It's a familiar story by now, but one worth telling. The Minnesota Independent reported inWalz donates part of salary to the deficit:
Rep. Tim Walz is one of three members of Congress to return his congressional pay raise to the U.S. Treasury, ABC News reported Tuesday. According to quarterly disbursement reports, Walz has returned his raises to the treasury each year since he came to Washington. Walz, along with Republican Reps. Spencer Bachus of Alabama and Frank Lobiondo of New York, are the only ones who have rejected raises in Congress despite intense rhetoric from tea partiers and Republicans regarding the growing national debt.
Another thing Walz has done is spend a lot of time in his district, holding frequent public meetings focused on vets, farm, economy, health care and other issues. The Boston Review mentions Walz's reelection in spite of the Republican wave in The Heinrich Maneuver. Commentator Andrew Schrank suggests that staying home and in touch with one's district may serve as a way to escape a riptide:
Heinrich’s reelection is striking but not unique. A few other first- and second-term Democratic representatives, including Bruce Braley (IA), Tim Walz (MN), and Chellie Pingree (ME), also managed to reconcile their support for Obama’s agenda with victories in competitive reelection campaigns. Pingree even increased her margin of victory over 2008.
The exceptions are almost always harder to explain than the rule, but we should look carefully at the strategies the w inners pursued. Do constituent services, grassroots mobilization, and the localization of national issues provide progressive Democrats a recipe for victory?
The answer won’t be revealed in a brief look at a single campaign in a small state. But the payoff of a more granular analysis could be enormous. The approach advocated by former Senator Bayh would be disastrous for the future of the country, and there is no solid evidence that it would result in electoral gains. Maybe Representative Heinrich is onto something.
Photo: Tim Walz in Worthington, Minnesota.
Previously, I had reviewing the quarterly disbursement reports, and noticed that Congressman Walz had consistently returned $2,196 each quarter which dwarfed Mr. Bachus donation that was more symbolic at $414.39 … and Mr. Lobiondo has not regularly contributed.
Besides, donating monies via rejecting salary increases, by law any monies not spent in the Members’s Representational Allowances’shall be deposited in the Treasury
and used for deficit reduction (SEC 101) of the legislation … so what Congressman Walz doesn’t spend on rent / travel / personnel / etc. also reduces the debt.
One thing that I noticed that distinguished Congressman Walz from other member in the Minnesota delegation is how he structures his staff … whereas others seem to spend monies on people that act as schedulers and media relations personnel, Congressman Walz has people assigned for specific constituent groups – Judith Bird as his Southeastern Outreach Director, Shawn Scholesser as his Veterans Field Representative and Matthew Wohlman as his Agriculture Director. Having people that constituents know who to turn to makes sense … plus they are related to OUR needs … not scheduling a Congresswoman’s television appearances.
Also, Congressman Walz spends his MRA money on staffing two offices in the District – Mankato and Rochester … whereas others only staff one … Walz is staying connected with his constituents yet staying under budget.
An aside, I was surprised that Bruce Braley won considering the attack ads that were run against him well as the Iowa State Supreme Court justices that were voted out of office do to their ruling on gay marriage. Congressman Braley weathered quite a storm. Congresswoman Pingree has been on the right side of fiscal responsible spending, so that was not a surprise.
Posted by: Minnesota Central | Jan 04, 2011 at 02:22 PM
Wow, a guy whose actions show he takes public service seriously. Good for him!
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Jan 05, 2011 at 12:36 PM