My next candidate endorsement is for the US House of Representatives. We just happen to live in the district of current Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert. As you can imagine, Hastert enjoys a lot of support out here in Yorkville, given that he lives just down the road in Plano, and he used to be a wrestling coach at Yorkville High. (He also graduated from my own alma mater, Wheaton College, back in the day.) People around here like having a local boy in the third most powerful position in our nation. To be sure, he's brought a lot of pork barrel projects to this area in the past decade or so.

However, power and influence are not necessarily good reasons to re-elect a politician. And as the leader of the House Republicans during the past seven years, Hastert bears a lot of responsibility for the negative directions they've taken our country. Of course, Hastert has also taken a lot of flak recently for his handling (or mishandling) of the Mark Foley scandal. Some people have even suggested that Hastert should resign because of it.

Whether or not Hastert knew about Mark Foley's behavior remains to be seen. Time will tell. In the meantime I do agree with those who say the scandal is not a reason to vote against Hastert this November.

Of course, there are plenty of other reasons to vote against Hastert – like his past record and his stance on the issues.

Speaker Hastert led the House Republicans as they dragged us into the train wreck we call the Iraq War. He has approved legislation that takes away our constitutional civil liberties; and has stood by while the Bush administration illegally wire-tapped American citizens and approved torture.

He has approved tax cuts for the super-rich and price-gouging oil companies while slashing funding for services to the poor and for education. He has supported the atrocious "No Child Left Behind" program, which forces our teachers to teach to a test rather than teach students to truly love learning. And he has contributed to the Republican pork-barrel policies that have exploded our national debt.

I'm not voting against Hastert because of the Foley scandal. I'm voting against him because his policies are harmful to our nation, and yes, to our district. And more than that, they fail to reflect the values of the kingdom of God which include concern for the poor, peacemaking, and respect for basic human dignity.

But then, I'm not just voting against Hastert. I'm voting for John Laesch. I have recently had the chance to get to know John personally and I can attest that he is an excellent alternative to business as usual in Washington. He is a man of integrity with a record of serving our country well in the Armed Forces and serving God on the mission field in Africa with his family while growing up.

John stands for a government run by the people, not by special interest money and blind partisan loyalties. (He even took a Clean Elections pledge, refusing to take any special interest or lobbyist money for his campaign.) He supports Fair Trade policies that will protect American jobs and improve life for impoverished people around the world. He also would eliminate "No Child Left Behind", replacing it with an education policy that provides resources for all children to receive the best education possible. And, as an Iraq War veteran and with a brother still currently stationed in Baghdad, John understands the war and has a detailed plan for getting us out as quickly as possible without abandoning our responsibilities to the Iraqi people to not leave thing worse than we found them.

Besides good ideas, John Laesch would bring strong moral values and a keen native intelligence to a congress that is in sore need of these qualities. He's a good man and someone I would be proud to have represent me in congress.

If you live here in the 14th District you can vote for more of the same in Washington, or you can vote for John Laesch. I know who I'm voting for.

Labels: politics