OK, everyone knows I’m an apostate on this issue, but I think this is an important issue for Weller
Beecher, IL -? July 28, 2005 ? John Pavich, Democratic candidate for congress in Illinois? 11th district, calls Jerry Weller?s actions during these last days of the session ?deplorable.?
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?Mr. Weller has once again ignored the problems faced by the people of Illinois. His votes this week on CAFTA and the Energy Bill demonstrate his willingness to sacrifice the needs of his constituents for the benefit of special interests.?
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?This week, Exxon Mobile, Royal Dutch Shell and Marathon Oil Corp. all posted record profits. Yesterday, Mr. Weller voted for an energy bill that gives these same companies over $60 billion in subsidies. And, more importantly, this energy package will have no impact on the prices U.S. families have to pay at the pump.?
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?With gas prices in Illinois averaging $2.50 a gallon, what is the average family supposed to do? The price cuts we continue to dole out to the oil companies never find their way back to the consumer.? The people of Illinois deserve relief at the pump, not the major oil companies. When is enough ? enough??
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Referring to Mr. Weller?s support of CAFTA, Pavich said ?Mr. Weller has been asked time and again to?answer questions?about his apparent conflict of interest on CAFTA. The citizens of Illinois, the very people he has sworn to serve, deserve answers to these questions.? While Mr. Weller claims to have no conflict of interest, he refuses to disclose his wife’s, his father-in-law’s or his family’s business interests which may stand to gain from CAFTA’s passage.?
?He had plenty of time to clarify these issues, yet he apparently thought the people of the 11th did not deserve an answer. By voting on CAFTA and refusing to adequately answer his constituents’ questions, Mr. Weller has effectively said his constituents have no voice.? The people of Illinois? 11th district deserve a leader who is going to put their interests first every time and address their concerns every time. Mr. Weller?s complete disregard for the concerns of his constituents on this issue is deplorable.?
Pavich continues by saying that CAFTA, as policy, raises concerns as well. ?I?m not opposed to free trade but we have to create policies that are good for all parties. This includes strong, enforceable labor standards and environmental protections. I don?t feel CAFTA does that.?
Jerry Weller has received over $150,000 in contributions from U. S. Agribusiness while special interest energy PAC?s have contributed over $300,000 to Weller?s campaign fund. ?This doesn?t even address the money these groups have donated to Mr. Weller?s PAC?s,? Pavich said.
“Is it not time our representatives remember who they are working for?”
ArchPundit