Beltway Rob: An Insider. An Outsourcer. Senator Portman Puts Washington First

From Greg Beswick, Ohio Democratic Party Executive Director

You don’t have to look any farther than the Republican Presidential Primary to realize this is a very, very bad year to be part of the Washington crowd.

With good reason, Ohioans are fed up with insiders who are looking out for themselves at our expense. And that’s why Senator Rob Portman is in serious trouble.

Senator Portman has earned the nickname Beltway Rob for a reason: for 30 years, he’s been at the center of a shadowy web of lobbyists, dealmakers and wealthy special interests that represent everything Ohioans hate about D.C. politics. He’s part of a club that protects themselves and pushes their own agenda — while working people pay the price.

Wealth. Power. Privilege. This is Senator Rob Portman’s world — no wonder he’s disconnected from the values that matter to middle-class Ohioans.

Let’s look at why newspapers described Portman as the “ultimate insider.”

First, there’s Beltway Rob’s connection to the K Street crowd. A former lobbyist himself, Portman never forgot where he came from– and just like a good member of the D.C. club he’s looked out for his friends as he’s climbed the ladder. One lobbyist said “Portman’s face belongs on the Mount Rushmore of the financial services industry,” and the New York Times wrote that the sidewalk outside Beltway Rob’s office took a “pounding from the wingtips of industry lobbyists.”

Then there’s Beltway Rob’s record on trade that has earned him the title “dedicated outsourcer.” He’s been unabashed in his support for unfair, job-killing trade deals that have shipped hundreds of thousands of our jobs overseas to places like China. In fact, he even admitted he didn’t bother to read the TPP before voting to fast track it. He called legislation to crack down on Chinese currency manipulation “counter-productive.” He refused to take on unfair Chinese steel dumping. Portman even voted to grant China Most Favored Nation Status. Whenever Beltway Rob has to pick between working people and his powerful friends, he makes the same wrong decision every time.

Then there’s Beltway Rob’s D.C. double-speak. You might not know this, but Washington politicians like Portman even have their own language. When Beltway Rob says he’s fighting for drug abuse prevention, what he means is that he’ll vote against funding for it. When he brags about fighting blight in Cleveland, what Portman means is he’s actually voting against resources to address this problem. One newspaper said his blatant hypocrisy is an example of “how Washington ticks off the rest of America.”

Whether Portman is trying to privatize Social Security, making it harder for students to refinance their loans at an affordable rate, voting against equal pay for equal work for women, or calling the auto rescue a “lousy deal” — on issue after issue, he’s prioritized the interests of the Washington power brokers and wealthy special interests at our expense.

The stakes in November’s election could not be higher, and Ohioans deserve to know the truth: Beltway Rob represents exactly what Ohio hates about Washington. The Ohio Democratic Party launched a new website to help out: www.BeltwayRob.com. Voters can learn and share the facts about Portman’s record: he’s an insider. An outsourcer. And Ohioans can’t afford for Beltway Rob to stay in the U.S. Senate any longer.