What’s wrong with Washington? Ever since 9th Grade civics, we’ve all known the way Washington is supposed to work. We elect representatives who go to Congress to pass laws for the good of the citizens. But as adults, we’ve all learned why things have gone terribly wrong and aren’t working.(click for more. Click to close)
Partisan bickering, Wall Street bailouts, and the people who were elected to do the people’s business are spending their time, instead, hobnobbing with wealthy CEOs and paid lobbyists while trading our futures for campaign contributions. The same people who give politicians millions of dollars in "campaign contributions" are the very folks Congress is supposed to be keeping an eye on so they don’t continue to steal the country blind!
Washington isn’t working because people there are greedy. They’ve forgotten what real Americans learn every day of our working lives ~that we expect real value for the money we pay. So we’re paying taxes, and not getting value back for our dollar. Instead of working on real reform in banking or health care or farm policy, Congress wastes time debating toothless laws, written by lobbyists, for the very industries the laws are meant to regulate.
I believe we must replace the culture of corruption in Washington with a renewed culture of service. That’s why my campaign will tithe 10 percent of our volunteer hours directly to local charities.
I’ve worked all my life. I haven’t spent time rubbing elbows with celebrities and paid lobbyists, and I don’t intend to start now. This country has real problems that affect my family and my neighbors’ families, and I want to go to Washington to work on real solutions.
Jobs In a time of national crisis -- high unemployment coupled with a failing financial structure -- our national government has the obligation to step up and do something about it. History has proven that our government can and should support economic development which leads to the creation of jobs.(click for more. Click to close)
The past ten years have been some of the worst for the American worker. We work harder for longer hours and for less money. There has been literally zero net job creation since the decade began.1 Many of the larger corporations are reporting strong profits, based often on layoffs and reduced labor benefits. Our economy relies on consumer spending for two-thirds of its growth.2 If Americans don’t have a paycheck, or a reduced paycheck, consumer spending just doesn’t happen. It’s a vicious cycle.
Middle-class households made less in 2008 than they did in 1999.3 Today, one in five of us is underemployed or without a job at all. One in nine of our families can't make the minimum payments on our credit cards. One in eight of us are in trouble on our mortgages, and one in eight of us is now on food stamps. The current Great Recession “disappeared” more than $5 trillion from our retirement accounts and savings.4
We the people of the American middle class believed in civic duty and in hard work, and we believed that politicians in Washington were dedicated to our interests and respectful of our important contributions.
We were wrong.
Politicians of both political parties have spent their time tearing our country apart and listening to lobbyists for the biggest, most powerful corporations.
In 2001, Washington politicians passed tax cuts for “all” Americans. What they really did was give two-thirds of all tax cuts to the richest Americans.5 As a result, we went broke while Wall Street got rich, and government revenues dropped in 2004 to the lowest level since 1950, causing huge budget deficits.6 There’s no money to rebuild our schools, provide job retraining, or shore up Medicare for our seniors. Americans find out that even though they have health insurance, it won’t pay for their cancer treatments.
The chickens came home to roost in late 2008. Washington “solved” the crisis by giving huge bailouts to the very banks and other institutions that gambled away our retirements and savings on Wall Street. Washington placed little accountability on that bailout money and didn’t take away the right of Wall Street to gamble. Instead, Washington “encouraged” banks to lend to small businesses. They didn’t. They hoarded our money for themselves. Now our small businesses, the ones who hire workers, can’t get money even to start projects.
This brings us to February 2009. Congress passed “The Stimulus Package.” It spent on things like infrastructure, education, and research, and it tried to jumpstart our economy with some state aid and tax cuts. The stimulus has helped. So far, contracts, loans, and grants for North Carolina’s 5th District have amounted to $168,291,173, creating 209 new jobs.7 But the stimulus was mostly damage control-saving thousands of jobs for teachers, fire departments and police.
The “Jobs Bill” that Washington is currently fighting over appears to be yet another band aid over a huge wound. It is a very limited package of small-business aid, unemployment benefits, and corporate tax credits.
No single “fix” will get us out of this mess. Neither the government alone nor the private sector alone can solve the jobs problem. Instead of calling each other names across the aisles up there in Washington, why can’t our representatives do something for both short-term and long-term job creation?
1. Like it or not, we live in a global economy. To compete, we must make investments in research, our crumbling infrastructure, and education. Failure to commit to a quality public education for the next generation of American workers will sink us further and further. We must consider upgrades to our infrastructure.
