August 2, 2012
Yahoo! News asked constituents to agree or disagree with their U.S. House representative’s vote on extending the Bush tax cuts on Wednesday. Here’s one perspective.
COMMENTARY | When the House voted on extending the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans on Wednesday, I was greatly pleased to see my congressman, Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) among the “nos .”
When he initially ran for Congress, Rep. Quigley faced tight primary competition for the seat vacated by Rahm Emanuel, now mayor of Chicago. Frankly, he wasn’t my choice in the primary, but he won with 22 percent of the vote, and we sent him to the House, where he’s done the work of his district, consistently and faithfully, since he arrived.
Quigley really got my attention when he joined other representatives in walking out of Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-Calif.) infamous contraception hearing, featuring a panel without any women. It was then that I realized that, though he may not have been my initial choice for Congress, he was the right choice.
Our 650,000-person district has incomes ranging from the very poor to people earning over $200,000 per year, with an average income of $82,000. A representative must balance the interests of all of his constituents, and in voting to end the Bush-era cuts for the very wealthy, that’s exactly what Rep. Quigley has done.
Rep. Quigley is up for re-election this November. After his special term replacing Mayor Emanuel ended, Quigley was re-elected with 70 percent of the district’s vote. Though the first votes I cast for Quigley were with some trepidation, after several impressive stands for the people of his district, I now enthusiastically stand behind him.
