Ed Royce-- Hiding In The Shadows, Working For Wall Street Against Main Street

Ed Royce was first elected to Congress in 1992. Before that he was a longtime student taking out deferments to avoid fighting in Vietnam and then a corporate tax manager who worked at figuring out loopholes so his clients wouldn't have to pay their fair share of taxes. One of the worst extremists in California, Royce is a raving racist lunatic and bigot but is one of the least known Members of Congress and certainly the least known of anyone who's been in there so long. He operates in stealth for his masters, the Wall Street banksters. He's perfectly positioned as a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee to work against the interests of consumers trying to get a fair shake from the financial titans who bankroll him. Royce has sabotaged and attempted to destroy every single piece of reform legislation that aims to protect consumers from financial predators. A fanatic supporter of the European Austerity agenda that is failing in country after country-- and has Spain's middle-class scavenging from garbage cans now-- he fourth ranking Republican on the committee, he has been continuously passed over for a subcommittee chair because ever Republicans recognize that he's too extreme and that his anti-family positions would cause too much  pain to the middle class. Instead he's the fourth ranking Republican on the Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Committee behind a freshman and two other less senior members and the third-ranking Republican on the Financial Institutions And Consumer Credit Committee, again behind a freshman and a chairman with less seniority than himself.

But he still does enough on behalf of his Wall Street patrons that they reward him handsomely. So far in this cycle-- as he gears up to fight off a challenge by independent-minded progressive reformer Jay Chen, Royce has raised $2,119,652, spent $2,442,152 and is sitting on another $2,012,085 left over from previous races. Only 2% of his money comes from small donors, one of the lowest percentages of anyone in Congress. As you can see above, his donors primarily, almost exclusively, come from the banking and insurance sector. And as you can see above, his 5 biggest donors are all criminal enterprises prospering by ripping off consumers. This year he's taken $742,391 from business-oriented PACs and another $52,600 from extreme right wing ideological groups. He is one of the few senior Members of Congress who has signed up for the Tea Party Caucus led by Michele Bachmann.

Jay Chen has raised slightly over half a million dollars and he is a Blue America-endorsed candidate. He told us he is "amused by the amount of attack mail Royce has been sending against me. You would think that after 20 years in office he would have some accomplishments to mention, instead he just wants to lie about my record. Royce is determined to hold his seat and do the bidding of the big banks that finance his election, and he will say anything to get re-elected so that he can continue to push trickle-down economics that favor the very rich."  To avoid a primary against one of his crooked Orange County cronies, Gary Miller, Royce abandoned his district and is running in the 39th, most of whose voters have never heard of him. Both Royce and Miller have helped the California Republican Party finance a voter registration fraud scheme that started in Florida by notorious GOP election thief Nathan Sproul is now infecting voter rolls all over Southern California.

This week, Royce-- again, one of Congress' most virulent adherents of Austerity-- spent thousands of dollars on mailers accusing Jay Chen's support for Prosperity Economics as "a radical plan to alter the American economy." Watch Jay's statement up top and judge for yourself how deranged Royce's accusations about him are. And here's what Jay had to say about Prosperity Economics that Royce finds so offensive:

Prosperity Economics brings us back to the principles that make our country great. These ideas, such as investing in infrastructure, education, and our social safety nets, and limiting the power of corporations to distort our political system, are not new or radical, they are part of the original formula that drove the unparalleled success our nation has enjoyed until recently.

But these ideas are now under constant attack, as is the prosperity of our nation, by corporate interests who continue to push a "trickle-down" theory that is already a proven failure. These special interests have made it a point to confuse wealth accumulation with job creation, and the result is a drastic increase in income inequality unseen in modern times.

In the meantime, our middle class, which is the true engine of economic growth and stability, continues to shrink. We simply cannot cut our way to prosperity anymore than we can drill our way out of oil dependence. We need leaders who understand how smart, sound investment made us the great nation we are today, and how prosperity economics can ensure our leadership in the world for generations to come.

We have two very clear visions for this country. Jay wants government to help create opportunities for ordinary working people to prosper. Royce wants to do away with regulations so that corporations can completely dominate society. Royce is hiding behind an onslaught of negative campaign ads paid for by the crooked Wall Street interests that most benefit by his Law of the Jungle philosophy. No debates, no public forums, just slanderous, unhinged barrages of mail with doctored, unflattering pictures of Jay. Jay's team put together an excellent website that exposes the real Ed Royce, MeetEdRoyce.com, which gives the full picture of this odious and toxic character who has hidden in the shadows long enough.

Jay continues to answer Royce's baseless and inflammatory charges by sticking to the issues that motivated him to get into the race in the first place. "Veterans," he told us, "can't afford another two years of Ed Royce ignoring their needs and voting against their services. The middle class cannot afford another two years of Royce voting to increase their taxes and cut off access to higher education. Women can't afford to allow his radical redefinition of 'forcible rape' to dictate their health care. And seniors can't afford the Ryan budget plan that he endorses, which will force seniors to pay thousands more for health insurance." If you'd like to help Jay Chen replace Royce in Congress, you can do that here on our ActBlue page. I might add that Sunday is the last day of the FEC quarter and a contribution now is especially helpful and appreciated.