I spoke with a lot of people while gathering signatures to be placed on the primary ballot and many asked why I was running against the current incumbent. She’s a well respected, well funded, three-term Congresswoman who has the full support of the Democratic Party.
To me, being a popular, well funded politician who mostly toes the party line is not enough. We need more. We need a Congressperson who will directly address the most important issues that affect us and fight for big changes that will have a meaningful impact on our lives.
The issues I want to address are:
Money in politics - It’s really getting gross. Why do establishment politicians need so much money to run a campaign? How do they get so rich being politicians? Voters realize that moneyed interests have unduly influenced our political parties, our politicians and the policies that govern us. We need to break the status quo, and make good ideas and effective communication more powerful than money.
Tax reform - The biggest economic injustice perpetrated on Americans today is an unfair system of taxation. If you want to discover what 50 years of political influence by wealthy donors, special interests, and corporations has done, the best place to begin looking is the 6,871 pages of IRS tax code. Our tax code is riddled with provisions that allow the wealthy and corporations to avoid paying their fair share in taxes. What they don’t pay, ordinary Americans must make up for and it’s putting an unfair burden on working and retired people. The current tax system is broken beyond repair. We need to repeal and replace it with a tax code that is simple, fair and effective.
Social Security - Social Security is on a path to insolvency. If we let today’s politicians kick the can down the road, they will invariably raise taxes on workers and reduce benefits on retirees. Likely a combination of both. Neither is acceptable. The tax on worker’s income is already too high and the benefits retirees receive is already too meager to change either. We need to not only preserve benefits for those that have paid into the system, but also improve Social Security for future generations.
Medicare-for-All - We can’t stop with the American Care Act. The American health care payment system is unfair and puts financial strains on ordinary Americans, whether they pay for insurance directly or indirectly through their employer. Far too many Americans are still uninsured. We need to make medical care available and affordable to all Americans in a way that is fiscally responsible and sustainable.
I’m running because I have ideas on how to accomplish all of this, and will be a force for change to get them front and center in the public domain and, more importantly, into public policy. That’s why I’m so motivated and inspired to run for Congress.
To succeed, I need your participation, so please repost this on social media and share my candidacy with friends. Also, ask them to share it with their friends and family. I’m relying on word-of-mouth to build my base and rally the votes to win.