Archive for June, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2008
For more information: Nels Ackerson for Congress, 317-733-8468
Ackerson responds to Big Pharma’s record lobbying year
Fourth District Congressional candidate Nels Ackerson responded today to a Center for Public Integrity report that the pharmaceutical industry spent a record $168 million lobbying the federal government last year.
According to campaign finance records, Fourth District Congressman Steve Buyer received more money - almost $100,000 - from Big Pharma and the health products industry than any other group in the 2006 campaign cycle. He has received $38,000 from the industry in this cycle.
“Why do we keep sending someone to Washington who’s more interested in representing the special interests than the people who elected him?” Ackerson asked. “Our Congressman should be standing up for the people of the Fourth District, not the special interests.”
More than 90 percent of Ackerson’s campaign contributions have come from individual donors.
Buyer has supported legislation aimed at preventing the importation of drugs from other countries. Big Pharma opposes the importation of drugs because they are often cheaper than drugs purchased in this country.
Buyer also opposed a proposal last year to require drug companies to negotiate lower prices for the millions of Americans who participate in the new Medicare Part D prescription drug program.
Ackerson said that Buyer has spent too long in Washington doing the bidding of special interests.
“I bring a different approach,” Ackerson said. “For the past 16 years, while my opponent has been in Congress, I’ve been fighting for the little guy, protecting their rights and opportunities, and taking on governments and big corporations when they abuse their power and influence to take advantage of others. Hard-working Hoosiers are looking for that kind of leadership to represent them in Washington, and that’s why I’m running for Congress.”
Check out this recent coverage of Nels and his opposition to experimental drug testing on veterans from the Frankfort Times:
The treatment of the country’s soldiers has come into question and the two men vying for Indiana’s Fourth District Congressional seat are among those calling for an in-depth investigation.
The Washington Times reported on Tuesday that U.S. military veterans have been recruited for government testing of pharmaceutical drugs associated with severe side effects.
“Everyone in the country should be concerned,” Indiana Fourth District Congressional candidate Democrat Nels Ackerson told The Times Thursday. “Any abuse of our veterans is a shame and an outrage.”
According to The Washington Times report, the tests included use of the anti-smoking drug Chantix. The article alleges Veterans Affairs doctors waited three months before notifying veterans about potential side effects such as suicide and neuropsychiatric behavior.
Former U.S. Army sniper James Elliot, 38, was recruited for the Chantix testing, for which he was paid $30 a month. He suffered a mental breakdown months into the study, The Washington Times report states. It further indicates he had previously been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after a 15 month tour in Iraq.
“Lab rat, guinea pig, disposable hero,” Elliot told the Washington paper of his experience.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2008
Contact: Nels Ackerson for Congress, 317-733-8468
Ackerson calls for investigation into drug testing on war veterans
Challenger says Buyer made no effort to stop government experiments
Fourth District Congressional candidate Nels Ackerson today called for an investigation into the Department of Veterans Affairs’ practice of testing dangerous experimental drugs on war veterans in exchange for small cash payments.
“Congress stood idly by while our government experimented on the men and women who’ve fought for our country and our freedom,” Ackerson said. “It’s an absolute outrage.”
A recent Washington Times investigation revealed that hundreds of veterans participated in a government program that paid them a small monthly stipend in exchange for taking drugs with severe side effects like psychosis and suicidal behavior.
At least one of the experiments specifically targeted veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. One veteran involved in that experiment referred to himself as “a lab rat for $30 per month.”
Ackerson said he was appalled and expressed disappointment that Congressman Steve Buyer, the ranking Republican on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, did nothing to oppose the experimental testing.
“The brave Hoosiers returning to the Fourth District look to their Congressman for leadership and protection,” Ackerson said. “Steve Buyer has been in office for 16 years and claims to have veterans’ interests at heart, but he didn’t exercise the oversight available to him.”
According to federal campaign finance records, the pharmaceutical and health products industry was Buyer’s top contributor in the 2006 election cycle. He already has received $38,000 from the industry this election cycle.
“We need to elect people to Congress who will stand up for the little guy, not bow to the special interests,” Ackerson said. “I’ve spent the last two decades taking on government and big corporations in the courtroom, and I’ll bring that same spirit and dedication to Congress.”
Nels is running for Congress to bring much-needed change and bipartisan leadership to Washington on behalf of Hoosiers in the Fourth District. From his childhood years on the family farm in Eagletown to a decades-long legal career representing the “little guy” against powerful governments and corporations, Nels has always stayed true to his Hoosier values. He is a champion of individual rights and economic opportunity who believes there is nothing we can’t accomplish by working together. Nels and his wife, Sharon, live in Zionsville. They have four grown children and a granddaughter. Learn more at www.nels4congress.com.
