Joel Pollak Makes Formal Pledge, Reveals His Platform

We all hear campaign promises. Blah blah blah, right? How many candidates, though, are willing to put those promises in writing as a pledge? Not many, but Joel Pollak has done just that. Pollak is the Republican nominee for U.S. Congress in the 9th district of Illinois, and he's running against incumbent Jan Schakowsky. In a September 8 email blast, Pollak officially released his "Pledge to the People of the Ninth Congressional District." The email states that this pledge "forms the core of his platform." "The ideas in the Pledge will be my top priorities in my first term in the U.S. House of Representatives," Pollak said. "Each of them is straightforward and achievable, and each is a step along the way to creating jobs, fixing health care and protecting national security." Pollak didn't just sit down and make this stuff up. Rather, they came about as the result of Pollak's "listening tour" earlier this summer. Watch a video of the people he spoke with - and listened to. Suggestions by 9th district residents gave him the basis and inspiration for his Pledge. "I wanted to listen to the people first," Pollak said. "I'm glad I did, because there are many fresh ideas in the Pledge that were new to me." (Watch a video of the folks that Joel listened to below.) The text of the Pledge follows: I pledge to pursue the following legislative proposals in the 112th Congress, based on suggestions from residents of the District during my extensive listening tour:

1. Investment Tax Credit - Allow businesses to deduct 10% of each investment in new capital from their taxable income. Investments by large firms in small businesses and start-up companies will be eligible for the credit. (Ken Hechtman, Skokie)
2. Restore Impoundment - Grant the President the authority, through a line-item veto or by amending the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, to spend less than the amount that Congress has appropriated for any given purpose. (Cora Thomson, Glenview)
3. Replace AMT with flat-rate option - End the Alternative Minimum Tax, which hurts an increasing number of middle-income families, and allow taxpayers to choose between a simple, flat-rate and the current system. (Jason Mugnaini, Park Ridge)
4. Wind Down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - Break up and reform the two mortgage giants and move them away from the government guarantees that have distorted the housing market and scarred our financial system. (Jeremy Kohn, Evanston)
5. Work Incentives for the Unemployed - Require enrollment in job retraining or community service as a condition for extended relief; waiting period for initial benefits to encourage saving; declining payment scale over time. (Lori Diversey, Park Ridge)
6. Repeal §9006 of ObamaCare - Immediately repeal provision of ObamaCare that requires small businesses to file a 1099 form with the IRS for purchases of goods over $600—even purchases from corporations. (Linda Forman, Evanston)
7. Sustainable Health Reform - Allow people to buy health insurance across state lines, and give federal courts discretion to award costs against litigants bringing frivolous malpractice claims. (Ken Hechtman, Skokie / Peggy Shapiro, Lincolnwood)
8. Military Option on Iran - Resolve that the United States will support Israel, militarily and diplomatically, if Israel determines it must pursue a pre-emptive strike on Iran; make clear that an attack on Israel is an attack on the U.S. (Serene Velasco, Uptown)
9. Supplemental EIS for O’Hare - Encourage a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement process to mitigate the negative impacts of airport expansion on the community, with the city and suburbs as joint participants. (Paul Hartjen, Park Ridge)
10. Restore Opportunity Scholarships - Undo the termination of the successful school voucher program in Washington, D.C., and re-establish it a model for school choice in the rest of the nation’s urban school districts. (Diane Gorman, Park Ridge)