Did Greg Walden lie to voters?

Kari Chisholm

We're having lots of interesting discussion about Congressman Greg Walden's decision to join the lunatic caucus and vote against ending the government shutdown and against raising the debt ceiling.

Among the comments was this, from former Labor Commissioner Jack Roberts (the last Republican to hold a statewide office in Oregon):

I think it's fair to say that Greg knew how the vote was going to turn out before he cast his. Sort of like Obama's vote against raising the debt ceiling when he was a senator.

Of course he did. Everyone did. Certainly, everyone in leadership did.

But what Roberts is essentially saying here is that... (Edit: I'll not characterize Jack's intent here.)

The bottom line? Walden is being disingenuous. That he is, essentially, lying to voters about his motivations.

After all, there are only two ways to look at this:

1) We take Walden at his word, that he really truly, honestly believes that the best course of action last night was to default on the full faith and credit of the United States.

2) Walden cast a vote that was counter to his own judgment, and he was lying to voters for political purposes.

Remember, it was just last week - at a high-priced lunch with investment bankers at Le Cirque in New York City - when Walden said this: "We have to do this because of the Tea Party. If we don’t, these guys are going to get primaried and they are going to lose their primary."

It sure would be interesting to be in the room next time Walden is talking to those investment bankers in New York.

By Kari Chisholm Oct. 17, 2013