I received a breathless email from Peter Roskam earlier today begging for contributions to his re-election campaign prior to the end of the second quarter  this week.

Roskam writes:

Tomorrow marks the end of the second fundraising quarter, and the Democrats are waiting to see how much money I have raised. Potential challengers are weighing their options even as I write this, and if I show strength, they’ll think twice about running against me.

I am a constant target of the national Democrats and I anticipate they will redouble their efforts this year with Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel in the White House. Rahm tried to take me out in 2006 and 2008, and now he has the power of the White House behind him to pour money from the far left into my opponent’s campaign.

One can dream anyway.

Because of this, we’ve set an aggressive fundraising goal for the second quarter and we’re just $10,000 away from meeting it. Can I count on you to help me reach my fundraising goal by tomorrow at midnight. With your support, I can continue to serve as a voice for you in Congress.

Don’t kid yourself. Unless you are a bank, or a loan company, or a big drug or insurance company,  or a bloated defense contractor,  or a millionaire, Peter Roskam is not your voice in Congress. In fact, Peter Roskam has used his office and his vote consistently to do the opposite of what is in the best interests of you and your family. He has voted against a fair minimum wage for workers, against protections of consumers against predatory lenders, against equal pay for women, against paid parental leave, against  services for Illinois veterans, against efforts to address catastrophic global climate change. And Roskam is currently campaigning against Democratic efforts to provide all Americans with access to healthcare. And Roskam used his position withthe House Financial Servics Committee to fight against the kind of common sense regulation that could have prevented our current economic crisis. When it comes to a choice of doing what is best for big corporations or what is best for working people, Roskam always sides with big corporations. You can read more about Peter Roskam’s anti-consumer, anti-middle-class record here. Worse still, Roskam was an unfailing supporter of the Bush program of endless war, torture, illegal rendition, and domestic eavesdropping.

And Roskam, despite his plea, is not poor. In the 2008 race, Roskam outspent his Democratic opponent, Jill Morgenthaler 3 to 1. You can be sure that in 2010 the same fat cat contributors will make sure Roskam is able to run another nasty campaign of smears and lies. He doesn’t need your $25.

I’d like to be able to suggest that you make a donation to the Democrats instead. But until the Democratic President and Congress step up and do what is right for gay people repeal  DOMA and “Don’t Ask – Don’t Tell”, I won’t be giving them any money – or votes – and do not suggest that you do so. Instead, give your money to two organizations working hard here  to help victims of the Bush-Roskam recession: the Chicago Area Food Depository and DuPage PADS. I split my United Way Contribution between the two organizations and highly endorse their work

No related posts.