Sargent Shriver, the first director of President Kennedy's Peace Corps and the 1972 Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee, was a firm believer that government action could bring about an end to poverty, providing opportunities and a level playing field to those unable to support themselves. Although Shriver, suffering from Alzheimer's disease, no longer works actively, the Shriver Center continues its advocacy and lobbying efforts to help pass laws which could help relieve some suffering.

Recently, the Shriver Center released a scorecard (.pdf file) rating the performance of members of Congress on poverty-related issues. Members of the House of Representatives were given a letter grade based on fifteen votes, and members of the Senate were rated on 14 votes.

Given that Shriver's belief that government can be part of the solution to the nation's problems is in every way opposite of Congressman Tim Walberg's belief that you are and should be on your own, I wasn't surprised that Walberg didn't score highly. Still, this bothers me:

(Click to enlarge.)

Of Michigan's entire congressional delegation, Congressman Tim Walberg was the only one to receive a failing grade. On only two occasions did Walberg cast a vote which the Shriver Center considers helpful in the battle against poverty.

Once again, I'm embarrassed to have this man represent me in Washington.

For more on the scorecard and its methodology, read the whole thing here and the press release from the Shriver Center.

Labels: 110th Congress, Issues, Poverty, Tim Walberg

The SCHIP vote got a lot of attention over the last couple of weeks, but the House of Representatives was busy with other projects, too.

Among them was HR 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007. The bill would "establish the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund in the Treasury of the United States to provide for the construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of decent, safe, and affordable housing for low-income families." A summary from the Congressional Research Service, via GovTrack.us, may be found here.

The bill explains its own purposes:

`(1) to address the national shortage of housing that is affordable to low-income families by creating a permanently appropriated fund, with dedicated sources of funding, to finance additional housing activities, without supplanting existing housing appropriations or existing State and local funding for affordable housing;

`(2) to enable rental housing to be built, for families with the greatest economic need, in mixed-income settings and in areas with the greatest economic opportunities;

`(3) to promote ownership of one-to-four family owner-occupied housing by low-income families; and

`(4) to construct, rehabilitate, and preserve at least 1,500,000 affordable dwelling units over the next decade.

The bill passed, 264 to 148. Forty-one Republicans joined a united Democratic caucus in supporting the bill.

As one might expect, Congressman Tim Walberg voted No. Michigan Republicans Fred Upton and Candice Miller joined the majority.

As Michigan Liberal user phikapbob says, after voting against SCHIP, apparently some Republicans must feel that "poor kids without health care shouldn't have homes either":

Isn't it possible, by looking at the record numbers of mortgage foreclosures this country is seeing, that many families are overextending themselves to pay for adequate housing? What kind of person votes against health care for the poor one week, then follows that up with a vote against providing a roof over those peoples' heads? If this gets through the Senate, does Bush dare veto another bill with strong bipartisan support? The War on the Working Class rages on, my friends.

No real surprise, though. It's been clear from the start that Tim Walberg doesn't vote to help the people that work for a living. He's in it to help his Club for Growth supporters.

Labels: 110th Congress, Affordable Housing, Issues, Poverty, Tim Walberg, Walberg Voting Record

Native Americans have suffered a great deal throughout this country's history. From European diseases to forced relocation to broken treaties, North America's original inhabitants have faced discrimination, misguided "assimilation" efforts aimed at destroying cultures, and a lack of support from the federal government.

Although this has changed some in recent decades, Native Americans still face discrimination and a high poverty rate. In 1995:

Of all ethnic groups in this country, Native Americans who live on reservations are the most impoverished. Over 20% of Native American reservation households have annual incomes below $5000, compared with 6% for the overall U.S. population. Only 8% of reservation households have annual incomes greater than $35,000, compared with 18% for the overall U.S. population.

And, more recently:

Based on a three-year average, 24.3 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives lived in poverty from 2003 through 2004. This rate was not much different from poverty among African-Americans (24.4 percent) and Hispanics (22.1 percent).

But it more than twice the poverty rate of Whites (10.5 percent) and more than twice the poverty rate of Asians (10.6 percent) for the same period, the Census Bureau reported.

The percentage of Native Americans without insurance was also high. Based on a three-year average, a whopping 29.0 percent of American Indians and Alaska Natives did not have health coverage, a rate surpassed only by Hispanics (32.6 percent).

In comparison, the percentage Whites without insurance was 14.6 percent while among Asians it was 18.0 percent.

With all of this in mind, it would seem reasonable to me that it might be worth it to provide some federal assistance to Native Americans. In 1996, Congress passed the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act, an act "to provide Federal assistance for Indian tribes in a manner that recognizes the right of tribal self-governance, and for other purposes." Tribal governments received block grants to help provide affordable housing.

Now, the program is up for reauthorization, with HR 2786, sponsored by Michigan's own Congressman Dale Kildee. A full summary of the bill is available here. It's estimated cost is $8.00 per American over the next five years.

HR 2786, the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Reauthorization Act of 2007, passed the House of Representatives, 333 to 75.

Tim Walberg voted No. He and Republican Congressman Peter Hoekstra were the only members of the Michigan delegation to oppose the bill.

Lately on Walberg Watch, the main focus has been on the candidates hoping to replace him, and, in one case, a candidate's chief of staff. To be honest, I'd much rather spend my time focused on Tim Walberg. But I couldn't for the last month or so, because he really hasn't been doing much of anything newsworthy while the House was on its recess.

Now that they're back in action and voting on legislation, we see that he's the same old Tim Walberg. Apparently, he couldn't spare $8.00 over the next five years.

Labels: 110th Congress, Affordable Housing, Issues, Native Americans, Poverty, Tim Walberg, Walberg Voting Record