That’s right. Peter Roskam is pretty much as bad as it gets.
You have one vote in the House of Representatives and Peter Roskam is using it to advance the interests of big banks, and insurance companies, and oil companies – rather than to help you.
Roskam has consistently voted against a fair minimum wage for workers and against equal pay for equal work – at the same time advocating unlimited compensation for corporate executives. He has repeatedly opposed efforts to expand the Children’s Health Insurance Program and uses taxpayer dollars to send out campaign materials advocating against Democratic efforts to make affordable healthcare available to all Americans. He has used his vote to prevent workers from organizing for better pay and working conditions and has opposed reasonable workplace safety regulations.
As the country has struggled to recover from the economic collapse resulting from the disastrous policies of the Bush Administration, Peter Roskam has refused to extend unemployment benefits to displaced workers and has voted against continuation of government food relief programs. Worse still, he uses his office to work for still more of the corporate deregulation that brought us to this low point to begin with.
Roskam stood silent while the Bush administration carried out torture and endless illegal detention in your name and wasted billions on pointless military adventures and payouuts to corrupt defense contractors.
And as global climate change and its devastating ecological consequences threaten our children’s future, Roskam is siding with the big polluters and the U.S. Chamber to prevent any meaningful response.
But now you have another chance to make that all change. His name is Ben Lowe and he is a generous young man, a progressive Democrat, who has put his life on hold in order to run against Roskam next fall when no one else would. Ben is an exceptionally bright and capable person, unbeholden to corporate interests, who proposes to use that one vote in Congress to do things that will help all of us. You can read about some of his ideas here.
But because Ben is an outsider, he has an exceptionally difficult task ahead of him in securing the kind of support from the national party that can help him win against a generously-funded Peter Roskam in November. To secure that support, it is absolutely critical that those of us in the district who want change do everything we can to show our support for Ben as our candidate. And that means donating whatever we can afford, however large or small an amount that may be, to Ben’s campaign. I have done so, and will continue to do so as I am able. I hope you will also send Ben something today.You can make donations online at Ben’s Campaign website:
Ben Lowe for Congress, Illinois 6th District
Related posts:
- RSR Meets with 6th District Democratic Candidate Ben Lowe
- Lets Make 2010 Peter Roskam’s Last Year in Office
- Jill Morgenthaler Calls Roskam on His Lack of Support for Illinois Vets
- Does the Evangelical Movement Belong in the Democratic Party?
- Wishing Won’t Make Peter Roskam Go Away – You Have to Vote
I agree that Roskam is the worst Rep. in Congress, but who is Ben Lowe? I’ve been involved in the Democratic Party in Dupage County for 11 years & this is the first time I’ve heard of this guy – he seems to be just another, lighter weight version of Wheaton College Prof. Lindy Scott (the “only one” who could beat Roskam his supporters said) – who only garnered 16% of the vote in the ‘06 primary. Lowe’s only connection to the 6th appears to be that he went to Wheaton College, and currently lives here – although he appears to have been a Chicago resident in 2007 – at least he was registered to vote there. How much of “life” can an unmarried 25 yr. old w/no carreer have to “put on hold” anyway? His pro-life views will turn most Democratic voters in this district off (remember Lindy Scott), and his Community Organizer credentials will turn off any Republicans who are tired of Roskam. He may seem like a nice guy, but I smell a political opportunist – and that’s how he will be painted by the local GOP: An inexperienced newbie w/no ties to the district who saw an opportunity. He will get trounced in the general election, sorry to burst the bubble.
Thanks, Walt, for your comments. It is this kind of negativism about their candidates than has given Dems in Dupage two terms of Peter Roskam , which is far too many. Where are all the established Democratic candidates? Why aren’t you running? Ben is running on a platform that presents a far better alternative to two more years of Roskam. Sure, he is politically inexperienced but he has other relevant experiences, and he doesn’t have all the of the obligations to lobbyists and corporate interests that come with years of political contests. I would be very happy to have him voting for me in Washington. I’m not sure who the messianic candidate is that you are waiting for. Send Ben $50 and wish him well.
