*** UPDATE *** From a press release…

Washington, DC – In response to Illinois Republican Congressman Aaron Schock’s defensive reaction to www.PrimaryMyCongressman.com, Club for Growth Action today sent Congressman Schock an open letter from Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. The content of the letter can be found below:

Congressman Aaron Schock
U.S. House of Representatives
328 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Schock,

It’s notable that you have chosen to respond to Club for Growth Action’s new website, www.PrimaryMyCongressman.com, with a desperate attempt to hide your liberal voting record. The fact is that any empirical analysis proves that you have consistently voted against policies that would limit government and increase economic growth since you entered Congress.

If you were truly the fiscal conservative you claim to be, you would have no problem answering the following questions:

• When you voted against cutting all of the spending from President Obama’s failed “stimulus” bill, was that because you are a big spender at heart? (RCV #42, 2009)

• When you voted to increase the debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion, was that because you wanted to give President Obama more money to spend? (RCV #690, 2011)

• When you voted for a budget extension that funded ObamaCare, was that because you secretly like ObamaCare and want to implement it? (RCV #579, 2012)

• When you were one of only 13 Republicans who voted against blocking funding for a National Labor Relations Board lawsuit that would have infringed on a worker’s right to a secret ballot in union elections, was that for the benefit of your friends in big labor, or the people of the 18th Congressional district? (RCV #229, 2012)

• Speaking of your pro-labor union voting record, how do repeated votes for Davis-Bacon wages on government projects, which are nothing but giveaways to Big Labor, benefit the hard-working taxpayers of Illinois’s 18th Congressional District? (RCV #122, 2009; #414, 2011; #395, 2011; #144, 2011; #585, 2011)

• When you were one of only 41 Republicans to vote against cutting $1.2 million from the budget of the U.S. Botanic Gardens, located in Washington, D.C., did you mistakenly think it was located in Illinois’s 18th Congressional District? (RCV #371, 2012)

• When you voted against 40 out of 45 amendments to cut spending in the last Congress, was it because you think all government programs are necessary and that there is no waste to be cut out of the budget? (LINK)

• When you claim you voted for a tax cut in the “fiscal cliff” tax increase deal, do you think that the other 151 Republicans who voted the other way voted for a tax increase? (RCV #659, 2012)

Congressman Schock, your liberal record speaks for itself. You understandably would like to hide the reality that you are a pro-stimulus spending, pro-ObamaCare, pro-debt limit increase, pro-tax increase, pro-labor “Republican”, but all the evidence points to that very fact. Your actions as a member of Congress matter, and because of you and your votes, taxes and debt are higher, ObamaCare is funded, labor bosses receive their handouts and both your constituents and Americans have less economic freedom.

Congressman Schock, please stop pretending to be a fiscal conservative. The voters of Illinois’s 18th Congressional District are not blind: they can tell when someone is pretending to be something they’re not.

Sincerely,
Chris Chocola
President – The Club for Growth

* In case you missed it yesterday, the background is here.

From a press release. All emphasis in the original…

Statement from Steven Shearer, Schock chief of staff, on Club for Growth attacks

Club for Growth’s endgame is for Congress to become even more strident and gridlocked.

They are targeting nine Republicans with conservative voting records, for the sole reason of winning the arms race of what interest group can be furthest to the right. That helps in fundraising. Few people are going to agree with a Congressman who has cast over 3,000 votes. All conservative AND liberal national organizations rate Aaron Schock as a mainstream conservative—except the Club for Growth and Heritage Action. They are loud, but not an accurate reflection of Congressman Schock’s record.

Among his recent scores from longtime conservative organizations:

The National Federation for Independent Business (NFIB), 92%.
Americans for Prosperity, 89% lifetime rating.
The National Tax Limitation Committee, 87%.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 93%.
National Association of Manufacturers, 97%.
American Conservative Union, 81% lifetime rating.

There are organizations on the far left and right that believe members of Congress should reflexively vote in accordance with their precise vote recommendations and submit to their demands to co-sign letters and other measures. If that should be the case we could install robots instead of having elected representatives.

