. His personal life seems a bit checkered, to put it mildly.

But most important is his inability to bring the rewards of majority rule to the 15th District. Are republicans content with having Johnson as their rep just because he is a republican? Shouldn't we see some benefit to having a republican representative in Congress during the heyday of republicanism?
Some of the comments responded in a typical Republican manner: they excused Tim Johnson's inactivity. The blogger had a better conclusion:
In short, what has Tim Johnson done for us lately? Like the U.S. House, the answer seems clear: not much.
Hopefully, the IL-15 Democratic voters that allowed Tim Johnson in the House in the first place now realize that integrity and common sense were sorely lacking in him. Actually, another reader has provided additional information in that regard:
Tim Johnson has only attended 20% of the Agriculture Committee meetings (and we have 102,000 farms in the District...) And also that this is endemic of the paper clip scandal. (When he was in the Illinois House, he stuck a paper clip in the voting machine so it would vote 'present' and he could be out chasing ambulances. The main site used to document the scandal is now mysteriously not found but it is still on his Congresspedia page.)

If you want my answer for what does Tim Johnson do it's this: He eats at the Courier Cafe in Urbana, usually with one of his three ex-wives. And by eats I mean sits there for hours drinking tea, doesn't tip, and makes drug deals on the pay phone (off the record of course). In all seriousness though, I have been there twice in the last 6 months and he has been there both times.
What is this man doing in Congress??? Clearly, he does not want to be there. Give him his walking papers!!
David Gill is the better choice. He is also one of the Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots.

4 Comments:

At 16 August, 2006 21:54, Blogger Philosophe Forum said...

Problem: John Shimkus (IL-19) is lackluster & Johnson makes him look like a workaholic! I stand corrected.

Solution: Throw the bums out of office!!! Vote for the Democratic candidate in Nov. -- Stover for IL-19 & Gill for IL-15!!

 
At 17 August, 2006 07:03, Blogger Ellen Beth Gill said...

I can vouch for David's work ethic. He's a very hard worker and thinks about what we need in this country all the time and did so long before his run for congress.

 
At 25 August, 2006 18:13, Blogger Pinky Winky said...

Hi. I wrote that piece and my new blog is: pinky-wink.blogspot.com

I was getting weird messages from right-wing extremists. I prefer to go under Pinky-Wink from now on.

Thanks!

 
At 25 August, 2006 18:51, Blogger Philosophe Forum said...

Thanx for visiting! Your writing was wonderful. I was glad I had the opportunity to share it before it disappeared. Too bad about the weird messages. Reality sucks, & people can't continue making excuses for a representative that doesn't do his job or acts like he really wants to have the job. Taxpayers are footing the bill getting no bang for their buck. Everyone loses.

Gill, Stover, & Pavich (IL-11) are definitely a better deal.

 

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