Thank you Senator Durbin.

I’m humbled by your support and look forward to being YOUR Congressman in Washington, and partnering with you to preserve Medicare and Social Security and defeat the radical Republican budget.

This year, central and southwest Illinois is suffering through a terrible drought. It’s destroying corn and other crops and threatening our farmers and our rural economy.

But we don’t just have a historic drought in the Heartland.

I believe we have a drought in the halls of Congress too.

It’s a drought of leadership.  A drought of courage.  A drought of common sense.

Crops are dying in the fields and the hopes for some of our communities are dying along with them. And the Tea Party Republicans–with their extreme partisanship, radical agenda and refusal to compromise– are killing our agricultural economy.

They refuse to pass a bi-partisan, balanced, reasonable farm bill. As your Congressman, I’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with Dick Durbin to get that done.

There are a lot of things Senator Durbin and I agree on.

I’ve been impressed to see the Senator lead the fight against the corrupting power of corporate and foreign money in our political campaigns. The Citizens United decision allows banks, billionaires and big corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence our elections and keep most of what they spend a secret.

I’ve pledged to support an amendment to the Constitution to overturn this disastrous decision. In Congress, I’ll stand shoulder to shoulder with Dick Durbin to get this done.

I know what it’s like to work hard and struggle. My dad died when I was 13, and I had to go to work. I worked my way through college and medical school. I know middle-class families here in Central Illinois are struggling to get by.

It’s those people we should be helping—not millionaires, billionaires, Big Oil and Washington lobbyists.

There are big differences between my opponent Rodney Davis and me.

He supports the Ryan budget that would raise taxes on middle-class families and includes more tax breaks for billionaires and Big Oil.

The Bush tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% in our country should be allowed to expire.

We must not raise taxes on the middle class or on people who make less than $250,000. We can fix our budget mess without the Romney/Ryan tax increases on the middle class.

Our budget deficit should be closed by millionaires and billionaires finally paying their fair share—not by cutting seniors’ Medicare, funding for small-town hospitals and student aid.

Let’s be clear– The Ryan (Republican) budget will devastate central and southwest Illinois.

• 9 rural & small-town hospitals across the district are threatened by potential cuts to the Critical Access program.

• As an ER Doctor and former president of John Warner hospital in Clinton, I know how catastrophic it would be to be 45 minutes away from an emergency room.

• Every second matters in an emergency. The Republican budget would slash funding for these hospitals and leave some towns without a hospital.

The Ryan (Republican) budget will bring devastating cuts to Medicare.

• The Radical Republican budget my opponent supports would move toward a privatization of Medicare, proposing that those currently in the health program get vouchers for private insurance.

• To stick with Medicare and retain access to their current doctors, many seniors would get stuck with much higher premium costs, and anyone new to the Medicare program could see costs rise by nearly $6,000.

The Republican budget plan will lead to devastating cuts to social security.

• It showers money on Big Oil – $40 billion in tax breaks over 10 years.

The Republican budget plan will lead to devastating cuts to education.

I’m proud to have the endorsement of the Illinois Education Association.

• The Republican budget that Rodney Davis supports cuts K-12 education by possibly 20 percent and proposes big cuts to student aid for college students.

I’m convinced we can do better.

We can reduce the national debt without gutting social security, Medicare and funding for small-town hospitals.

There’s a clear choice in this race.

On one side, Rodney Davis is funded by billionaires who want to privatize Social Security…

By companies that are outsourcing jobs to foreign countries…

And by Big Oil.

I won’t take one cent from those people or from any corporate PAC. 

I’m ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with Senator Dick Durbin to fight for middle-class families here in central and southwest Illinois.

It’s time to get Washington working for working people again.