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A different kind of congressman

by Doug Pike

There are some people who have spent their lives wanting to run for Congress. That’s not me.

I spent most of my life as a journalist—as an advocate for common sense and progressive change. I wrote editorials for The Philadelphia Inquirer for 14 years, and it was a great job. My job wasn’t to turn a cute phrase, but to dig deep into issues and advocate for change on problems such as corruption, wasteful spending and insider deals. I wrote about the need to raise the minimum wage, to achieve real health care reform and to provide better benefits for the unemployed.

To do my job, I had to really listen to people. It’s a skill that’s unfortunately missing in a lot of the politicians who have been down in Washington for a long time.

One of the high points of my career was writing the editorials that went with the famous series of articles by Don Bartlett and Jim Steele: “America:  What Went Wrong?” The series looked at the dismantling of the middle class, American jobs getting exported, and workers losing pensions. That was 18 years ago, but that question, “What went wrong?” rings so true today.

What went wrong is that politicians like Jim Gerlach sold their souls to George W. Bush, and now they don’t have the decency to help President Obama clean up the mess.

Jim Gerlach has been a member of the Financial Services Committee for more than seven years. He was supposed to safeguard us from the kind of financial meltdown that we suffered in 2008, but he was asleep at the switch. What’s more, he even voted last December against a Wall Street reform bill to prevent another financial disaster.

I suppose it won’t surprise you to learn that Congressman Gerlach has taken more than $1.6 million from the financial interests he’s supposed to oversee on the Financial Services Committee.

I’m running to beat Jim Gerlach because I can’t sit on the sidelines and watch flashy politicians like him keep leading our country in the wrong direction.

We need new leadership that does things differently.  Here’s my commitment to you:

1. I’ll never vote for a pay raise. I’ll never accept a pay raise. And I’ll push for a 33 percent cut to congressional salaries. We’ve ended up paying Congressman Gerlach over $1 million in salary while he let Wall Street run wild.

2. I won’t take government health care coverage until Congress has made quality, affordable health care available to every American. How can Gerlach take generous, taxpayer-paid health care insurance while obstructing quality, affordable health care coverage for all Americans?

3. Instead of having a press secretary to polish my image the way Gerlach does, I’ll hire a 6th District economic development specialist who will work directly with local businesses and organizations to build our economy right here at home.

I’m not in the business of looking good, but I am in the business of doing a good job and getting things done.

I’m no Scott Brown. You will never see my photo in a magazine centerfold, but you will see me working hard for good jobs, for health care reform, and for the best possible education for our kids.

I will be a different kind of congressman.

The writer, a former editorial writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer, is a Democratic candidate for Congress in the 6th District.

February 18, 2010 at 1:46 pm

--Doug Pike

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