For Immediate Release May 16, 2012

Contact: Mike Richards

Gill challenges Republican opponents: Turn down Wall Street money

Democratic nominee in IL13 says he wont take a penny from Wall Street Democrat David Gill today challenged the remaining four Republican candidates for Congress in Illinois new 13th district to join him in refusing contributions from Wall Street bankers and corporate political action committees. I see it as legalized bribery, Dr. Gill said. Thats how citizens across this district see it too. You cant stand up to Wall Street bankers and make sure they are regulated properly if your campaign has been bought and paid for by them. Gill announced his campaigns policy to refuse money from Wall Street bankers and corporate PACs last October. Today, he challenged remaining Republican hopefuls Jerry Clarke, Rodney Davis, Erika Harold and Kathy Wassink to join him in turning down corporate money in the general election. Too many campaigns are owned by corporate donors, Gill said. We know what happens when we let Wall Street bankers and traders run uncheckedthey take huge risks and put their massive profits ahead of middle class families. They nearly bankrupted this country, then we bailed them out for over $700 billion, Gill continued. They took our money and still foreclosed on peoples homes and cut off loans to small businesses. They shut down our economy in middle America, now we need to shut down their greed. What Wall Street bankers did to this country is wrong and we need to make sure we never let it happen again, Gill said. I hope each of these Republican candidates will take this first critical step and turn down corporate campaign cash. Gill supports tough new regulations to severely limit derivatives trading and stop the most risky and speculative investments on Wall Street. He also supports a small transaction tax on large volume commercial trades of stocks and bonds to help pay down the national debt and invest in job-training and education. Theres not going to be a honeymoon in this race, Gill stated. The Republicans have decided to conduct their process largely behind closed doors. Middle class voters across central and southwest Illinois deserve to know where they stand on a whole range of critical economic issues. The simple question is this: Will the Republican candidates in the 13th district stand up for Wall Street or will they fight for the families and businesses on Main Street? Were all waiting to hear. David Gill is an emergency room doctor in Bloomington, IL. He has never been elected to public office. Polling released last month by Gills campaign shows him with a substantial lead against likely Republican challengers. #END#