(Photo courtesy Facebook/Darin LaHood)
By Eric Stock
PEORIA – U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood doesn’t agree with President Barack Obama on much, but the Peoria Republican has found some common ground with the President on a few key issues heading into the new Congress.
LaHood, a former federal prosecutor, cheered the president’s order banning juveniles from solitary confinement.
PODCAST: Listen to Scott and Colleen’s interview with LaHood on WJBC.
“I don’t think putting juveniles in solitary confinement has the benefits people thought it would,” LaHood said. “Here in Illinois we are already not doing that, so I think it’s a step in the right direction.”
LaHood told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin, he also wants to see Congress pass the President’s Trans-Pacific Partnership. He said the 12-nation free trade agreement would benefit Central Illinois farmers and employers such as Caterpillar, John Deere, ADM and State Farm.
LaHood added he will be working on criminal justice reform in the new year and redistricting reform at the state level. President Obama has called for federal involvement in how legislative districts are drawn.
Gas prices
Consumers might love lower gas prices, but LaHood said there’s a chance the biodiesel industry will suffer as well as U.S. oil and gas producers as gas prices dip below $1.50 per gallon in Central Illinois. LaHood said the free market will always ebb and flow.
“What I think we do well in the country is we adapt when things change and that’s what we have to do here,” LaHood said. “Certain sectors of the economy will suffer but others will flourish and we have to take advantage of those.”
LaHood said the Saudis are flooding the U.S. market with oil in hopes of running their competitors out of business. But CNN reports U.S. oil production is actually increasing in spite of the crash in crude prices.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
