Check those CANDIDATES before it’s too late!
As we all weight in our candidate selection this year, let me remind of you an important piece of information to read before heading to the polls and that is checking your candidates Campaign Contributions report.
Campaign contributions, (Federal Election Commission’s (FEC) and Opensecrets.org, are boring to look at yes, but very important this election, and here’s why:
1. As constituents we should not only know our candidates policies but also who gives them money to uphold those policies, i.e. lobbyists.
2. As constituents we should also know who they support and which crazy or crooked politician they might be trying to get in office, i.e. nepotism/Chicago politics etc.
3. As constituents we should see how much they “really” do have and how much they are reporting to have, because we all know politicians are ALWAYS honest about their money.
And the list goes on. This came to my attention after working on a profile of incumbent Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Hinsdale) who is running for re-election for the fifth time. After looking at her political history I found she currently serves as Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee and passed many bills on financial issues. THEN I looked at her FEC contributions report and found mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been contributing thousands of dollars to her campaign since 2004!
Well, as you can see there might be a conflict of interest there, as both mortgage giants are being credited with our economies collapse. So there is no better time than NOW to check those candidates campaign contributions, you might be surprised!
