By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis – The two candidates for U.S. Senate in Illinois differ on how the federal government should help blighted towns like East St. Louis.
Democrat Barack Obama, who was in the city Friday, says government should help give people a hand-up, not a hand-out.
But Keyes campaign spokesman Dan Proft says cities like East St. Louis have just too much government.
"We're not empowering individuals," Proft said "We're not empowering communities to address these issues at the local level to make these communities attractive places for families to locate, where they have control over their own destiny. That's not what we're seeing. We're seeing an Illinois government that's grown at three times the rate of inflation over the last four years."
Proft says Obama shouldn't have voted earlier this year for a state budget that is balanced through increased business fees.
Proft says such a move only makes it harder to revive East St. Louis.