Tea Party-backed U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh has already made it clear that getting President Barack Obama out of office is his top priority in 2012, but the GOP congressman from Illinois is also focused on repealing the Affordable Care Act.
In an interview posted by "conservative watchdog group" Accuracy in Media Monday, Walsh claims that Obama's health care bill "stabbed [clergy] in the back," and also had some advice for House Speaker John Boehner:
"If I were the Speaker, starting last year, every month we would have voted to repeal ObamaCare," Walsh said in the interview. "I would have pulled ObamaCare up on the floor of the House yesterday."
(WATCH the Accuracy in Media interview above) The interview was part of an "investigation" by AIM titled "Religious Liberty and The Birth Control Mandate," and focused on the Affordable Care Act's requirement that birth control be covered for all U.S. employees -- including those who work for faith-based institutions. Though the president's amendment to the measure puts the birth control cost on insurers when the employer morally objects, some -- including Walsh -- say it is still somehow detrimental to American freedom.
Walsh called the birth control policy "an absolute trampling of religious liberties in this country." He said some religious leaders initially supported the health care bill because it appeals to their desire to take care of their fellow man, and added that the backlash is "good."
"A lot of Catholic clergy bought into the notion of Obamacare," Walsh said. "It appealed to some of these liberal heartstrings that they have, and now I feel like they're feeling some buyer's remorse. They're feeling sort of stabbed in the back, and that's good."
Walsh's comment about Rep. Boehner not pushing hard enough for healthcare repeal was not the first time the Tea Party favorite jabbed the House Speaker. He told constituents in December that he fights with House leadership "every week," and that Boehner doesn't want him around because he doesn't do what they tell him to.
Walsh, who is running for re-election in Illinois' 8th Disrict, was trailing Democrats in a recent poll, but said last month that electing "any Republican" over Obama was "more important" than his own race.
"This guy, in this White House, is destroying everything that makes this country great," Walsh told AIM. "Period."