Rep. Walter Jones surprised at being kicked off committee

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Rep. Walter Jones, a rare moderate Republican, said he was "very disappointed" and "a little bit surprised" he was booted from a plum committee assignment after he repeatedly voted against House Speaker John A. Boehner's wishes.

But the North Carolina lawmaker said he isn't angry, has no regrets and vowed to continue to vote his conscience.

"I'm not going to sacrifice my integrity for anyone or any party," Mr. Jones told a gathering of reporters at the Capitol Tuesday. "It's the price you pay. I didn't come up here to be a puppet for anyone. And I think the public back in my district, which is the most important, has seen I'm willing to do what I think is right."

Mr. Jones, who easily won a 10th term to the House last month, and fellow Republican Rep. David Schweikert of Arizona are losing their seats on the House Financial Services Committee, while GOP Reps. Tim Huelskamp of Kansas and Justin Amash of Michigan will lose their seats on the House Budget Committee.

Mr. Jones has voted against his party about 30 percent of the time, records show.

Michael Steel, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, said Tuesday the party's steering committee made the decision "based on a range of factors," the Associated Press reported.

Mr. Jones said he learned won't be returning to the financial services panel "on the Internet" — not from his party's leadership.

The Republican, 69, said he wasn't worried about future reprimands from the speaker, joking he was "too old" to worry about such things.

"In the long run, any time, any leadership, Republican or Democrat, takes this kind of action ... I think you hurt yourself more than you hurt anyone else," he said.

He added that lawmakers' obsession with campaign fundraising is crippling Congress.

"This whole place is all about money. Money is more important than policy," he said. "Both parties are all consumed with raising money."


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/blog...committee/#.UMFMYqy7hGY.twitter#ixzz2EJwyl0D6
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
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disappointing.

I think all those who were booted should band together and make a press release showing the common denominator in getting kicked from their posistions is more simple than Boener wants people to think.
 
I do wonder how much of Jones' voting record is of his own accord, and how much of it was from following Ron's lead. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
 
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/2...-he-could-buck-party-on-middle-class-tax-vote

Saying that he's willing to sign onto higher taxes for the 2% is wrong...doesn't help him with fiscal conservatives.

Also, he voted for the Dodd-Frank Act (I believe---correct me if I'm wrong).

He's good on certain issues (like wars), but bad on some fiscal conservative stuff (if he believes that the government is too big...why does he want to give it more money before asking them to eliminate departments???)
 
Walter Jones is probably surprised because he didn't expect Boehner to be such a piece of shit. The thing is, pieces of shit often surprise you.
 
SpreadOfLiberty said:
He isn't really a small government guy. He sort of an enigma to me.
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I disagree. He, like most of us here, has come around more recently to the liberty movement, and is is working to find the balance that can keep him in office, while making a difference.

He endorsed Ron Paul when it wasn't popular to do so, and he is paying the price. And yet some people here are willing to eat him alive.
 
LibertyEagle said:
I wouldn't exactly call him a "moderate". In fact, that is an insult, if you are a small government guy.
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I noticed that too. I guess they just couldn't bring themselves to actually call him a conservative.

"Rep. Walter Jones, a rare CONSERVATIVE Republican" kinda blows the lid off the media cover story. They want us to believe that Romney (and the like) are the conservatives.
 
LibertyEagle said:
I wouldn't exactly call him a "moderate". In fact, that is an insult, if you are a small government guy.
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There are different types of moderates. Moderate is sometimes used as a different word for libertarian when people are only using the left-right view. Heck, even Ron Paul could accurately be called a moderate. It is a large section of people, depending on how you define it. It wasn't the most accurate term but accurate enough for the MSM.
 
He did change his stance on the wars due to convictions.

I have always admired the people of North Carolina for not just chunking him aside after he changed his stance on the wars. Apparently the people of NC don't do lock-step politics. By comparison, if any Republican here in Georgia suddenly came out against the wars, they'd be run out of the party by the neoconservative establishment. We have a bunch of idiots in the GOP here, who only know how to defend decisions of horrible leadership.
 
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Keith and stuff said:
There are different types of moderates. Moderate is sometimes used as a different word for libertarian when people are only using the left-right view. Heck, even Ron Paul could accurately be called a moderate. It is a large section of people, depending on how you define it. It wasn't the most accurate term but accurate enough for the MSM.
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Only the delusional media would dare categorize Ron Paul as "moderate". With few exceptions, he stands for everything that real conservatives used to believe in. Why do you think the JBS has loved him since the day he first went to Congress? It sure ain't because he was a "moderate". lol

Except in libertarian land, "moderate" means a big government Rockefeller-Republican.
 
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SpreadOfLiberty said:
He isn't really a small government guy. He sort of an enigma to me.
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Typical North Carolina politician. NC politics can seem very enigmatic to outsiders. The biggest thing about North Carolina politicians is that for the most part they are HUGE "moralists." Bible thumping, big government moralists. No gambling (NC only got a state lottery in 2006, and even then it got shoved through the state congress by an act of trickery by its backers), no medical or decriminalized marijuana, NC still has some dry counties where alcohol prohibition never ended (though this might have changed fairly recently). North Carolina was also a chief backer of REAL ID and you will hear some of the loudest drumbeats for war coming from that state. In short, it's virtually a perfect haven for neocons.

All this being said, there is what seemed to me to be an above average libertarian streak in the state. It's just constantly getting gobbled up by the immensely powerful neocon machine. Walter Jones seems to be testing the waters in playing to both sides in recent years and it's starting to bite him with the machine. It will be very interesting to see what happens from here.
 
willwash said:
Typical North Carolina politician. NC politics can seem very enigmatic to outsiders. The biggest thing about North Carolina politicians is that for the most part they are HUGE "moralists." Bible thumping, big government moralists. No gambling (NC only got a state lottery in 2006, and even then it got shoved through the state congress by an act of trickery by its backers), no medical or decriminalized marijuana, NC still has some dry counties where alcohol prohibition never ended (though this might have changed fairly recently). North Carolina was also a chief backer of REAL ID and you will hear some of the loudest drumbeats for war coming from that state. In short, it's virtually a perfect haven for neocons.

All this being said, there is what seemed to me to be an above average libertarian streak in the state. It's just constantly getting gobbled up by the immensely powerful neocon machine. Walter Jones seems to be testing the waters in playing to both sides in recent years and it's starting to bite him with the machine. It will be very interesting to see what happens from here.
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Ron said Jones was his best friend on the Hill. Ron's views rub off on people. I think Jones was sincere, but didn't change all his views, at least as yet. He definitely changed on war, though.
 
He voted against Medicare Part D I think. So if he's a moderate, what are all the Republicans who voted for it?
 
Michael Steel, a spokesman for Mr. Boehner, said Tuesday the party's steering committee made the decision "based on a range of factors," the Associated Press reported.
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As in Michael Steel the former GOP chairman?
 
erowe1 said:
He voted against Medicare Part D I think. So if he's a moderate, what are all the Republicans who voted for it?
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"Moderate" is one of those words that can mean completely different things depending on who is using it, and depending on the context...that must be why politicians like it. To the average voter, it just means "less extreme," "bipartisan" or "centrist". So you can have "moderates" that are completely bipartisan and centrist on anti-liberty issues, big government, etc. Or you could have "moderates" that are bipartisan on pro-liberty issues. But this is how we get big government anti-liberty types calling themselves "moderate" and voters thinking it means they are less extreme...
 
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