Former WSPC Chair seeks 2nd CD seat

With the following press release issued on Friday, January 15th, former Chair of the Washington State Progressive Caucus, Larry Kalb has announced his intention to challenge incumbent Democratic congressman, Rick Larsen for the 2nd CD seat.



Larry Kalb, candidate for WA-02


*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*
* *
*BELLINGHAM, WA (January 15, 2010)*

Larry Kalb, a longtime resident of Bellingham, announced his candidacy for Congress today to become the representative of the 2nd Congressional District of Washington State. His decision represents a direct challenge to the incumbent Congressman.

"Our congressman has let us down!" says Kalb. "He has handed over his political authority to legislate to lobbyists for big business and then showered them with taxpayer money to boot. He's too expensive to keep in office. The pending health 'insurance' legislation, which lobbyists authored, represents the largest shifting of citizens' money to corporate interests in the history of this nation."

Kalb, 55, works in the Finance Department for Whatcom Transportation Authority and has lived in Bellingham for 16 years. He has been active in numerous community and civic issues, most recently as the President of Health Care for All Washington, a statewide organization advocating single-payer health care.

"Larsen continues to defer to corporate and monied interests and we, the constituents of the 2nd Congressional District, are paying for this transfer of power," asserts Kalb. "He's done this with the credit card companies, the first economic stimulus package, the emergency war funding and, most recently, with health care reform legislation."

Asked about health care reform specifically Kalb said: "The people of my district want to get Wall Street Medicine out of their doctor's office, but instead my congressman pledged his allegiance to the insurance companies by giving them a profit windfall worth hundreds of billions of dollars on the backs of us taxpayers and that's wrong. My motto is 'equal access, equal care - regardless of our station in life.' I believe our money should go to getting more health care services, not making middlemen richer!"

Kalb lived in Europe for 11 years before moving to Bellingham. During his residency there he had an opportunity to experience first hand the economic benefits of universal access to health care. "A whole layer of our economy is missing in comparison," says Kalb. "Other nations depend on the intellectual initiative of a healthy citizenry to create domestic economic expansion, but with our health care system it retracts. And politicians always talk about creating more jobs. That can't happen under our system of profit-based medicine."

Kalb also differs sharply with the incumbent over expenditures on wars. "We could use the $160 billion dollars my congressman slated for more war in Afghanistan to stimulate job growth or to build a light-rail system from Blaine to Seattle." Kalb pointed out. "Our roads are already congested and the erosion of transportation improvement funds promises to make our air quality worse, causing more kids to be treated for asthma. A good steward of public funds would provide child care programs for young working moms and dads who struggle to set-up a household, or enable cash-strapped high school graduates the financial means to study a skill or profession of their choice, or even help those families facing foreclosure to keep their house."

Asked about his number one goal if elected, Kalb said, "During my tenure I will work fiercely to take down every for sale sign from the halls of Congress by supporting campaign finance reform legislation that brings sovereignty in line with what matters most to us voters, namely stable homes, secure livelihoods and protection of our health."

"This is our home. We have a right to just governance."

For more on the state of the race for the 2nd CD seat, please check out my 2 posts at The Left Shue; here and here. For more on Larry’s campaign check out his website here.

Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue