Lawrence Debate: "Who Does My opponent Represent?"

Press Release

In a debate at the University of Kansas Thursday, candidate Tobias Schlingensiepen said Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins has sided with the big banks, finance companies and insurance companies that fund her campaign, and she has voted against the interests of her constituents.

Jenkins has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, Mastercard, VISA and many other wealthy corporations.

"There's nothing wrong with them giving my opponent money, and there's nothing wrong with her accepting it," he told the debate audience. "What is wrong is for my opponent to accept their money, while voting for their interests and against your interest."

"My opponent accepted their money and voted against regulating predatory practices that have hurt so many people in the 2nd District," Schlingensiepen said. "She took their money and voted against creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to protect you. And among many other damaging votes, she voted against disclosing Wall Street bonuses. So here's my question: Who does my opponent represent? You or these wealthy corporations?"

Schlingensiepen said he was reluctant to single out campaign contributors. "If my opponent only took contributions from good, Kansas banks, I wouldn't criticize her. If she voted to protect you while still taking donations from these huge corporations, I wouldn't even mention it. But my opponent has turned against the people of the 2nd District, and you should know what's going on."

Schlingensiepen said he was running for Congress to bring jobs to the 2nd District, and "to find real, practical solutions to the challenges we face."

"I'm also in this race to bring sanity to Congress," he said. "It's long past time we took traditional Kansas values to Washington."

The Lawrence Voter Education Coalition sponsored the debate, which was at the Dole Institute of Politics.

Source