Aaron Schock however, believes he was elected to represent the people of the 18th District, not the board of directors of Club for Growth. He will not cede his responsibility to represent all the people of the 18th District to any self-anointed guardian of the economic interests of the district.

The number one reason Aaron Schock is in public service today instead of using his degree in Finance to pursue business interests is his passionate commitment to economic growth. Economic growth is the only way to sustain a path toward a balanced budget. Growth is the only way the middle class and working poor will be able to prosper.

Unfortunately, many of Club for Growth’s rigid policies would damage economic growth.

If Congress listened to Club for Growth this past New Years Day, our country would have gone off the fiscal cliff resulting in:

Higher marginal income tax rates.
Higher capital gains tax rates.
Higher interest and dividend tax rates.
An alternative minimum tax that would have gouged millions more people
a higher death tax
Doctors would have been reimbursed far less than the cost of treatment in many instances for treating Medicare patients, forcing them to choose between covering Medicare patients or going out of business.
The Farm Bill would have expired damaging Illinois agriculture.

With the sequester kicking in at the same time as the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the payroll tax cut, our economy would have suffered a tremendous blow that would have destroyed hundreds of billions of dollars of private wealth by reducing both stock market equity and home values. Governments would have then racked up even more debt as pension systems’ equity values would have also been further damaged.

One of the bills Club for Growth faulted Congressman Schock on his vote for the Paul Ryan budget to put our country on a SUSTAINABLE path to a balanced budget, instead of the so called “RSC” budget which would have required immediate cuts to CURRENT Medicare and Social Security benefits. That is not acceptable to the American people and therefore unsustainable. Aaron Schock has not supported showy and elusive quick fixes for show, which seek to do too much, too fast that risk losing all progress on getting spending under control.

Aaron Schock supports far reaching Farm Bill reforms such as ending “direct payments,” but he could not support suddenly gutting most farm programs such as crop insurance. That would not be representing the economic interests of the 18th District, whose number one employer is agriculture.

Club for Growth faults Aaron Schock for supporting federal spending on building roads, bridges and other vital public infrastructure, essential for GROWTH. Building infrastructure is a legitimate role of government for all but the most extreme ideologues, and Aaron Schock isn’t going to stand by while our roads and bridges crumble, leading to economic decay.

Going over the fiscal cliff this past New Years Day would have caused massive wealth destruction and radically higher tax bills for everyone, which would have savagely damaged economic growth.

Spending money attacking nine Republicans that are impure in their eyes, rather than working to expand our slim 15 seat majority is counter-productive. They ought to join Congressman Schock in going above and beyond in helping to win more seats from Democrats to bolster the Republican House majority. If Nancy Pelosi becomes House Speaker again, federal spending would again explode. That would be catastrophic for economic growth.

Congressman Schock has strongly supported trade expansion, tax simplification, lower marginal tax rates, lower capital gains taxes, the Paul Ryan budgets, and voted against President Obama’s stimulus, Cap and Trade, Cash for Clunkers, Obamacare and other big spending bills.

Congressman Schock was elected by—and works for—the over 700,000 constituents in the 18th District—not unelected special interest groups based in Washington. He regularly meets with constituents throughout the district and is far more in tune with their values and their economic interests than organizations inside Washington’s beltway.

Having out-performed all Republicans in the 18th District in the 2012 election with 74% of the vote, Aaron Schock needs no lesson in representing the 18th District from Club for Growth. He is proud to be in tune with the vast majority of people in the 18th District.

If the House majority followed Club for Growth’s dictates, we would have lower economic growth and Nancy Pelosi as House Speaker again.

You can never be too pure for those few who make a buck on rabble rousing to differentiate themselves from other stellar conservative organizations.

* Meanwhile, this new ad buy report is from Comcast…

Jobs and Progress Fund
Targeting IL CD 18
Agency: Pierce Communications, Columbus, OH
$6,170
2/25 – 2/28/13
Networks: FXNC
Dayparts bought: 5a-9a, 9a-4p, 4p-7p, 7p-12m
Syscodes / Zones:
7919 Jacksonville $376
0316 Springfield $1,809
7827 Peoria INT $3,985
Total Order: $6,170