Democrat Cheri Bustos could write a book on how to distract voters from her disturbing job-destroying record. Anointed by the Chicago political machine as the Democrat candidate in Illinois’ 17th District, Bustos started her campaign by following their playbook by attacking pizzeria owner and union member Bobby Schilling right out of the gate. In an effort to shed light on her aversion to the truth, the NRCC has launched a Web site dedicated to exposing the real Cheri Bustos – www.cheritales.com. The site chronicles Bustos’ record in a series of chapters highlighting her support of big-government policies that have made our economy worse.
The contrast among the candidates in this race could not be more clear. With Bobby Schilling – what you see is what you get. With Cheri Bustos – all you hear are generic talking points designed to hide her support for wasteful spending, drastic cuts to Medicare and job-destroying taxes hikes.
Cheri likes to say, “I will reduce the debt the right way, by cutting wasteful spending.” But Illinois families know that’s nothing more than a tall tale. Take one look at her record in East Moline and you will see why she doesn’t want to talk about the $40,000 taxpayer-funded welcome sign she supported or the $550,000 that was improperly spent leaving Illinois taxpayers footing the bill. According to East Moline’s finance director, this $550,000 was used to fund improper tax rebates, the director said the mistake will “affect next year's budget big time.”
Cheri likes to say, “We need to focus not just on lowering the unemployment rate, but ensuring the jobs created provide livable wages and good benefits.” But under Cheri’s watch the unemployment rate in East Moline grew from 4.3% to 7.4%, and she left the city with an anticipated $1 million budget deficit.
Cheri likes to say, “To ensure Medicare’s long-term financial stability, we should implement common sense reforms to lower costs.” But Bustos wants to keep the government takeover of healthcare in place that already raided $500 billion from Medicare and has increased costs.
Schilling’s experience of running a business and employing Illinoisans stands in stark contrast with Bustos. In Congress, Schilling has fought to cut spending, reduce burdensome regulations and get government out of the way. Utilizing his real-world experience, Schilling has been able to bring together Democrats and Republicans to promote new manufacturing jobs at the Rock Island Arsenal.
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In another sign that the DCCC political gerrymandering efforts in Illinois will backfire, Schilling’s base actually increased with 12,000 more Republican primary voters than the old IL-17. Furthermore, the district has a history of electing Republicans, with Mark Kirk and Bill Brady winning this district with 53% of the vote in 2010.
Voters in this new district, which covers northwestern Illinois, sent a small businessman to Congress for a reason in 2010 and won’t be fooled by politician Cheri Bustos who would be a hardworking taxpayer’s worst nightmare.
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