Over the past few months the Obama administration has rolled out a number of different transparency programs for the federal government. I applaud the President's action in this area and hope that Congress will move to take similar action in the legislative branch. Even with the reforms pushed in the wake of the Abramoff scandal, members of Congress still spend more time working for campaign donors than their constituents. Sadly, Danny Davis is a prime example of this type of behavior. Over the past few weeks, its become even clearer that Danny is more concerned with helping his political career than helping his district. More details on this in the information below, as well as what I plan to do to end this behavior when I'm in Congress.
Earlier this last week, a New York Times article goes went into great detail about Davis's recent trip to China on a campaign donor's dime.
Mr. Davis said he was exhausted by the end of his journey. He saw nothing wrong with a businessman and big financial contributor flying him to help close a private business deal.
"He’s a guy that I really admire," Mr. Davis said of Willie Wilson, president of Omar Medical Supplies, which got its factory. Still, Mr. Davis acknowledged, "It’s not going to create jobs in Illinois."....
Willie Wilson, the owner of Omar Medical Supplies, wanted to build a factory to make latex gloves to sell in the United States, and he thought Mr. Davis could help him negotiate better terms with the Chinese. Omar is not located in Mr. Davis’s district, but Mr. Wilson is a longtime friend who, along with his wife, has contributed $37,000 to Mr. Davis’s political causes in the last decade. Omar had also hired Richard Boykin, Mr. Davis’s former chief of staff, as lobbyist in Washington. And in between two trips to China Mr. Davis took in 2008 and 2009, Mr. Boykin held a fund-raiser for him.
Unfortunately, Danny's trip to China is not the only example of his focusing on political concerns above the needs of the 7th District. We've already talked about how he originally didn't want to run for re-election and wanted to run for Cook County Board President, but only last week Danny joined with Michelle Bachmman and 16 other Republicans by signing a non-binding resolution attacking the so called "War on Christmas".
In this time of economic crisis, Danny Davis and other members of Congress should be focused on getting people back to work, saving homes, helping small businesses and rescuing our economy. Instead they're working on toothless resolutions, playing the same games that got us into this crisis in the first place. Danny is willing to go all the way to China for his campaign donors and, as the article notes, change his clothes in the back of a van to sidestep ethics rules. He'll cross the aisle to join Bachmann and other Republicans on pointless resolutions, but he can't go the distance to get jobs in Illinois.
Danny's behavior on these matters shows that the 7th district needs some real representation. I'm dedicated to increased transparency in Congress and am dedicated to working for my constituents and not my own political career. My campaign and I are already taking steps to this end. We've recently released a new video from our Director of Online Content talking about a the different ways we are using the the internet and new media to reach out to voters. As the video states, my campaign and I are dedicated to finding new ways connect to the citizens of the 7th District. Furthermore, when I am elected I will fight for increased transparency and ethics reform. It is hypocritical for members of Congress to demand increased regulation and transparency from banks, credit card companies and the Federal Reserve if they are unwilling to be open and transparent themselves.
And unlike Danny Davis, I will fight to create jobs here in the 7th district and across the country, not in China. We need to think big in order to get our economy back on track. The steps taken by states and the federal government have helped stabilize the situation, but we need to do more to recover the jobs that we've lost. That's why I want to create a new American Renewal Corps, based on the Civilian Conservation Corps created by FDR. With the American Renewal Corps we can begin to reinvest. We'll put millions of Americans to work on fixing our broken and neglected infrastructure, from our highways and dams to our bridges and train tracks. This program won't just be focusing on repairing our infrastructure, but improving it as well. We can replace our ailing power grid with new green technology that will be safer, need less maintenance and can help people save money on their electric bills. These improvements will also help us in our fight against global climate change. The same can be said for our roads, bridges, parks, dams and rail systems. Here in Chicago, we can put people to work to update our neglected CTA lines and make major capital improvements that will improve the system and prevent layoffs and service cut backs. The American Renewal Corps will help us reinvest in our country, putting millions back to work and leaving an important legacy for our children.
Jim
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