Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.
In Kentucky we have some great candidates bidding to pull upsets in the Congressional races. In the Fourth we have John Waltz and in the Fifth we have Jim Holbert. In the Second Congressional District we have Ed Marksberry, no stranger to us here at Hillbilly Report, and definately a fine candidate in his own right. He is ready to go to Washington and fight to once again expand the American middle-class. Today in a press release, he Unloaded on Kentucky Republicans for their "cozy industry relationships".
Marksberry has already put his money where his mouth is by crossing the river from his district to help protest Whirlpool eliminating jobs, jobs in which many of his prospective constituents also crossed the river to work:
Earlier this year he spoke at the 2010 Owensboro, Kentucky International Bar-B-Q festival:
Now, he is blasting Kentucky Republicans for their Corporate policies in a press release from today. From an email from the Marksberry campaign:
Government regulatory red tape has never been popular, but when it comes to worker safety and environmental concerns, Americans must guard the integrity of the relationship between government and industries.
American taxpaying families are still "footing the bill" for poor oversight. Big Wall Street bonuses amid bad loans and investment schemes, big bank bailouts, a near collapse of our economy, the terrible loss of lives at the Massey Energy coal mine in West Virginia and BP’s offshore oil rig explosion: all are linked to cozy relationships between government watchdog agencies and the corrupting influence of corporate lobbyists. I do not share Republican candidate Rand Paul’s view of the BP oil disaster that "accidents happen." I contend that poor oversight has led to far too many accidents "waiting to happen." Taxpayers and our governments... whether local, state or federal... do not have the money to clean up any more financial or man-made disasters that never should have happened.
I urge Rep. Brett Guthrie and Sen. Mitch McConnell to reconsider their cozy industry relationships and to stand up for the middle class, not the corporate lobbyists. They must stop embracing policies that allow unlimited campaign contributions from corporations. Ask Sen. McConnell to return the thousands of dollars he received from Massey Energy while sitting in oversight over mining laws that should protect miners and our environment. Tell Rep. Guthrie to act as guardian of our tax dollars and address the obvious conflicts of interest that this carpenter can plainly see.
As a candidate for U.S. Congress, I’m sounding the alarm. Our government and community leaders must become the tax-dollar watchdogs they are entrusted to be.
Oversight is important at all levels. Kentuckians just recently experienced statewide scandals and abuses of tax dollars involving the agencies, the Kentucky League of Cities and the Kentucky Association of Counties, due to lax oversight. We are fortunate here in Kentucky that our State Auditor Crit Luallen is a dedicated tax-dollar watchdog. Kentuckians should expect the same from all our government leaders.
Moving on to his website, you can see that Ed Marksberry has his priorities straight when it comes to bringing down our national debt:
Reducing the unemployment rates and reducing our nation’s healthcare costs will help to reduce our nation’s debt. I support closing corporate tax loop holes and enacting trade policies that reflect our values. I support free trade when there is fair trade. We must enact campaign finance reform to restrict the corrupting corporate big money drowning out the middle-class voice.
http://edmarksberry2010.com/...
This district has been very close in recent elections and with the failure of Kentucky Republicans on all levels, this race is wide open. Ed Marksberry understands our problems because he is one of us and he lives with them everyday too. He is a real outsider who will fight for working Kentuckians and Americans. We simply must fight for real Democrats wherever they may emerge, and Ed Marksberry deserves our support. Go here and find out how you can help:
http://edmarksberry2010.com/