Mario Díaz-Balart votes AGAINST the interests of the people he supposedly represents
How to categorize Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart? So many words come to mind, but I refuse to go down that road. I will stick to his record in Congress. That alone should give one a picture of who he is.
First, he voted against bipartisan gun safety legislation passed by Congress earlier this year. It was the first such bill passed in 30 years. His excuse for voting ‘No’ was the Second Amendment of the Constitution. The truth is that he (along with Marco Rubio) is one of the favored recipients of campaign money from the gun industry in this country. The hell with the thousands of kids and many others killed by gun violence. You’d think he would be a little more attuned to the evils of gun worship since his district is adjacent to where Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is located, the scene of 17 students and staff murdered in February 2018.
Secondly, he voted numerous times against the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare), a bill which opened up the door to affordable healthcare to thousands of people in Miami who for years could not afford to see a doctor. Studies show that Díaz-Balart’s district has one of the largest group of Obamacare recipients in the country. Still, Mario voted against it — and them.
Mario Díaz-Balart has stayed quiet regarding the Jan. 6 coup attempt on Capitol Hill. The word coward comes to mind.
He agreed with the Supreme Court on the question of abortion, by stating, in writing: “SCOTUS overturned decades of wrongful jurisprudence based on the unfounded decision that the U.S. Constitution provides a right to abortion…” He finished by stating: “This decision is long overdue. The Supreme Court is to be commended.” Of course, as Mario has shown over the years, he cares little about true democracy and what the majority of Americans feel and think about the issue. Surveys show that support for abortion rights in some or all situations has risen in this country. It stands at about 85%. But Mario feels he has the right to dictate what a woman can or cannot do with her body.
Abortion, like gun control, is an issue where American policy appears to be at odds with American majority opinions. Of course, and as usual, Mario Díaz-Balart stands on the wrong side of the issue when measured against the will of most Americans.
Just this past month we saw passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in Congress. Not one Republican in both the House and the Senate voted for the bill which claims to:
- Attack climate change.
- Bring down the cost of prescription drugs.
- Impose a 15% tax on corporations and people earning more than $400,000 a year.
- Reduce the deficit.
Mario Díaz-Balart voted against it. His reason came out of left field: “It hires 90,000 IRS agents to go after the American people.” Those were his words when asked during the airing of the TV show This Week in South Florida, hosted by Michael Putney and Glenna Milberg. Later in the same program he doubled down on his claim of 90,000 IRS agents coming after us by stating that the 90,000 marauders were “twice this size of the members of the U.S. Coast Guard.” What’s the Coast Guard have to do with reducing inflation and the cost of medicine? And 90,000 IRS agents…
There went Mario, again, insulting us. He really does think he’s smart… and we’re stupid. Then again, those who keep voting for him… political masochists. I think I’ve used that phrase before.
I’ve also referred to Miami politicians, like a Mario Díaz-Balart, as sleight of hand artists, which is what he was doing on the Putney TV show.
MSNBC anchor Mehdi Hasan, on his show this past Sunday, asked viewers this rhetorical question: “What if I told you the IRS, the Internal Revenue Service, the tax guys are coming to hunt you down, to shoot you, and maybe even kill you? Hold on, I know it sounds insane, but bear with me, because according to Republicans that’s almost exactly what’s about to happen.”
Hasan then adds: “The new Inflation Reduction Act is not so much a bill to address inflation, climate change, and the cost of prescription drugs, they [Republicans] say, as it is a legislative Trojan Horse design to award one Joseph Biden, ‘Dark Biden’ himself, with the personal and very lethal government militia armed to the teeth ready and eager to be sicced on law-abiding Trump supporters and hardworking small business owners.”
He then shows video clips of Fox News anchor Will Cain, Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Fox News host Tucker Carlson all using almost the same evasive argument Díaz-Balart employed to avoid having to answer the Inflation Reduction Act question.
It is no longer what’s good for the country. The Civil War has been restarted and it’s now Democrats vs. Republicans. As for the American public, screw them…
All this to remind you that Mario Díaz-Balart does not give a damn about his constituency. He might lie to them and tell them that President Biden will soon be sending 90,000 IRS agents to imprison them. All just to scare them into voting for him. But the fact is he just does not give a damn!
Mario Díaz-Balart cares only about himself, and where the money is coming from.
*****
