Last night I saw upon the stair

A little man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

Oh, how I wish he’d go away …

Apologies to Hughes Mearns and his poem “Antigonish,” but the man who wasn’t there is U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman. Bergman is the top spender in the U.S. House for the Reimbursement Program, as reported by The Hill, narrowly edging out Matt Gaetz. Bergman was reimbursed for more than $32,000 in lodging and nearly $12,000 for meals in 2023. He didn’t spend it meeting his constituents in town halls — Jack hasn’t had a town hall since 2017.

Jack Bergman isn’t there for Michigan’s 1st Congressional District, but he has been there for Trump and the Republican so-called “Big Beautiful Bill,” a big beautiful bill for billionaires. Bergman and his Republican buddies, who used to worry about deficit spending, voted to give huge tax giveaways to the wealthiest (Elon Musk among them) and pay for it by stealing funds from SNAP, Medicare and any program that helps the ordinary worker get a living wage, have adequate health care, get a decent education for the kids and have a secure retirement and old age.

Jack Bergman is our own reverse Robin Hood. He steals from the poor to give to the rich. Would you expect anything else from a fellow who fattens his campaign coffers with donations from companies like Rolls Royce, according to the Federal Election Commission? He rides high while the rest of us wonder how we’ll afford Republican tariffs, because Walmart is not going to “eat the tariffs” and Jack Bergman won’t be contributing from his pocket to help you meet higher costs–he won’t even meet with you to talk about the financial pain Trump and he cause — $4,700 a year, according to a Yale study.

“Oh, how I wish he’d go away …”