Friends,
I want to share with you an incredible example of the sacrifices that hard-working Hoosiers are making to send the message that the people of this district are ready for real leadership and genuine representation in Washington.
Today, I received in the mail a check in the full amount of the “economic stimulus” payment that a Hoosier from Lawrence County received from the federal government. The generous contributor sent this handwritten note:
“Pres. Bush said to use this $600.00 to help stimulate his failed economy. There’s no better way to do that than to give it to you – so you can go to Washington and stimulate the economy for a long time!”
I can’t even begin to express my gratitude that in this tough economy, someone would send his entire stimulus check to help get me elected to Congress.
That level of sacrifice is inspiring – and it makes me realize how much Hoosiers are clamoring for change and for real representation. The people want real economic recovery, not just a one-time check from Washington in an election year.
After 16 years in Washington, Steve Buyer has lost touch. He’s not created solutions. He’s not led others, but instead has blamed his opponents for the nation’s problems. That’s not leadership, and it’s not brought us results.
During those same 16 years, I’ve represented real people. I’ve listened to them. I’ve created solutions. I’ve stood up for the rule of law and for the “little guy” against abuses of power by big government and by big corporations.
I’ve had a career of standing for principle, bringing people together, and getting results. That’s the same representation that I want to give you in Congress.
I believe that if we all work together, regardless of party affiliation, there’s nothing we can’t accomplish.
I’m ready. I know you’re ready. Let’s make it happen.
Yours for a new Congress,
Nels
P.S. It’s going to take a lot of financial support to make sure our message of change is heard. If you can afford to make a contribution, any amount would be appreciated. You can donate on our website, www.nels4congress.com, or by mailing a contribution to Nels Ackerson for Congress, 49 Boone Village #266, Zionsville, IN 46077.
Friends,
Last week, I publicly criticized Steve Buyer’s 16-year record in Congress of failing to protect our veterans and provide them with the health benefits they need.
In an article printed this past weekend in the Hendricks County Flyer, Buyer chose to lash out at me instead of addressing his record of pushing to cut funding for our troops once they return home.
It’s a sad indication of politics as usual when a member of Congress responds to criticism of his policy record with false allegations and a personal attack.
The truth is, I volunteered to serve my country in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967, but I was ineligible to serve due to a severe back injury.
Steve Buyer’s personal attack that I sat idly by is false. I tried to join other Americans who were willing to put their lives on the line.
Now that we’ve cleared that up, let’s get back to the issues.
Steve Buyer doesn’t want Hoosiers to know that he has repeatedly proposed increasing the fees veterans must pay to receive the health care they deserve. He wants to call it an enrollment fee, but in plain English, it’s a tax on veterans.
Steve Buyer doesn’t want Hoosiers to know that as Chair of the Veterans Affairs Committee, he aggressively fought to cut funding for veterans health care and education benefits.
He underestimates Hoosier veterans if he thinks he can hide his record behind a personal attack. They deserve to hear the facts about his record, and I’ll be sure they do.
I’m ready to provide leadership to give veterans all that we have promised them; I consider our commitment to our troops to be a sacred contract.
I sincerely hope Steve Buyer will join me in an honest debate that focuses on those issues, not on untrue personal attacks.
Yours for a new Congress,
Nels Ackerson
The Hendricks County Flyer reports:
A recently approved House Bill amendment drafted by Congressman Steve Buyer (R-4th District) is drawing criticism from Buyer’s Democratic challenger in the upcoming November election.
Nels Ackerson, a Zionsville attorney running against Buyer in the November election, accuses Buyer of grandstanding in an election year and maintains that the congressman “took the lead in proposing an unprecedented tax on veterans to pay for their healthcare.”
Those claims come amidst a new press release from Buyer’s office crediting the Congressman’s amendment for an increase in healthcare and readiness of the nation’s active and inactive troops.
Buyer’s proposed amendment was attached to the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act and calls for an increase in dental readiness funding to $22.3 million and $8.5 million for demobilization of reserve components during the 2009 fiscal year.
His office says that poor dental health among Army Reservists and those in the National Guard has become a growing problem for the Department of Defense which has been forced in some cases to declare personnel unfit for deployment.
Officials from the DOD did not return telephone calls seeking comment on the issue.
Ackerson maintains that the new amendment does not erase what he characterized as an era of unprecedented increases in the taxation of military veterans.
“Mr. Buyer’s cuts in veterans’ health benefits have been painful and I don’t begrudge a small step but we need to look at the whole package and so far that package has been dismal,” Ackerson said. “He has a record of very substantial cuts to veterans’ benefits over his years in Congress and he has occasionally come back to make some smaller increases in military benefits and this seems to follow that pattern.”
