Tea Party Member and “Deadbeat Dad” Joe Walsh

Former US House Rep. Joe Walsh joined the ranks of the unemployed recently when he was not re-elected to his position in Congress. He is known to most people as the “deadbeat dad” Congressman who refused to pay back child support to his ex-wife and children while in office, and who belittled his opposition candidate in the most recent election who is missing limbs as a result of military sacrifice, because she “talked about her military service too much” he complained. What a guy…

The interesting transformation that has occurred with Joe Walsh is a new appreciation for how difficult it is to meet your financial obligations when you’re unemployed. Now that he is no longer sucking off the teat of the American taxpayers, he’s chosen to spend the money he has on legal battles rather than attempting to find a job and be responsible for his obligations. His ex-wife just learned of his filing to terminate child support. He’s not asking to have it reduced; he’s asking to have it terminated because he argues his obligation is 20% of his income, and he has zero income right now. What. A. Guy.

Oh, Joe, say it ain’t so! Don’t let your fall from grace include becoming the type of person you railed against as a US Congressman.  What kind of person with the opportunities he’s been given goes to court to be declared free from any financial responsibility for a child he helped create and put on this earth? What kind of MAN does that? Joe Walsh, that’s who does that.

It’s not his fault he doesn’t have a job. It’s not his responsibility to pay for the support of his child because he doesn’t have a job. Someone else should be responsible. But it’s not enough for Joe Walsh to deny his own child. He wants to sue a newspaper for, get this, reporting the news that he has filed to change the child support obligation. He is threatening to sue the Chicago Sun Times for their reporting.

Not only is he now a “taker” instead of a “maker” but he’s also declared himself to be a victim. He is everything he supposedly didn’t like. It’s amazing how much your perspective changes when it’s your life at stake and not someone else’s. I think most people are rational enough to know that if you didn’t have a job to fall back on you might have some financial struggles. But Joe knew early in November that he didn’t have a job after January, and he did nothing in those three months to even try to plan ahead. Once the paychecks from the government stopped the child support payments stopped as well. And the ridiculous part of that is his youngest son turns 18 in May, and Walsh won’t be financially liable after that point. He couldn’t even plan and provide for four more, at the most, months of child support. He is the poster child for everything that is wrong with the Republican Party right now. Demand accountability from everyone else, but lie and deny if it helps you somehow.

It will be interesting to see where Walsh goes from here. One thing is for certain. His son will always know his dad wouldn’t even do the minimum that was required of him by law, despite being an elected member of the United States House of Representatives. If he can’t do it, how does he expect financially struggling American families to do it? Welcome to reality, Joe. How you like “taking” now?

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