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Yow on the Issues
The
formation of the United States of America: We the PEOPLE
of the United States….do ordain and establish this
Constitution for the United States of America…….OF
the PEOPLE, BY the PEOPLE, and FOR the
PEOPLE.
Below is a listing of
current issues that are linked to my position on each
issue.
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Freedom |
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Constitution
or We The People
or Afghanistan
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Responsibilities of an
elected official |
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Term Limits |
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Participation in the
Congressional pension |
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Jobs |
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Health Care reform |
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Gun Control |
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Abortion |
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Deficit |
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Taxes |
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Natural resources and
climate |
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Foreign trade |
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Special interest
groups |
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Freedom |
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The principal that
founded our great nation is that of freedom. Many lives
have been sacrificed to obtain, support, maintain and
preserve our freedom. Freedom is the primary factor
that allows our Democracy to work. Our freedom is
envied by most of world’s people, and hated by others.
Many people, in the past and still today, abandon their
homes, their families, their heritage, and risk their
lives and that of their families to seek the freedom
that we enjoy here in America. Every time Congress
passes a bill, implements a regulation, or forces an
industry reform, they are chipping away at the base of
our democracy, the cornerstone of our America, the
building block of our society, namely, our freedom. I
firmly believe that all bills to be presented to
Congress should be written in a manner that the average
American citizen can read it, and understand it. I
also believe that before any legislation is voted on, it
should be thoroughly read, understood, discussed,
presented to the American people, and considered in the
context of how it promotes a continuation or expansion
of the Freedom of the America People. |
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Responsibilities of an elected official |
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It is my
belief that a person that seeks election to any public
office must, first and foremost, understand that the
position they seek is as a “Representative” of the
voters that elected them. They must make themselves
available to the people so that they can hear and
understand the issues that are important. An elected
official has a duty to be forthright and truthful in
every aspect of their lives, and must establish a
transparent position so that the voters can determine if
they are doing an effective job. They must remember
that they are sent there, BY the people and
FOR the people. |
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Term
Limits |
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I believe that a person can stay in Washington too
long. I believe there should be a minimum and maximum
age limit on holding a position in Congress. I believe
that a person should be between the ages of 25 and 70 to
seek office in the United States Congress. A person 69
years of age could seek office as long as they would be
in office prior to reaching age 70. The number of terms
a person serves should be and would be determined by the
voters they represent, as is the principal and guiding
force of a strong democracy. Some have suggested that 3
terms is the appropriate limit for someone to serve.
That would be 6 years for a congressman and 18 years for
a Senator. I am not certain where the correct number of
terms may come from. I believe that if the elected
official is transparent in their actions, truthful in
their communications, and forthright in their positions,
the PEOPLE will determine the number of terms they will
serve, and that will be Democracy at work. |
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Participation in the Congressional pension |
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I am
seeking election as your congressman for North
Carolina’s 6th district. My intentions are
to go there to WORK for you as your representative, as
an employee of the people. I believe that as a member
of congress, working for you, I should have the
opportunity to build and save for retirement as would
most employees in the United States.
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Jobs |
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The current unemployment rate is the
highest it has been in many, many years. To get
Americans back to work, we have to put policies in place
that provide capital to businesses so they can grow and
expand. We should be investing in the future of
business instead of handing out money. Instead of
Bailing out businesses that are faltering, we should be
providing resources for these businesses to expand and
export. We need to stop trying to put short-term
“fixes” in place to get past the next election; we need
long-term sound investment strategy. Unfortunately, our
current employment outlook is not good. I don’t think
we can resolve this problem by throwing money at it. We
are where we are, looking back and trying to place blame
is not the answer, we need to look forward.
I believe that we are going to have
to expand the unemployment coverage for those Americans
that can’t find productive employment. However, we need
to tie that to the recipients’ investment in their
future as well through re-training, additional
education, and community service. We need to invest in
our colleges, universities and community colleges and
have them develop these educational and training
programs to “re-tool” America and get Americans back to
being productive. |
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Health Care reform |
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We
should all, just say no thanks. I have no confidence
that the government can intervene in any industry and
make it more efficient, and cheaper to operate. The
health care proposal, I feel, will take a huge chunk out
of our democracy and move us one step closer to
socialism. I don’t believe that is what our founding
fathers and our ancestors had in mind when they laid
down their lives for America.
I do
believe, however, that there needs to be some change in
the health care industry. I believe that most people
have little or no say in their health care. They have
insurance through the insurance plan their employer
chose, take medicine their physician prescribed, and pay
whatever the insurance companies tell them to pay. I
dare say that most people can’t tell you what the true
cost of their health care is, most probably don’t know
what their medications cost. For these reasons, I
believe that some oversight is required.
I
believe that the providers in the health care industry
should be charged with revitalizing the health care
industry. We should put together independent industry
panels, including a panel of citizens, for each sector
of the health care industry to develop a plan that, they
believe, can help improve health care. The plan from
each of these groups should be passed on to a separate
and independent group made up of representatives of each
group to review each of the plans and formulate an
overall plan for review by Congress. The final plan
should outline specific ways the government could help
with improving the efficient and economical operation of
the health care industry. The involvement of any and
all lobbyists must be strictly forbidden. From my
standpoint, Tort reform has to be one way that Congress
can make a positive impact on the cost of health care.
