The spring turkey-hunting season is in full bore in Tennessee, and yesterday U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett aimed both barrels at the political establishment’s swamp in Washington and pulled the trigger.
“There is utter and complete disorganization in Washington right now, and it’s a sad state of affairs,” Burchett, a first-termer representing the 2nd Congressional District, told a full house at the Rotary Club of Farragut meeting at Fox Den Country Club. “It is depressing. All they’re doing is messaging and worrying about getting re-elected and going after President Trump. There are a lot of gutless people in Washington who need to be taken out with new and great candidates.”
Tim Burchett signs a book for Ball Camp Elementary School, a weekly gift from Farragut Rotary, as club president Keith Bryson looks on.
Burchett said many people ask him the same question: “What’s been your biggest surprise since you got to Washington?” His reply: “My biggest surprise is that I am not surprised. No surprises at all by any of it. I’ve been there 100 days, and we’ve not passed a significant piece of legislation yet. Congress has not passed a budget in 20 years.
“And think about that. Churches pass operating budgets. Companies operate with budgets. The state of Tennessee has a balanced budget. Families have budgets. All of this stuff you hear and see in Washington is a diversion so they won’t have to pass a budget. And if they pass anything, it’ll be killed in the Senate.”
Burchett, who sleeps on a couch in his office during the week, says that he does not watch CNN or Fox News and urged the crowd not to as well. “Think for yourself. Turn off these channels. The most important thing you can do is to elect great candidates and hold them accountable. Tell them what you want them to vote for,” he said. “The public is a lot smarter than politicians think. Get rid of all of this bogus symbolism and elect people who truly care about our country.”
Like President Trump, Burchett believes in and uses Twitter. “If you read my Twitter feeds daily you can watch my videos and find out what’s going on in Washington,” he said. As of today, his Twitter account has some 31,500 followers. This is where he interacts with constituents and posts almost daily videos. Here is a link to his Twitter page.
Burchett, who served as Knox County’s mayor for eight years before being elected to Congress to succeed Jimmy Duncan, had a few suggestions and comments about Washington:
- “We need to have term limits on some of these lifetime bureaucrats in these government offices, not just the politicians.”
- He would like to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education and send that money to the states and local school boards to teach kids how to read and write. “They can figure out how to use the money a lot better than the federal government.”
- Bring back vocational schools. “Not every kid is right for college,” he said.
- “We have military personnel in 100 countries and we need to bring those guys home and use that money here.”
He said he’s dumbfounded by members of a party (the Democrats) who are talking about a 70 percent income tax, promoting infanticide by killing babies after they are born, spewing anti-Semitism in the halls of Congress and who want our country to be run by socialism. “Is this the United States we want for the future?” he said. “We better wake up and wake up fast.”
When asked about the current immigration problems at the U.S. border with Mexico, he described the situation as a “travesty.”
As for the talk about impeaching President Trump, all he would say is that it’s up to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. “She rules the roost, and if she thinks it’s not worthwhile, it won’t happen. Right now that’s a day-to-day argument.”
And to that he added, “It’s amazing to me. We have the highest employment numbers we’ve had for a long, long time (since 1969) and our economy is going through the roof, but no one gives the president any credit at all. It’s beyond crazy.”
If you’re interested in exploring membership in Farragut Rotary, drop me an email or call me at (865) 659-3562. We meet at 12:15 p.m. each Wednesday at Fox Den Country Club. Join us as a guest and see how you like Rotary!