14th District candidates speak out on unemployment
No one can argue that a drop in the 14th Congressional District's unemployment rate isn't good news, but opponents of U.S. Rep. Bill Foster said Friday he lacks perspective on, and the ability to take any credit for, the improvement.
Foster, a Democrat from Batavia, frequently brandishes charts of the district's unemployment numbers when he appears in the area. Duplicates are taped to the walls of his congressional office, he says, as a constant reminder that people in his district are struggling.
The latest update to those charts show unemployment dropped 0.6 percentage points from April to May, meaning 10.2 percent of the district's work force is unemployed. The rate sat at 12.1 percent in January.
"I am encouraged by this report, but much more needs to be done," Foster said in a written statement. "Job creation is my top priority. I talk to my constituents about how we can regrow our economy each weekend I am home."
Even with the improvement, the district itself, especially the Kane County portion, still has unemployment above the national average. That fact was not lost Friday on Foster's opponents.
"One in 10 of Foster's constituents is out of work thanks to the job-killing policies advanced by him and his liberal colleagues in Washington," said John Cooney, spokesman for Republican candidate Randy Hultgren. "He continues to live in a fantasy world. Bill Foster has had his chance. It is time for real leadership in Congress to get Illinois working again."
Green Party candidate Dan Kairis said Foster has failed to get 14th Congressional District residents back to work just like all the other Democrats and Republicans in Congress. Kairis said the answer begins with ending the outsourcing of jobs to foreign countries.
"We're shipping $1 trillion of American wealth overseas every two years," Kairis said. "As long as we continue to outsource American workers' wealth to other countries we're not going to take care of this job situation. The money isn't here. Where is the policy in Congress to stop this?"
Libertarian candidate Doug Marks said he suspects the drop in unemployment may be short lived.
"Are those public or private sector jobs people have found?" Marks wondered. "Are they temporary jobs working for the Census, or did some people just finally run out of unemployment and are not collecting it any more? I don't see any job creation happening. And as long as you're stealing money from people and from businesses with taxes, you're not going to have new jobs."
Marks' candidacy remains in limbo. If a Republican legal challenge to his nominating petitions kicks him off the ballot, as he expects, Marks pledges to run as a write-in candidate.
Meanwhile, Hultgren is expecting a boost of energy and money to the campaign when the Republican National Committee and Illinois Republican Party open the "Geneva Victory Center" on Sunday. The office will focus specifically on electing Republican candidates in the 14th District.