2. We must invest in new technology and renewable energy because new American jobs depend on it. China has now jumped ahead to become the world’s largest manufacturer of wind turbines and solar panels,8 and they are now adding 100,000 new jobs a year in renewable energy as a result.
3. We have to become more export-oriented. We need to stop giving tax breaks to American companies who move our jobs overseas and instead provide tax incentives for companies who bring or keep those jobs right here at home.
4. We need to focus on creating jobs for rural people. Farm- and eco-tourism have promise. So does the “local foods” movement. We need small lending programs for rural entrepreneurs to start small businesses or encourage high-tech jobs in our rural communities.
5. We must address the price of health-care. Spiraling costs are dragging down American companies.
Here’s how we can pay for some of this:
1. Tax cuts to the richest among us have cost our treasury $1.35 trillion in revenues.9 We should repeal those tax cuts and use the savings to cut taxes for low- and middle-income workers; provide a tax credit for small businesses that hire new workers; and provide tax incentives for businesses wanting to enter into technology and renewable energy projects in rural America.
2. A person who makes $1 million in wages pays the same Social Security tax as a person who makes $106,800 because of an unfair “cap.” We should drop the cap on Social Security taxes to keep it solvent for future generations.
3. We can link private and public investment money which could do what America’s banks currently won’t: make low-interest loans to good ideas and small businesses.
America is in a major crisis, and it’s time those in Washington stopped the partisan bickering and did something. Our country’s future depends on it.
Education Our country’s future depends on free universal, public education for all citizens. It is the basis of our national strength and critical to the success of our Democracy.
Without an educated electorate, we have no strong middle class.(click for more. Click to close)
The G.I. Bill and government-guaranteed student loans have made it possible for millions of Americans to go to college and build a better life for their families. These are government programs that strengthen our country.
Yet our incumbent representative says that the federal government has no place in education.
She also voted against the school lunch program which makes it possible for thousands of children in western North Carolina to go to school and do well, with good nutrition for at least one meal a day.
And she’s consistently voted against Student Loan programs which help deserving students of limited means attain a college education.
I believe in education and in helping poor and middle-class children have an equal shot at opportunity in our country.
Bank Bailouts Back in late 2008, our economy was sliding off a cliff due to the decisions of irresponsible politicians in Washington. And here in western North Carolina working people were sliding right off with it. Over the years, Washington politicians of both parties paid off their big financial donors by gutting any protections we had for our hard earned money.(click for more. Click to close)
The banks and insurance companies talked us into “investing” our money which they used in exchange for political power. Then they took our money and bought yachts, private jets, and office rugs. They combined our money and our mortgages with others, borrowed on both, and then traded them away in the stock market for their own selfish gain.
They stole our money and our financial futures.
So when it all came crashing down, the banks, the credit card companies, and mortgage lenders returned to Washington in search of a taxpayer handout to cover for money they spent, but never really had. And they got it –with no regulations or any other requirements. They gamed the system!
Who do the politicians in Washington think they’re kidding?!
Both political parties in collusion with the largest corporations are responsible for this travesty. Washington insiders had no problem doing away with the laws which were designed to protect our hard earned money, and in the process, they ran up a massive deficit that we are stuck paying.
I do not support bailouts to private companies. I do support holding industries accountable that take our money for profit and leave us holding the bag.
Now millions of Americans have either lost their jobs altogether or are being forced to work longer hours for less pay and fewer or no benefits. This is unacceptable. If anyone deserves help, it’s those of us who put in the long hours at a factory, a hospital or on the farm, who pinch our pennies, and who try to squeeze out enough money to buy groceries, pay for our medicine, and still have enough left to keep the heat on.
I support a federal jobs bill. Not another handout to corporations that don’t care if that money trickles down to you and me. I will only support a bill that goes directly to create good jobs where they are needed most.
Some oppose such a jobs bill because they say people should be responsible for pulling themselves up “by their bootstraps” with no help from the government. I say we’ve already tried that way, and it resulted in the government making the lives of working people worse while filling the coffers of the rich.
I will stand up for the working people of western North Carolina. You can take that to the bank!
