You’re welcome, America.
Henry Waxman blames Tea Party for his decision to retire
I announced this past week that I will be retiring after having the honor of serving my Los Angeles constituents in Congress for 40 years.
Immediately, speculation began that I am leaving because I am frustrated with a broken institution. But the exact opposite is true: I am leaving Congress with my conviction intact that the legislative branch can be a powerful force for good.
Of course there are aspects of the current Congress that I abhor. This past week, every Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, where I have served most of my career, voted to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon pollution that is causing climate change. When my colleague Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) offered a simple amendment affirming that climate change is real, they voted against that, too.
That kind of mindless denial of science is an embarrassment.
Voting over and over to repeal the Affordable Care Act, shutting down the government and threatening default are other deplorable examples of the extremism of tea party Republicans.
Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Hank.
I absolutely believe in climate change. You’d have to be illiterate and uneducated not to believe in climate change. Some of my favorite swimming holes were carved out by a glacier which melted a LONG time ago!
What I don’t believe is that mankind causes climate change. I look at the amount of particulate a volcano puts into the atmosphere, then at the tailpipe of my Subaru, and figure I may as well make another run to the grocery store. It can’t hurt.
But the anthropogenic theory is where the money is, and it’s that simple. Too bad these folks don’t have a conscience.
I hope the doorknob knocks a divot out of his ass as he leaves…