The following Letter to the Editor is from the August 2024 issue of The Lenawee Voice. Letters should be 350 words or fewer and may be emailed to [email protected]. If space is limited, preference will be given to local authors and local topics. Please include your town of residence and a phone number for verification.
Libbi Urban’s candidacy offers much-needed change
Absentee ballots went out recently, and you may have noticed that Lenawee’s representative in the House, Republican Tim Walberg, has a Democratic challenger, Libbi Urban.
Libbi is a retired union steelworker. She was a union negotiator for many years and knows how to get things done. In fact, she was the first woman to hold the office of vice-president of the United Steelworkers Union. In this position, she successfully negotiated contracts that improved benefits for women and families. Libbi is tough, smart, and fair, and has a track record of getting results.
When the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress in 2021–2023, they passed important legislation that brought an influx of federal money to state and local governments, school systems, and small businesses (American Rescue Plan Act). Other legislation during this period is now bringing expanded rural internet access and much-needed repairs to our roads, bridges, and dams (the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law). Still other legislation passed during this time is bringing manufacturing jobs back to the U.S., lowering prescription drug prices, and ensuring clean air and clean water for our children (the CHIPS and Science Act; the Inflation Reduction Act).
Tim Walberg voted against all of these measures.
Instead, Mr. Walberg has been working with his Republican colleagues to obstruct legislation that would bring government dollars to southeast Michigan and improve daily life for its residents. Since Republicans took control of the House in January 2023, this obstructionism has prevented any significant legislation whatsoever from being passed. Instead, they’ve chosen to pursue groundless investigations, wasting your tax dollars and stoking the culture wars. Clearly they have no interest in actually governing.
Do you really want to support this kind of behavior with your vote?
People need policies, and politicians, that will move us forward, not drag us backward.
Libbi Urban stands for policies and legislation that will directly benefit Michigan families. Haven’t you had enough of obstructionism and culture wars? I certainly have.
— Lee Walsh, Tecumseh
