As our young Americans continue to pay with their lives in this illegal war started by our President, the costs continue to rack up for every person living in District 12 in Illinois.
Taxpayers in Congressional District 12, represented by Jerry Costello, Democrat, will pay $283.7 million for the President's request for additional Iraq war spending in FY2008 and FY2009.
For the same amount of money, the following could have been provided:
118,508 People with Health Care for One Year OR

377,269 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR

5,837 Public Safety Officers for One year OR

4,948 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR

28,708 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR

2,057 Affordable Housing Units OR

195,510 Children with Health Care for One Year OR

41,992 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR

4,360 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR

4,139 Port Container Inspectors for One year

If you take the cost of what has been spent, $1.1 billon to date for the Iraq war, the following could have been provided:
460,218 People with Health Care for One Year OR

1,465,102 Homes with Renewable Electricity for One Year OR

22,669 Public Safety Officers for One year OR

19,215 Music and Arts Teachers for One Year OR

111,488 Scholarships for University Students for One Year OR

7,988 Affordable Housing Units OR

759,253 Children with Health Care for One Year OR

163,073 Head Start Places for Children for One Year OR

16,933 Elementary School Teachers for One Year OR

16,072 Port Container Inspectors for One year

The American people must demand a pull-out from this war! The only way to do this is by making a change as to who represents you in this district, which is currently Jerry Costello. Even though he says he is against the war, he continues to vote for funding for the war.
When Rodger Jennings is elected to the US Congress, he will support the pull-out of American troops in Iraq and support opening a diplomatic dialogue with Iran. Change starts with YOU, and voting for Rodger Jennings will begin the change process.

The above information was supplied by: www.nationalpriorities.org

For years since NAFTA was signed into law there have been arguments how it has helped our economy to allow globalization, but on the other side we hear arguments how it is damaging the economy. Americans are steadily loosing jobs due to greedy corporations offshoring jobs, and it affects this district immensely.

After researching various data I discovered evidence that offshoring jobs overseas has inflicted more harm on our economy than the current administration has reported. In an article in BusinessWeek magazine in June 2007 it was discovered that there is a gaping flaw in the way statistics are calculated for offshoring jobs, and it could have serious economic results. The article stated that “top government statisticians now acknowledge that the problem exists, and say it could prove to be significant,” according to BusinessWeek.

BusinessWeek reported that “the short explanation is that the growth of domestic manufacturing has been substantially overstated in recent years. That means productivity gains and overall economic growth have been overstated as well.” According to Susan N. Houseman, an economist at the W.W. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, it "helps explain why wage growth for most American workers has been weak."

According to the article in BusinessWeek “the underlying problem is located in an obscure statistic: the import price data published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Because of it, many of the cost cuts and product innovations being made overseas by global companies and foreign suppliers aren't being counted properly. And that spells trouble because, surprisingly, the government uses the erroneous import price data directly and indirectly as part of its calculation for many other major economic statistics, including productivity, the output of the manufacturing sector, and real gross domestic product (GDP), which is supposed to be the inflation-adjusted value of all the goods and services produced inside the U.S.”

Corporations’ special interests in Congress are putting all Americans at risk as our economy continues into a tailspin. Congress needs to remove the tax breaks that are awarded to corporations which Jerry Costello voted to keep. NAFTA needs to be revoked, and we need to start giving the tax breaks to businesses that keep their business in the United States.

Until the American voter votes to change the status quo in Congress, nothing will change and our economy will continue to decline. By electing me, you can help me begin work to reverse the damage that Jerry Costello has helped create. By voting Green in 2008, you can send the message that change is needed.

Rep. Costello has said he wants “Making Prescription Drugs Affordable for Seniors”

“One of the reasons why I opposed the Bush Administration's plan to offer benefit cards to seniors is because I don't think it will truly lower the cost. In the face of this program, the Administration announced that Medicare premiums would rise by almost 20% in 2005. That is why, in the last Congress, I cosponsored H.R. 3707 to give the Administration the power to negotiate with drug companies to lower the cost of drugs so our seniors don't have to import drugs from Canada or pay significantly higher prices for prescription drugs,” according to Rep. Costello.

MY RESPONSE:

Mr. Costello makes a good point that prescription drugs are too expensive in our country, but his suggestion is nothing more than a band-aid trying to stop a wound from bleeding. This is not just a senior citizen issue; it is the middle and lower income family problem as well. I am in total agreement that senior citizens are hit hard, but you need to look at all the facts. In this district only 15% are senior citizens; Mr. Costello doesn’t even recognize the other 85% who are struggling, even people who have insurance.
Our country needs to look seriously at implementing a Single Payer Health Care Insurance program. There are too many people without insurance, and many times those who do, such as senior citizens, still cannot afford prescriptions. I have talked to many seniors about their expenses. I personally know a senior citizen who requires medication that costs him over $400 a month out of pocket. This is not just a problem for seniors, as many people working don’t have insurance to cover daily required medication, and this causes a rippling effect by requiring more medical attention in the future.
By enacting a Single Payer Health Care program, everyone will have coverage, reducing the middleman, the insurance companies, and resulting in lower costs of medical care as well as medication. Many people want to compare this method to Canada where they indicate people are on waiting lists to get care. Proper planning of a program can prevent this; after all, this is nothing new in our current health care system. My late wife passed away waiting for care which was stalled 6 weeks because of insurance and doctor requirements. Many people suffer this same fate, but we can fix this if planning and procedures are put in place correctly. This means “project management expertise”, which I have, but the majority of our congressional leaders do not have. Elect me in November and allow me to work on making changes in how we implement projects, and to help other members of Congress appreciate the need to understand proper planning. Unless we do something soon, many more people will die for no reason!

