Walz and Ellison forgotten amongst Bachmann comments

We're so quick to deplore Congresswoman Bachmann's recent insane comments, that many of us missed Congressmen Tim Walz and Keith Ellison got up on the floor of the House and delivered passionate speeches in defense of the middle class.

Bluestem Prairie has the details.

Tonight on C-Span, six democratic members of the House of Representatives, including Minnesota congressman Tim Walz and Keith Ellison, took the podium for an hour to discuss an economic stimulus package for middle income Americans that would pump $100 billion into the economy and target subsidies for health insurance, small businesses, employment, housing crunch victims, and more. Several of the congressmen mentioned that although Americans continue to increase productivity, wage increases have not moved forward.

Here's what Congressman Walz had to say.

Mr. WALZ of Minnesota . Mr. Speaker, it's hard for this Congress to get President Bush to prioritize the needs of the middle-class families when he refuses to face reality and chooses to govern by veto rather than vision.
Yesterday, the President surprised a lot of us when he said the economy is perfectly strong. That's news to them. You don't need the polls to tell you that the American people are deeply concerned about this economy. Who can blame them? With home values and wages dropping, and health care costs, home heating costs, gasoline costs, college tuition costs and food costs all rising, the hardworking American middle class is trying to make ends meet.
This Congress is not satisfied with the economic status quo that serves a very few at the very top. We've made progress over the last year easing the economic crunch. We passed legislation to address the subprime mortgage crisis, increased the minimum wage, passed legislation that cut taxes on middle-class families and made college more affordable by investing in our children. We're proud of these accomplishments, but we know the American middle class is still struggling. And we look forward to working on creative solutions that actually address the problem instead of simply vetoing with no leadership.
Congressional Record, Tuesday, December 18, 2007, 110th Congress, 1st Session,153 Cong Rec H 16648

Note that the floor speech is about a month old. Why no love for Tim Walz? Congressman Walz is in Washington fighting for middle class Minnesotans like those that read this blog.

While it is very easy to jump on the bandwagon and bash Congresswoman Bachmann for her callous remarks, I'm guilty as well, we need to provide our "workingest" Congressman a proportionate amount of praise for doing what he always does...the right thing.