Walsh vows to stay visible to constituents

In his first days on the job as 8th District Congressman, each move Joe Walsh has made has been carefully calculated and distinct — and watched by politicos across the country.

The McHenry County tea party member, a dark horse who beat three-term Democratic incumbent Melissa Bean by 291 votes in November, has quickly established himself as a sort of national maverick in the early days of the 112th Congress.

A vocal critic of health care reform and government spending, his stances — rejecting the insurance and pension plans offered to members of Congress, and suggesting out of the box spending reforms including eliminating the departments of energy and education — have placed him in the national spotlight.

He estimates the health insurance benefits are worth up to $14,000 a year. His pension won't be worth anything until he accrues at least five years of service, meaning he would have to be re-elected twice, and then ultimately the value would depend on his entire length of service.

One subject, however, you won't find him opining about on national television is last weekend's tragic shooting in a Tuscon supermarket parking lot that critically injured Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others, a federal judge and 9-year-old girl among them.

While some politicians have joined in Pima County, Ariz. Sheriff Clarence Dupnik's suggestion that an increasingly caustic, rancor-filled political discourse may have been at least a partial spark of the mentally disturbed 22-year-old gunman's actions, Walsh is staying purposefully away from media cameras on the subject.

“Within a nanosecond of this happening we are trying to blame people. I've probably turned down five or six television appearances this week,” Walsh told the Daily Herald last week.

“Right away we're talking about this heated political climate. We're talking about this vitriolic political discourse. That's a fascinating subject, but why are we talking about it now if there's no connection yet? ... I think it's improper to go on a talk show and surmise about things without evidence, because then we impugn people.”

Among those who have been wrongly impugned, Walsh says, is former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has received considerable heat for a map depicting “targeted” congressional seats, including Giffords,' with the cross hairs of a gun on her website.

“That discussion about her site should have been had eight or nine months ago,” Walsh said. “Unless we find out that nutbag (was motivated by her site), there's no reason to be having this conversation right now.”

Walsh said he doesn't see the country's political rhetoric as any more volatile than it has been in the past, only noting that “there are always crazies on either extreme.”

As he sets up shop as a congressman, Walsh says the Arizona shooting, if anything, has made him focused “almost in a more aggressive and conservative way” on getting “face to face” with constituents on a regular basis.

Walsh says he's already encountered his share of threats over e-mail and telephone, but won't be deterred.

The shooting “has made me even more steadfast in that,” he said. “I want to show my constituents that some sicko is not at all going to change the way this institution does its job and the way I do my job.”

Walsh, who held a town-hall meeting last week in Wauconda, says calls for increased security and penalties for making threats to members of Congress are examples of “over-legislation.”

“We should not. And I should not support legislation that would cut off openness members have with their constituents, or infringe upon the First Amendment rights to say anything about me,” he said.

That statement coincides with other decisions Walsh has made to limit the scope of government on a personal level.

His decision to forego the federal health care and pension packages available to members of the House and Senate means that he and his wife will be footing the bill for private insurance and retirement costs.

Walsh — who says he opposes virtually every aspect of federal health care reform — was one of five GOP members of Congress to reject his congressional benefits this year.

By doing so, Walsh said he's keeping a promise that he made last January, while on the campaign trail, to reject the government “status quo.” He says members of Congress are shielded from the struggles that average Americans have to go through.

Walsh and his wife, Helene — who has a pre-existing medical condition — were uninsured for the first week of the new year, and, after careful shopping, selected a plan late last week.

Walsh declined to disclose the specifics of his wife's pre-existing condition, but said she will have to undergo a procedure fairly quickly.

“It's a procedure she's going to have taken care of within the next couple months that we knew about during the campaign,” he said.

Her condition, he said, made it harder to find insurance and “it will probably mean that my wife and I will be paying ourselves for what she's going to have to go through.”

Walsh estimates that the cost to the federal government of insuring him would be about $10,000 to $14,000 a year.

“We're not talking about billions of dollars here, but it always was important for me not to take this,” he said.

While some media reports have suggested that Helene Walsh was unhappy with her husband's decision to forgo government health insurance, Walsh dismissed that as “a bunch of bunk.”

Rejecting health insurance and pension plans aren't the only areas where Walsh is bucking the status quo.

He's also pledged to sleep in his Capitol office.

Along with the office in D.C., Walsh will open a local office within a week or two and has plans for a second office at another location within the district that covers northern Cook County, and portions of Lake and McHenry. He plans to employ between 14 and 18 congressional staffers.

Along with saving money, Walsh says living out of his office will eliminate unwanted distractions.

He plans to wake up early each morning of session and head down through the underground tunnels to the congressional campus gym to work out, shower and shave.

His bed, for the moment, will be his office couch. He's giving it a test run.

“We're starting out with a couch. To be honest, the couch does not look very comfortable. I think I'm going to go out on the market for an aero mattress, though I've got to admit, I'm not adept at wadding those things up.”

In between time in Washington, Walsh said he plans to come home as much as he can. The family, he said, plans to stay in McHenry County — they're currently renting a home in Johnsburg.

“I live in the 8th. I've never wanted to settle into Washington. I plan to be home all the time,” he said.