It bothers me that the monetary settlement for getting a
cup of coffee accidentally spilled in your lap is many,
many times larger than the settlement a surviving spouse
will get to raise their family when a soldier falls in
service of his country. |
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Gun Control |
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I am
a firm believer in our constitutional right, under the
second amendment, to own and bear firearms. I believe
that the current regulations relating to age and
previous convictions are sufficient for the protection
of the public and no further regulations should be
enacted related to this constitutional right. I believe
that gun control is more about control than it is about
guns. |
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Abortion |
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I
am adamantly opposed to abortion as a method of birth
control. I am supportive of abortion in the instances
of rape, incest and at times when the life of the
expectant mother is at risk, within the constraints of
the current law. I consider myself to be pro-life. |
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Iraq and Afghanistan |
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We
undertook the military move into Iraq and Afghanistan
for formidable reasons, and to protect America,
Americans, and our way of life. This decision, I am
certain, was not undertaken lightly. I believe we have
performed a great service in these countries but believe
it is time to reassess what we intend to accomplish in
the future. If, in fact, we are there as a service to
these countries to provide security and training, then
they should be footing the bill. How can we, in good
faith, continue to ask the American citizens to shoulder
the financial responsibility of the mission in those
countries without any cost to those countries? Why
should our military, stationed in Iraq, pay an average
of $3.23 per gallon for gasoline while the citizens of
Iraq, that we are there to protect and teach, pay only
$1.36. I believe we need to redefine our role, explain
our intentions for a conclusion to our presence, and
have these countries support our operations
financially. Based on my understanding of their oil
reserves, they have the resources to make at least some
contribution to the cost. If we just “give” them their
freedom without them having to help “earn” it, it will
have no value. |
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Deficit |
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The
deficit for 2010 is estimated to exceed 1.5 trillion
dollars (1,500,000,000,000). In short, the government
plans to spend 1.5 trillion dollars more than it brings
in. I don’t know about you, but my bank won’t allow me
to do that. Our national debt is expected to exceed 12
trillion dollars in 2010, almost $40,000 for every
citizen in America. The really bad part is that our
debt is growing. We have to stop spending outside of
our ability to pay. I believe that we must get our
spending in line, and we can do this by investing in the
resources for business, increasing operating
efficiencies in government operations by employing more
technology, reducing the government red tape, and by
reducing wasteful programs and spending. I believe
every spending bill that is brought before Congress must
come with an automatic expiration date such that the
program will receive no further funding after that date,
unless it is renewed. If a bill is important enough to
justify the spending, it is important enough to justify
the review. |
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Taxes |
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Taxes
in some fashion are required to operate this great
nation. I believe that most citizens understand this,
and would gladly pay their taxes if they felt their tax
dollars were being spent wisely and in an efficient
manner. We must look at alternative ways to implement
tax policy so that taxing our citizens is fair and
equitable. If you consider Federal, State and local
taxes, our citizens get taxed when they earn it (income
tax), taxed when they spend it (sales tax), and taxed if
you don’t spend it (estate tax), and taxed if you give
it away (gift tax). We need tax reform that is real
reform and real simplification. We should eliminate the
estate tax, close the loop holes, and simplify the taxing
process so that taxation is fair to all citizens. |
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Natural
resources and climate |
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Most
people, I believe, would agree that we are consuming our
natural resources at a rapid pace. One point to be
certain of, is, that at some point in the future we will
consume the natural resources we have on the planet.
Our global oil reserves may seem huge, but they aren’t
infinite, they are a fixed quantity. Whether you
believe we are or are not in a pattern of global warming
isn’t as important as the realization that we must
conserve our natural resources for future generations.
We must look at ways to reduce our carbon footprint,
better utilize our natural resources, develop
alternative energy sources, and further exploration of
our resources. It is our responsibility to do
all we can to preserve the resources we have for our
children. Developing better and alternative energy
policies is a winning policy for everybody. These
policies can help preserve our natural resources, reduce
pollution, reduce waste, reduce our dependency on
foreign energy sources, create jobs, and reduce our
trade deficit. We must promote investment into and
development of these energy sources. |
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Foreign trade |
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We
continue to see U.S. manufacturing jobs going out of
America and to other countries. We ship raw materials
out of the country valued at $100, they are processed
into finished goods and shipped back into the US valued
a $1,000, and the cost to the consumer for those
products is less than that of similar goods produced
wholly within the US. Those foreign countries and
companies are making significant profits in this trading
process. China holds a favored trading partner status
with the U.S., it is also the single largest holder of
US debt. There have been discussions that the labeling,
“Made in the USA” can help consumers in the U.S., buy
products made in the US. While I believe this can’t
hurt, I don’t believe it is the solution. We, as a
nation, need to get to the root of the issue, determine
how and why these products can be made cheaper abroad
and determine how we can have a realistic and
sustainable impact on our manufacturing costs.
I
believe that some of the root issues are that our
industry is overburdened with regulations, strained with
excessive taxes, and constricted by lack of working
capital. While I do believe that some regulation is
required to protect the public as a whole, I think the
government needs to get out of the way and stop
hindering business. We need to insure that companies
have the resources available to improve efficiencies so
that products made in the US are competitively priced
with products produced elsewhere. We need to shift our
focus away from that of punishment through fines and
penalties to that of rewarding companies for developing
new and innovative processes and technologies. I think
we all realize that the cost of fines and penalties is
passed on to the consumer through price increases, it
should follow as well that the savings from rewards and
increases in efficiencies would push through as
reductions in pricing and increases in savings to the
consumer. |
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Special interest
groups |
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I
believe there are too many special interest groups
involved in the decision making process. There is too
much of the “Good ole boy” network and too much pork
tacked on to what might be otherwise good policies. I
believe the first step to controlling the involvement of
special interest groups and lobbyists is to establish a
transparent system for making available all
contributions, spending and participation of our leaders
with these groups and lobbyists available for the people
to review. |
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