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With the elections just around the corner, we need to make sure our candidates for Congress know that they should act on behalf of the public instead of for powerful and wealthy interests. Too much money is being diverted to pet projects for oil, drug and banking industries while consumers lose out. Prescription drug prices are skyrocketing, gas prices are high and student loans are being slashed. Please email Pennsylvania's candidates for Senate and ask them to put voters first. To take action, sign the "Put Voters First Pledge". The actions of our elected officials and the lobbyists who influence them are not just morally wrong, they affect all of us.
Scandals over the last year have revealed a number of cases of overt corruption. Former Congressman Duke Cunningham (CA) was caught steering $20 million to a defense contractor in exchange for bribe money-- diverting taxpayer dollars and auctioning our national security to the highest bidder. Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff is going to jail for masterminding efforts using campaign contributions to steer public funds to his pet projects. Rep. William Jefferson (LA) is under investigation after the FBI found $90,000 in cash in his freezer. Rep. Robert Ney and former Rep. Tom DeLay are both under investigation for possible abuses. Several top legislative and White House aides have already pled guilty to corruption charges and this may only be the tip of the iceberg. College students recently lost $12 billion to cuts in loan programs while nothing was done to rein in the sweetheart deal that banks have to underwrite these loans. The new Medicare prescription drug plan benefits the pharmaceutical industry more than seniors. The same can be said for the bankruptcy bill, which offers more protection to credit card companies than consumers. The former staff director for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee shepherded an energy bill that provided billions of dollars to the nuclear power industry while at the same time negotiated a $600,000 a year job with the Nuclear Energy Institute. Loose rules allow him to do this without telling anyone as the public gets stuck with paying royally for bad energy policy. The recent scandals were discovered by a whistle blower and not by the House or Ethics Committees. THe current system of having Congress police its own is like having a fox watch the hen house. That is why we are calling on candidates for Congress to sign onto the "Voters First Pledge" which asks them to: * Enforce the rules by establishing an independent group to monitor Congress.
* Place tough, common-sense restrictions on lobbyist-funded travel, gifts and meals.
* Provide full disclosure of campaign contributions for powerful special interests. Show them that you are watching, that you expect them to act ethically, and that they will be held accountable to the electorate for their actions. Click here for more information. |
