Rep. Greg Steube continues hate mongering on the taxpayer’s dime
The taxpayers of Sarasota County, Charlotte County, north Lee County, and Lehigh Acres pay Greg Steube $171,000 per year to represent their interests in the U.S. Congress.
So you’d think he’d be taking care of matters that actually impact life in Southwest Florida. Maybe he’d be working on restoring FEMA funding cut by the One Big Ugly Bill he championed. Maybe he’d be working to re-authorize the National Flood Insurance Program with stronger affordability measures and claims reforms. Maybe he’d be working to secure federal tax credits to offset the ruinously high homeowners' insurance premiums along the Paradise Coast.
Maybe, just maybe, he would have joined his more courageous Republican colleagues to force the release of the Justice Department of the Epstein files — since some 89% of Americans think all the files should be made public.
But no. He continued to play greatest hits from the GOP jukebox: transphobia and Confederate general worship.
First up was the Jamie Reed Protecting Our Kids from Child Abuse Act, a bill to let children who had gender transition procedures sue doctors or hospitals once they’re adults. These lawsuits could happen even if the procedures were legal at the time and done with parent consent. The law would prohibit courts from dismissing a case just because the child agreed at the time or had mental health issues like gender dysphoria. Of course, if it were passed, this law would frighten the life out of doctors who currently provide that care and essentially end access to gender-affirming procedures for any American under the age of 18.
Next up was the Restoring Biological Truth to the Workplace Act, which he co-authored with Sen. Jim Banks. This sterling piece of legislation enshrines transphobic Americans’ right to refuse to use the correct pronouns when referring to transgender Americans in the workplace. Never mind that being correctly gendered significantly reduces the risk for attempted suicide among transgender people. Steube is happy to sacrifice the mental health of 1.6 million transgender Americans on the far right’s anti-trans altar.
And rest assured he didn’t let up on the national crusade to Make America Racist Again. He introduced the Restoring Names of American Greatness Act to put Confederate generals’ names back on military bases, buildings, and public landmarks that were renamed because, um, the Confederacy formed and fought against the United States military in its struggle to keep enslaved people enslaved.
And just to round out the week, Steube carried the torch for Keep America Cold-Hearted. He and Sen. Rand Paul introduced a bill to exclude undocumented immigrants from being covered by Medicaid. Never mind that Federal law already prohibits them from receiving most federally funded public benefits, including Medicaid and Medicare. This was more an opportunity to beat the drum of “We hate immigrants — except, of course, our immigrant ancestors.”
Sick of Steube spending precious publicly-funded time toadying to the far right instead of taking care of the pressing issues we face in Southwest Florida? Let him hear from you.
Written by Cynthia Wolfe