NEW YORK, NY (February 5, 2010) — In the aftermath of the U.S Supreme Court ruling to allow unlimited corporate campaign expenditures, New York Democratic Congressional candidate Vincent Morgan has called on his opponent Charlie Rangel to agree to end the plague of corporate corruption in Washington DC by refusing money from corporate political action committees. Morgan has also challenged Rangel to return the $13,500 he has already accepted this cycle from military contractors to help fund his 2010 congressional campaign.

“If we want to make a concerted effort to separate money from politics, we must start with politicians pledging not to accept corporate money,” said Morgan. “It is especially worrisome when my opponent pockets money from weapons contractors at a time when the President is sending 30,000 additional US troops to Afghanistan. This is the type of unethical politics that has plagued Congress for decades. It is time to change the way Washington DC does business.”

In the 2008 cycle, Rangel accepted $35,000 from six different weapons makers including General Dynamics, Raytheon, and the world’s largest weapons corporation Lockheed Martin.

Morgan also called attention to monies received by Rangel in his 2008 campaign as the US economy was slipping into recession.

“In 2008, as the Wall Street meltdown was costing US taxpayers $800 billion, my opponent accepted nearly $370,000 from the Securities & Investment industry, $121,500 from their PACS. This is no way for a Congressperson to conduct themselves.”

“We cannot just say the money’s is the problem. The money is benign. The problem is the politicians whose opinions are swayed and influenced by the lure of corporate money that continues to compromise our democracy. If we are serious about changing the way business is conducted in Washington, it can only be done through the will of the people and the power of their vote.”

http://morgan4congress.com/wp-content/uploads/Clean-Money-Statement.pdf