Written by Andy Patros
3/1/17
In December 2015, our congressman, Tom Reed, criticized Donald Trump’s Muslim ban proposal, calling it “grossly inappropriate.” Please keep in mind that when Tom Reed made this statement, it was before the November 2016 general election.
Recently, Tom Reed defended President Trump’s Muslim immigration order, stating, “We want to make sure those who are entering our country do so in a way to make sure that vetting occurs.” This statement from Tom Reed is based upon a completely false premise. A thorough vetting process has been in place for a number of years, and is facilitated by U.S. agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State, the Department of Defense and others.
So Trump’s proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country wasn’t appropriate then, but it’s OK now with Mr. Reed?
My takeaway from this is that Tom Reed seeked to not align himself with Donald Trump at one point, so as not to offend potential supporters prior to the election. He was simply playing politics, seeing which way the wind blows, and not continuing to speak out and refute Trump’s radical ideas.
When asked recently about the removal of Michael Flynn as President Trump’s National Security Advisor, Tom Reed simply stated, “It is time to move on.”
Congressman Reed’s recent comments regarding the engagements of Flynn with Russian officials during the campaign and prior to the inauguration continue to completely highlight his blind faith to President Trump, even as evidence to the contrary has been reported widely and consistently. Tom Reed said, “I am very confident after talking to the president personally and candidly that there’s just nothing there on the Russia issue.”
Tom Reed also recently voted against a proposal introduced in the House Ways and Means Committee that would’ve triggered a request for President Trump’s tax returns to be given to the Treasury Department.
In a January 2016 ABC News poll, 74 percent of Americans overall wanted Trump to release his tax returns. This also includes 49 percent of Trump’s own supporters.
Releasing tax returns by presidential candidates has been a tradition for the past 40 years. Given that President Trump is still connected to his business interests, we the people demand that our congressional representative, Tom Reed, make the same demand for transparency.
Tom Reed’s posture is very troubling and should be rallied against. He is putting party over country with his unwavering allegiance to President Trump.