Hi everyone.
Tom Bowen here, campaign manager for Alexi Giannoulias, Democrat for U.S. Senate.
Today's Supreme Court ruling giving corporations untold influence over our electoral process underscores why we need Senators who will interpret the law fairly and in favor of all Americans, not just the wealthy or corporate America.
And today's decision underscores why the Senate race in Illinois is so important.
We're less than two weeks away from the primary. Alexi was here a few days ago, outlining his domestic policy positions. In light of today's decision, I wanted to expand a bit on reform positions and why we need Senators like him to fight for us in the U.S. Senate.
First, here's Alexi's statement on the matter:
"I profoundly disagree with today's Supreme Court ruling. The very corporate special interests that got us into this economic mess should be given less power to influence elections, not more. I am proud to be the first U.S. Senate candidate in Illinois history to refuse money from corporate PAC's and federal lobbyists because I believe that to get our economy back on track and create the next generation of good-paying jobs, we have to break the grip of corporate interests in Washington.
"My likely Republican opponent Mark Kirk doesn't believe there is a problem. In his decade in Washington, he has taken more corporate PAC money than just about any other politician. He then voted their way on one reckless Bush economic policy after another. That is why he refused to disclose how he would have voted on the confirmation of Justice Sotomayor and that's why he still won't speak about it even today. He cannot be trusted to be an advocate for working families or the middle class," Giannoulias said.
Republican Congressman Mark Kirk (IL-10), the likely Republican nominee, has built his congressional career off of corporate money. And when the issue came up of whether he would have voted to confirm Justice Sotomayor, Kirk remained silent.
What he hasn't remained silent on, though, is getting his hands on President Obama's former Senate seat.
Indeed, immediately after Brown's victory, Republican Congressman Mark Kirk, the presumptive GOP nominee, sent this to his email list:
The President won both Massachusetts and Illinois with 62% of the vote. Now the voters of Massachusetts have elected a thoughtful, fiscal conservative to the U.S. Senate. And over the next 10 months, we will work to bring the same kind of change to Illinois. [...]
Massachusetts is just the beginning [...]
Don't know much about Mark Kirk? Check out this audio from a recent appearance:
I'm Mark Kirk, and I'm going to take Barack Obama's seat in the United States Senate
This Senate election will offer voters a stark choice: a progressive Democrat who believes in helping working America vs. a finger-in-the-wind Republican who's only consistent position is being on the side of corporate America.
Alexi touched briefly on his government reform plans in his last diary. He believes in public financing. He strongly supports Senator Durbin's Fair Elections Now Act, which would help level the playing field in terms of campaign finance.
He believes corporate influence in elections should be lessened, not increased.
He wants to create a "contracts and influence" database so that we can track contributions made by government contractors and the services they provide.
He's also passionate about increasing lobbyist disclosure requirements. Have you ever tried to use the lobbyist disclosure database? Not only is the system cumbersome, but the information it spits out provides little information to citizens. We need to know exactly who's influencing legislation, the level of their influence. We need to overhaul our disclosure rules, and we need to do it now.
Rulings like that handed down by the Supreme Court today remind us what's at stake with every Senate election.
If you're interested in more information about Alexi, check out his website or leave a comment below.
Thanks for listening and help us get a progressive Senator elected in Illinois.
As many of you know, Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is running for the Democratic nomination for President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat (currently held by Senator Burris, who is not running for re-election). You can check out Alexi’s diaries here. We’re the people behind his campaign, and with your help, we can elect someone who will speak for all of us in the United States Senate. |