I’m running for Congress because I’m very worried about our country’s future. We have big problems…trillion dollar deficits, a weak economy that’s not producing enough quality jobs, dysfunctional inner schools, and rising energy prices, to name but a few. But, America has faced very serious difficulties before and come out of them okay. Think of the last century: two world wars, the great depression and the cold war, just for starters.
Something is different today that makes today’s problems much more serious…much more threatening…then they should be, at least when compared with the threats we have faced in our past.
The difference today? Congress is broken. Terribly broken. And solutions to today’s problems, just like those of yesterday, all run through our first branch of government. But as long as that institution is locked up, the major problems that threaten our country today will only persist and worsen.
I’m scared to my core that our country won’t be able to recover from a few more years of a hyper-partisan, broken Congress. Like all of you, I grew up secure in the knowledge that America’s past, as exceptional as ours was, would always pale in the shadow of our promising and optimistic future.
But I wonder.
Will America’s future be bright if we keep on running trillion dollar deficits? Will America’s future be bright if we continue borrowing money from China instead of tackling our spending addiction? Can America’s future be bright while we are losing generation after generation of kids to dysfunctional inner city schools that are little more than drop out factories? Can America’s future be bright if we continue to fund terrorists by refusing to seriously deal with our energy crisis? And will our children have a bright future if we continue to allow ourselves to be governed by elected officials who appear to lack the courage to put America’s interests ahead of their own?
The fact is, in order to solve these problems, we need Representatives in Washington who are willing to do whatever it takes to reform the system to allow the solutions to our nations’ problems to be implemented.
Congress has become increasingly polarized over the years; and making matters worse, it is accompanied by increased hyper-partisanship. After all, Tip O’Neal was a liberal Democrat and President Reagan was a conservative Republican, yet they were able to work together to move our country forward. Unfortunately today, most of the representatives in Congress act like their job is to bicker, score political points, work on their re-election, and pander to the special interests that elected them.
The disappointing fact is that we lack a Congress willing to put country ahead of party; patriotism ahead of self-interest; and the individual voter ahead of big and powerful insiders.
I refuse to sit back and allow this impasse in Congress to continue. Too much is at stake. So, after 40 years in the business world, I’m going to fight for the best interests of our country by running for the very important Congressional seat in California’s 33rd district. I am running for the seat held for almost 40 years by Henry Waxman, a partisan politician who bears at least some responsibility for the breakage of an institution he’s been a part of for longer than almost anyone; and, more importantly, gives absolutely no indication of wanting to, let alone being able to, play a constructive role in its repair.
The root of the problem.
The root of the problem lies in the power of the political parties and the special interests that fund them. These interest groups look to Washington for laws, regulations, grants, bailouts, favors, protection and advocacy to survive and thrive.
The most powerful special interests in Washington include the political arms’ of the government unions, the plaintiff’s trial bar, and the teachers unions; as well as Wall Street, the no-tax pledge crowd, those with a religiously-driven social agenda and of course, the rich and powerful.
As a result, Democrats in Congress won’t allow many of the necessary reductions to spending that are needed to attack the deficit, resist efforts to reform our schools, and too often prefer regulation to market-oriented solutions.
And Republicans in Congress won’t agree to any revenue or tax increase, regardless of fairness or merit, won’t confront corporate welfare, and often protect the interests of big business over consumers.
I believe it will take courage and common sense by our elected leaders if Washington is going to bring about beneficial change. It requires courage to buck the barriers to reform constructed by the two main political parties and to not back down when confronting the power and influence of special interests. It also takes common sense to work in a non-partisan manner across party lines to solve our nations’ problems with pragmatic, reasonable approaches.
I will work forge alliances with like-minded reformers of both parties – issue by issue – to break the gridlock and get things done.
My hope is that the voters of this district will see in this independent candidacy an agenda that – above all – puts their interests first. And an agenda that will lead to overdue positive change and common sense solutions for America. I would be honored to have your support.