As a recent Wheaton grad I am glad to see my fellow alumni active in political endeavors, however I am disheartened to see Mr. Lowe unabashedly towing the Democrat party line while using his proxies to set up a website declaring his potential opponent “the worst congressman in the world” (albeit the US). Politics is politics, but to be going negative on the incumbent without even winning his primary only confirms this campaign is no different than most. If he wants to play clean and truly run on the issues, he should ask the creator of this website to take it down, or at least denounce the attacks on his opponent.
In an election year where voters will likely impart a referendum on congress’ recent spending spree and their distaste for the health care bill, for Mr. Lowe to run ultra-left in the moderate 6th district is political suicide. As he canvases the neighborhoods of Dupage county, perhaps he will come to realize that the voters are more interested in the unemployment rate and the high costs of cap-and-trade. High-minded ideological progressivism may have worked in 2008, but reality has set in, and no amount of Bush bashing will quell the voter’s concerns about the current economy.
Running on a platform that you believe in is a noble thing. Using a surrogate to unfairly portray your opponent is not. If Mr. Lowe has any hope for winning in 2010, he will need to make significant changes in his game plan.
Thanks for your comment, Anonymous, but your assertion that Mr. Lowe was somehow involved in the the creation of this website is patently false. I set up this site in 2007 to voice my own concerns about Congressman Roskam, long before Ben Lowe ever came on the political scene. The opinions expressed here are my own, unless otherwise noted, and I am in no way a “proxy” or a “surrogate” for the Lowe Campaign. I have endorsed Ben Lowe here and have donated out of my wages to his campaign. I hope to see him elected as Roskam’s replacement. Ben is in no way involved in the content on the site. I have not yet even met him personally, though I hope to do so in the near future. I feel rather certain that there is much written here that Mr. Lowe would disagree with. I am likewise certain that there will points on which I disagree with Mr. Lowe as his campaign unfolds and will not hesitate to express that disagreement here.
As far as negative campaigning goes, I believe that Mr. Lowe has not even mentioned Congressman Roskam’s name in any of his public statements. I find no mention of Mr. Roskam on Lowe’s website. Roskam, on the other hand, has a history of running very negative campaigns. He has also used his office, his franking privilege, and the access to media that his position gives him to wage an extremely negative campaign against the Democratic agenda for universal healthcare access, an effective response to global climate change, and financial regulatory reform to prevent a repeat of the present economic crisis. I therefore feel no compunction about giving him a taste of his own medicine, hyperbole included. I will continue to use this site to educate voters regarding Roskam’s voting record that favors the interests of large corporations and economic elites and ignores those who are struggling as a result of the economic crisis precipitated by years of Republican mismanagement. The “attacks” here are all about the issues. I’m sure that Peter Roskam would love for this site to be taken down because his record is pretty tough to defend, but I have no plans to do so at this point in time.
How about you, Anonymous. Are you a proxy for Peter Roskam? Is Roskam starting to get nervous?
Mea culpa: I was directed to this website via Mr. Lowe’s website and twitter page which reads:
“RT @rubberstamprosk Peter Roskam | Wake Up 6th District! You Have the Worst Congressman in the World: Peter Roskam http://bit.ly/76LkMY”
(http://twitter.com/loweforcongress, 12/9/09)
Clearly this is a tacit endorsement of the above posting by Mr. Lowe. So while I was mistaken in any direct affiliation this website may have with the campaign, I believe I stand correct when I say that Mr. Lowe approves of this kind of rhetoric.
As an independent observer (with no affiliations with the Roskam campaign), my point remains this: like Roskam or hate him, ultra-liberal talking points will not win a mid-term election in moderate Dupage county.
If a fair minimum wage, equal pay for equal work, saving the planet from an ecological catastrophe, and providing adequate healthcare to everyone are “ultra-liberal” concepts then so be it I guess. To me, they’re just common sense but Roskam is using his office to work against all of them. But judging from traffic patterns on this site in response to posts like that on Roskam’s vote against the extension of unemployment benefits, I’d say that there’s a large number of folks in the district who disagree. And I suspect that if you weren’t troubled somewhat by that prospect, you’d probably have found something more interesting to do on a Saturday night than comment on this insignificant little blog.
My suspicion is we’ll find, as his campaign ramps up, that Mr. Lowe’s positions on many issues are more moderate than my own. But that’s ok. We all have to be willing to make compromises in order order to make progress. I like Ben and I think he’d make a great Congressman. You’ll have to ask him what he thinks of this site.