Please pass this on to your friends, family, co-workers, and post places where possible to get the message out that District 12 needs a leader to pursue changes.

Rep. Jerry Costello comments include:

“Fighting for Working Men and Women”

“We've seen it throughout Illinois - small towns hit hard by the loss of manufacturing jobs that have gone overseas. My position continues to be one of fair trade, not free trade - which is why I opposed NAFTA and any free trade agreement that does not guarantee levels of protection for American workers.

“We've seen more and more ‘outsourcing’ - using foreign companies to do jobs once held by American workers - something supported by the Bush White House. I'm pushing hard in the Congress to put an end to this practice and keep these good jobs here at home.”

“Stop Adding to our Children's and Grandchildren's Debt!”

“As a supporter of the federal balanced budget amendment, I was pleased at the progress made in the '90s when we went from a federal deficit to a federal surplus. Unfortunately, President Bush's agenda of tax cuts for the very well off, along with the war in Iraq, will cost us trillions over the next decade - and put us in a position of record-setting deficits once again. I will continue to oppose legislation that puts our nation in the precarious position of spending funds we don't have - and adding an onerous burden to the futures of our children and grandchildren who will be forced to pay it off.”

MY RESPONSE:
My belief is that economics must be based on communities. This country will only survive if the middle class is financially healthy; however, today we are in the midst of a middle class disintegration. We are witnessing corporate greed that is basically battling for world domination to build their own financial empire, passing over the middle- and lower-income workers, and in the process removing basic services from their offerings to the consumer. The corporate market system is based on competitiveness, while their greed exploits people to sustain their profiteering. Downsizing and offshoring has become the customary business approach in the last ten years, while we see many CEOs raid corporate assets. In this district you will find areas devastated as large employers have closed down operations to move to other countries for lower wages. And in some cases, the plan has cost the company more than it was worth, as the competency of offshore workers fails to meet the standards established by the skilled American workforce. As a result, the companies fail and close.

Mr. Costello indicates he is fighting for the working person and is against adding debt to our nation, but as I look around this district I do not see any results that have shown any exceptional leadership. Unemployment is up in every county in this district on an average of 2.5% from 2006 to 2007. These statistics are available from the Illinois Labor Force Report. Since 2000, the population has decreased nearly 5% in the district. However the population did increase slightly in St. Clair County, Mr. Costello’s home — which is no surprise when you see that some of the top recipients of federal funding are in his home county of St. Clair, which received nearly 50 million dollars. Other areas of this district must be given equal attention as well, which doesn’t seem to fit into his agenda.

And don’t forget about all the corporate donations Mr. Costello has received over the years from companies like Federal Express, AMR Corp, UPS, and Wal-Mart (2006).

I feel the real answer to this is to repeal NAFTA and get back to a form of local-economy-based system, where local governments and the people in the district have more control. We must begin by putting human needs as well as the environment in the forefront, and become creative in ways to bring business back to this district. By revitalizing local economic activity by removing special favors to corporations, we can bring prosperity back to this district. But it takes the voters to look to new leadership to make this happen.
Support my campaign, and I will be a leader to encourage initiatives and ideas to bring jobs back to our district. I will make sure you see me frequently, including town hall meetings as often as I can, and if the technology is available we will do web-casts to allow interaction with you.

It is important that you pass this newsletter on to your friends, family, and co-workers. Hang them up on public bulletin boards. I encourage you to set up house parties for me to meet people, or challenge your local leaders to set up a meeting with me to have personal discussions of how their area needs help. I am working to be your representative for the entire district, not just one area as we see year after year.

Over the next few weeks I will be addressing issues Jerry Costello has listed on his campaign web site: http://www.costelloforcongress.com/issues.html as well as my Republican opponent, Tim Richardson, Jr. which has his issues on his site at http://www.peopleforrichardson.com.

Mr. Costello’s Issue:

Protecting Scott Air Force Base

For 75 years, Scott AFB has played a critical role in our national defense and in our local economy. In 2005, the Department of Defense undertook its Base Realignment and Closure process, reviewing facilities nationwide for termination. Not only did Scott survive the BRAC closure recommendations but missions were added that should help secure Scott well into the future. In my view, Scott's growing role makes it a critical asset for Illinois and the nation. In the past, I have fought to protect Scott and will continue to do so in the future.

Mr. Richardson’s Issue:

War

The war effort was well needed. All people should have the ability to make a choice in any country. However, we need to create a plan that would ensure the safety of our troops and start a withdrawal of our troops. Too fast will do harm to the troops as well as our repot with other countries in the area

MY RESPONSE:

It is true Mr. Costello has worked extremely hard to keep Scott AFB open, and it is an important role in national defense and local economy. Mr. Costello is elected to represent the entire District 12, but his record will show that he only concentrates his efforts in the St. Clair County area. Can we afford to keep losing population because he has no leadership to persuade businesses to start or stay in this district?

Mr. Richardson’s issue on war is a true “Hawk” attitude. Even though Mr. Costello says he opposes the war in Iraq, he has continued to vote for spending money on the war. Violence is morally wrong, and does nothing to correct the problems at hand. It is our duty as leaders to show how negotiations can change a situation. Fighting and war never solves the problem, as it will leave underlying issues, no matter who wins the battle. It is important to vote for peace and learn to work with people. We must resist the pressure of being the "policeman" of the world. The United Nations was formed after World War II for the purpose of world peace.

Our government needs to rein in corporate power as well to include campaign finance reform and corporate codes of conduct. The military industrial corporations need to be controlled and stop the wasteful budgets and authorizing obscene no bid contracts to favor campaign contributors.

I challenge both opponents, Mr. Costello and Mr. Richardson to a series of 3-way debates this year to allow the citizens to hear us speak on the issues.