Congressman Reichert projects himself as a champion for the little guy standing up for individual rights, for small businesses fighting burdensome regulations, for those fighting onerous mandates imposed by the federal government (he includes ACA among these; remember he voted “Yes” on the ACA repeal in Ways and Means Committee before switching to “No” on the floor).

Aren’t we all lucky to have such representation from 8th Congressional District?

In reality, Congressman Reichert prefers to fly under the radar, projecting a moderate face full of empty statements intended to distract from his hard right actions.

The mask slipped a bit when the text of his fundraising flyer, intended primarily for external donors, was recently revealed.

Another recent example was his vote (HJ Res 111) to gut a key CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) provision intended to protect consumers dealing with major financial institutions. The CFPB rule prohibits financial firms from forcing users of credit services to sign mandatory arbitration agreements that preclude class action lawsuits. Simply stated the rule levels the playing field so consumers with serious grievances don’t have to face financial behemoths, with their army of lawyers, alone.

So Congressman, why did you vote to take away this protection from consumers? There are many such votes that never receive the publicity they deserve. Now we have to wonder what the good Congressman has in store for us in the upcoming tax “reform” discussion.

Sankar Ray

Sammamish