Lets Make 2010 Peter Roskam’s Last Year in Office

On December 30, 2009, in Ben Lowe, Congressional Elections, Peter Roskam, by RSR
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The holiday season is always a pretty expensive time for me what with gift-buying and travel and this year is no exception. But when I received an end-of-the-year appeal today from Ben Lowe’s campaign today, I cracked open the piggy bank and sent him an extra donation in order to help him meet his fundraising goals.

In the 6th District, we are presently represented by one of the most extremely conservative members of Congress, Peter Roskam. Roskam does not share the values of the majority of the district he is supposed to represent. In fact, Peter Roskam uses the privileges of his office and our own tax dollars to actively campaign against policies like universal health care that will benefit the citizens for whom he is supposed to be a voice.

2010 could be the year that we bring Peter Roskam’s mis-representation to an end. We have a fine progressive Democratic alternative in Ben Lowe. The harsh reality, however, is that Roskam is well-funded by the corporate interests he represents and has a history of running agressive campaigns. In order for Ben to get his message out, he will need funding from all of us who want better representation for the 6th District. That’s why I’m doing as much as I can to help the Ben’s campaign. I hope you will be generous in your support as well.

Lowe for Congress

Happy New Year!

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RSR Meets with 6th District Democratic Candidate Ben Lowe

On December 21, 2009, in Ben Lowe, Congressional Elections, Healthcare, Peter Roskam, Peter Roskam's Corporate Agenda, by RSR
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I was pleased to have had the opportunity this past Thursday to meet face-to-face with 6th District Congressional Candidate, Democrat Ben Lowe of Wheaton. I sat down with Ben, and with consultant Kevin Spidel of Patriot Strategies, who, as you may remember, managed the 2006 primary race here in IL-06 for Christine Cegelis, another fine progressive candidate. In the picture above, Ben is signing my copy of his book, Green Revolution.

I have to say that I am very impressed with Ben. He is a warm, intelligent and articulate person with very progressive ideals coupled with a healthy dose of political realism. I think he has the potential to speak to the concerns of a wide variety of 6th district contituencies and bring them together to defeat Roskam, who caters to big corporations and offers nothing to help a district experiencing exceptionally hard times. Ben’s discussion of issues like healthcare and immigration reform and global climate change in terms like “justice” and “human rights” is music to my ears. I can’t wait to see Ben elected. (I kind of wanted to bring him home with me but Kevin intervened).

In the time before the primary, Ben says he will be heavily focused on getting out to meet folks in the district and listenening to their concerns. He is anxious to meet with groups, large and small, and encouraging anyone who is interested to host a coffee for friends and neighbors to get together with Ben.

Ben reports that he is also heavily focused at present on fundraising, a necessary evil when running against an opponent like Roskam who is well-funded by big corporations and extremist interest groups. Ben says that fund raising efforts are starting out well but he has a long way to go. Please consider making whatever donation you can afford through Ben’s website.

I am hoping that the more distinguished bloggers covering the 6th district who follow Roskam will getto know Ben and help to get the word out about his candidacy. Come on Progress Illinois, Prairie State Blue, Bridget in the Sixth, Wurfwhile, Heartland Progressive – this is a great progressive candidate. He deserves your support – or at least your consideration. Peter Roskam is the worst. Lets not allow him to coast to another re-election.

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Video from Peter Roskam Challenger Ben Lowe

On November 4, 2009, in Ben Lowe, Congressional Elections, Peter Roskam, by RSR
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Thanks to reader John for locating this video Ben Lowe did for his book promotion.

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Peter Roskam’s Challenger Ben Lowe an Environmentalist

On November 4, 2009, in Barack Obama, Congressional Elections, Environment, Peter Roskam, by RSR
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After some more poking around, it looks to us as though Peter Roskam’s 2010 opponent, Ben Lowe, comes from the evangelical Christian environmental movement and  has worked with an organization called Renewal. Here’s his author bio from IVP which published his book, “Green Revolution:Coming Together to Care for Creation“:

Ben Lowe’s views on creation care were shaped early in his life. Growing up as a missionary kid in Singapore/Malaysia, he often dealt with water shortages and bad air quality due to mismanagement and abuse of natural resources. Carrying these experiences with him, he eventually found his way to Wheaton College where he majored in environmental studies and helped organize Wheaton’s first national Climate Change Summit. His summers were filled working as an environmental educator with the Massachusetts Audubon Society and as a student researcher for fisheries projects in Corpus Christi, TX and on Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania.

Lowe currently calls Chicago home and works as the cocoordinator of Renewal, a grassroots network committed to equipping this student generation in the compassionate stewardship of all of God’s creation. Previously he served as outreach director for A Rocha USA, an international Christian conservation organization, where he helped to mobilize churches and campuses around creation care issues.

Renewal’s web site describes the organization this way:

Renewal is a Christ-centered creation care network that focuses on living in right relationship with God. As followers of Christ, we seek to follow His example of love, stewardship, and reconciliation. For us, this means taking care of everything that God so lovingly created- the earth and each other. With a heart for the poor and a commitment to following Jesus’ call to ‘love your neighbor as yourself,’ the students of Renewal seek to care for the earth so that all of God’s people and creatures, as well as future generations, can have a healthy environment in which to live.

“Heart for the poor” and “care for the earth” are music to my ears after two terms of Roskam’s screw the poor and exploit the earth mentality. I look forward to hearing more from young Ben about his aims as a candidate.

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Peter Roskam Challenger Ben Lowe Meets Filing Deadline

On November 4, 2009, in Ben Lowe, Congressional Elections, Peter Roskam, by RSR
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We don’t know much about  him yet but Peter Roskam now has a Democratic opponent in his 2010 bid for re-election. According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Benjamin S. Lowe of Wheaton filed on November 2nd to oppose Roskam. Congratulations, Ben, and welcome to the race.  And a big thank you for stepping forward to take on Roskam who has failed to represent the interests of the majority of 6th District residents since taking office in 2007.

Ben has the beginnings of a web site here.  He also has a Twitter account and we encourage all our readers to follow him as Ben begins to communicate about himself. Ben is also on Facebook.

Update: Ben’s campaign web site has been updated with a bio and a letter from Ben. From what he’s written here, Ben sounds like a progressive fellow:

His years living overseas, coupled with a summer science-research grant in rural sub-Saharan Africa, nurtured another passion in Ben: a concern for a more nuanced foreign policy, and the renunciation of foreign adventurism and nation-building. He advocates the highest care for our troops serving bravely in the face of danger; one of the highest forms of care is a foreign policy which acts more judiciously before thrusting troops into danger. Ben supports an expeditious end to wars that have proven devastatingly costly in terms of both American soldier and local civilian casualties. Money saved from war could more usefully promote economic development abroad, so as to re-brand America’s image throughout the world, using our global position of influence to encourage peace, respect for human rights, and religious freedom.

The son of a naturalized U.S. citizen, Ben has spent considerable time interacting with both prosperous and impoverished immigrant communities. This experience drives home the need to reform our broken immigration system.

Yet another dimension of his life overseas – and his career serving with non-profit organizations – has been first-hand experience of the risks of being uninsured or under-insured. He advocates reform of our health insurance system to ensure that all Americans have access to adequate, affordable health care. Additionally, the recent economic downturn underscores the need to provide a safety net for those facing joblessness and homelessness, yet within the parameters of fiscal conservatism.

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