Keeping Us Safe I believe in taking a strong, consistent stand on protecting our country. I believe in combating conflict and terrorism at its root. This is best achieved by working with our allies around the world and building consensus and joint action to share in those costs and responsibilities. After eight years of the Bush Administration’s “go it alone” campaign, it is clear we need to change our approach.(click for more. Click to close)
I believe we should increase security measures for our airports, ports, and land borders. These should be part of a national plan to protect and rebuild America’s infrastructure and keep our communities safe. I will work to streamline and simplify communications between our nation’s security agencies. This needs to be done efficiently and effectively to save money and resources.
America cannot afford to engage in full scale wars around the world and expect to protect our country and allies. Our government has spent over $1 trillion fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet, as we have seen from the Christmas Day attack attempt, we still face significant risk.
I believe we should return to the long American tradition of leading by example to keep this country safe while improving America’s standing in the world. Our friends and allies the world over are also at risk. We all face the same challenges and threats to security. I will work hard to enhance cooperation and intelligence throughout the world and to strengthen our relationships and security agreements with our allies.
Health Care Everyone needs accessible and affordable health care.
With high unemployment, often due to no fault of the individual, it’s simply not right to not only lose your job, but also lose you and your family’s health care. This only puts one deeper in debt. Illness and disease do not follow set schedules, and coverage needs to be continuous because health issues are unpredictable!(click for more. Click to close)
Just last year, my family missed an insurance payment. We were surprised to find out our insurance had been canceled weeks earlier when we went to the drug store to get a prescription filled. We hadn’t even received a cancellation notice!
My wife called the insurance company and they told us if we mailed $2900 overnight, they would consider reinstating our policy. We sent the money and called the company the next day to make sure they got our payment. The insurance company told us that they had received the money, but a review board would determine whether we would be reinstated or not and that would take at least 30 days.
We were stuck between a rock and a hard place, so like many Americans, we went without coverage for a time. We held our breath until the insurance company finally reinstated our policy. But we were warned that if our payment was late again we would be dropped without any consideration.
Right now, our system is based on paying doctors and hospitals when we get sick. But I strongly believe "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".
Why not a system that encourages doctors to do preventive care? So many of our most expensive diseases can be prevented - or cured, if they’re caught early - but most working Americans put off visits to the doctor for routine care because they can’t afford it, and we bear the consequences. We simply can’t afford this
approach any longer.
I know that the best medical care in the world is worth nothing to the family that can’t afford access to it. Last year I hurt my shoulder. When I went to the doctor they told me that my shoulder didn’t need to be fixed.
Why? Because the doctors merely assumed, from my occupation, that I couldn’t afford it. Somehow the fact that I made and continue to make my living using my arms didn’t count. This is health care rationing—one standard of treatment for the super rich and another for working people even though both livelihoods depend
on the health and functioning of our bodies.
We need to refocus our health care system so that your money pays for actual health care, rather than paying multi-million-dollar salaries for insurance company executives, and some faceless middle-man whose only job is to deny care when our families get sick.
When my father became ill and was dying I was able to be there to help him, but it made me think about what is important…every life is precious.
All my life I’ve wanted to fix things for others. Health care is just another problem to solve and I intend to work hard to make it better, more affordable, and more accessible for all patients.
Wedge Issues Washington politicians have gotten pretty darn good at using “wedge” issues to avoid talking about the very real and serious problems of the people back home.
Dishonest politicians try to divide us and pit us against each other in order to win an election on wedge issues. Politicians of both political parties emphasize wedge issues so they can distract us and avoid talking about the serious problems we face. It is a tactic used to confuse us in order to hide how they really vote about bread and butter issues.(click for more. Click to close)
More and better jobs, a commitment to Medicare and Social Security, real discussions about whether or not we should commit our young people and our nation to war, health care reform, and the failure of bailouts and subsidies to corporations are not wedge issues.
I will not run a wedge campaign. I want to focus on what all of us can do to improve our lives. I plan to listen to my constituents and hear what’s important to them because I respect other people’s points of view. I will not allow my opponent to play “gotcha” politics on these questions of individual liberty.
I want to make it clear. I support freedom and equal rights for all people. I will protect all individual constitutional rights, without allowing politicians to pick and choose which Amendments deserve to be taken seriously.
Even when a candidate or political party wins an election through the use of a wedge issue, once they arrive in Washington they do nothing to further its cause. That is when it becomes painfully clear that the candidate never had any real commitment to the issue itself. The candidate simply used the issue to try to fool the people and win the election at any cost.
I will not be distracted from what is most important to voters!
