Walsh Sounds Off On Child Support Allegation At Town Hall

In front of a standing-room only crowd Thursday at the American Legion Hall in Wauconda, Congressman Joe Walsh, R-McHenry, addressed allegations he owes more than $117,000 in unpaid child support.

The public meeting Thursday was the first of Walsh's “Ten Town Halls in Ten Days Tour." Walsh will be at in Palatine Monday from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Walsh commented on four main topics: The pending lawsuit leveled by his ex-wife alleging he owes back child-support payments, the debt bill passed four days ago by Congress, term limits, and the redistricting of congressional boundaries in Illinois.

Walsh disputed nearly everything published in the which first raised the issue of unpaid child support.

“Two to three weeks after I won the election last year, my ex-wife filed a lawsuit against me,” said the 49-year-old Walsh, who has three children with his ex-wife and two more children since re-marrying. “We’ve been trying to work it out legally…virtually everything in that Sun Times article was wildly and off-the-charts inaccurate… My kids have been my life.”

Walsh went on to say he even delayed his run for Congress because of his children.

He said the recent publicity about the child-support payments is “something that pisses me off because it goes at who I am as a person,” he said.

“It’s an ongoing legal proceeding that involves my kids,” Walsh told the crowd. “This is something I’m going to fight, but I’m going to do it privately and legally. There is no way the media will get me to talk about my three kids. I won’t do it!”

Walsh Addresses Economy, Debt Bill 

In terms of the American economy, Walsh said he believes the country is in the midst of a revolution.

“I truly believe the decisions we make in the next two to three years will define the kind of country your kids will have,” Walsh said.

Walsh voted against the federal deficit reduction bill. Republicans in the House threatened to allow the country to default on its obligations without a deficit reduction deal. Walsh voted against the deal that was reached.

“I spent the last three weeks voting ‘no,’ and I voted ‘no’ to John Boehner,” the freshman Republican said. “What is going on? We are falling off a cliff. What we just did in Washington three days ago — we did a cute little Washington game where we play with the numbers.”

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At least half of the town hall attendees were senior citizens.

Many supported Walsh’s stance, and a handful turned out to speak against him. Some who had supported him in the election, questioned why Walsh would not vote for the debt deal.

“The government is like the Titanic,” said Bob Paolella of Deer Park, who said he supported Walsh at the start of Walsh's campaign.

“You’re not going to turn it around, but make sure you don’t hit the iceberg. Why couldn’t you have voted for the plan, and turned the Titanic around a little bit? And then next year we have a new president, and we turn it some more,” Paolella said.

Ken Christ of Hawthorne Woods said he was pleased with Walsh’s position.

“Thank you for voting the way you did because you moved the debate a different direction,” Christ said.

Walsh: 'Most politicians, all they care about is getting re-elected'

Walsh said another problem in Washington is that politicians are hanging on to their jobs too long, and forget the principals that motivated them to run for office in the first place. Walsh has introduced a term-limit bill: HJRES41.

“Most politicians, all they care about is getting re-elected,” said Walsh, who said he will limit himself to six years in the job. “The longer you’ve been in that town (Washington D.C.), you change. You forget what you went there for. I don’t care about my next election. I am there to stop what the president is doing.”

In terms of congressional redistricting, Walsh said the Illinois Republican Party is fighting the .

“I’m going to run somewhere,” Walsh said. “I think the Democrat map is unfair.”

Walsh has nine more town hall meetings planned throughout his district:

Friday, August 5th
1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Brown Bag Lunch Town Hall
Fox Lake District Office
50 East Grand Avenue
Fox Lake, IL
Note: Constituents are invited to bring their own lunch for a town hall discussion in Congressman Walsh's Fox Lake District Office.

Saturday, August 6th
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Woodstock Town Hall
Woodstock North High School
3000 Raffel Rd.
Woodstock, IL

Sunday, August 7th
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Barrington Town Hall
Barrington Park District: Langendorf Park
235 Lions Drive
Barrington, IL

Monday, Aug. 8
7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Palatine Town Hall
Harper College
1200 W. Algonquin Road
Palatine, IL

Tuesday, Aug. 9
7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Winthrop Harbor Town Hall
VFW Post 7448
1112 Sheridan Road
Winthrop Harbor, IL

Wednesday, Aug. 10
6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Northern Illinois University Town Hall
(sponsored by the NIU Student Association)
Carl Sandberg Auditorium
Normal Rd. & Lucinda Ave.
DeKalb, IL

Thursday, Aug. 11
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Lunch with the Congressman Town Hall
After the Fox
1406 N Riverside Dr.
McHenry, IL

Friday, Aug. 12
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Lunch with the Congressman Town Hall
Johnny's Chop House
1500 Main Street
Antioch, IL

Saturday, Aug. 13
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
McHenry County Town Hall
McHenry County College
8900 US Hwy 14
Crystal Lake, IL