Karen comes out swinging.
“Our country is entering the biggest financial crisis in our history,” she said. “Mike Castle has been in Congress for 16 years. During twelve of those years, Republicans have been in charge. As a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, he shares responsibility for the lack of oversight of Wall Street.”
“Reviewing Mike Castle’s campaign finance disclosure statements reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of Wall Street PACs. He has contributions from Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Countrywide Financial, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, among many others. He has also received contributions from many corporate executives in the industry. They are the very people he is charged with regulating. During the 2006 election cycle, they composed the bulk of his $445,722.00 in campaign contributions. Through September 2 of this year, he has already received $436, 403 in contributions from many of the same contributors.”
“Mike Castle has taken in a lot of money and, in return, he has failed in his oversight responsibilities. Despite his position on the Financial Services Committee, Mike Castle has failed to take action to protect the residents of Delaware or the country from this crisis brought on in large part due to the growing abandonment of regulation of the financial sector. My candidacy asks Delawareans to rethink leadership. Can there be integrity in our politics when our futures are mortgaged to the financial services industry? Mike’s finding the need for regulation as this crisis strikes is a conversion that comes far too late. As we slip into a depression, where is the hope? It is time for Delaware’s voters to consider who Mike Castle represents and send the message that he no longer belongs in Congress,” Hartley-Nagle said.