Hi, I’m Bruce Lunsford. I’m challenging Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and I plan to win. I’ve spent some time reading Daily Kos and find the amount of energy you have for improving our country invigorating. The sentiment here is similar to what I hear from citizens of every walk of life in communities across the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 24 years of Mitch McConnell has been bad for Kentucky and bad for America.
I realize that there is skepticism from some in the netroots about my candidacy, so I’m excited to tell you a little more about myself. Of course, for more detail on my positions and why it’s time to ditch Mitch, please visit www.bruce2008.com. I also recently did an interview that I hope will provide some insight into what I hope to achieve in the Senate on another national blog, politicalbase.com. Click here to check out the Q & A.
My beliefs and core values could not be further from those of Mitch McConnell. That is a fact.
For starters, let’s look at gas prices and energy policy. Under Mitch McConnell’s watch, gas prices have skyrocketed. Why? Well it’s pretty simple to understand. George W. Bush and Mitch McConnell have allowed the Big Oil companies to write national energy policy. When that happens, Big Oil rakes in record profits while working families across America pay the price. That is unfair.
I do believe we must increase domestic oil production as part of a plan to achieve long-term energy independence. I agree with Congressman Yarmuth that oil companies should develop the 68 million acres of land already leased to them for oil and natural gas production by the federal government. Rather than look to controversial areas first, let’s start developing previously approved areas now while we work to increase the use of renewable energies.
Mitch McConnell and the Republicans use controversial issues like ANWR and offshore drilling as a smokescreen while they block attempts at immediate relief, they block real long-term solutions like renewable energy, and they block oversight of energy trading markets that could have potentially driven up the price of a barrel of oil by $40, or increased gas prices by about a buck a gallon. We need to do more and talk less.
Let’s talk about jobs and the economy. McConnell has voted multiple times to increase his salary, which is now $180,000 a year. Yet he voted time and time again against increasing the minimum wage. I am for increasing the minimum wage to a living wage. And while Kentucky was losing jobs to China and other foreign countries, McConnell sided with the special interests and voted to give tax breaks to companies that moved jobs overseas. I bring a lifetime of hard work and practical business experience to the important task of helping develop and protect Kentucky jobs.
And when it comes to education and health care, Mitch McConnell is a disaster. While he enjoys some of the nation’s best healthcare (taxpayer funded of course), he opposed expanding health care coverage to 3.8 million children who are not covered by SCHIP. It is unacceptable that more than 47 million Americans and 500,000 Kentuckians have no health insurance. With my background in health care, I will bring people together to solve the problem by reducing health care costs and working toward health care for all. Just last Wednesday, McConnell sided with his special interest friends at the big insurance companies and voted against preventing drastic cuts in Medicare payments to providers, which would decimate the entire Medicare program. (Check out my comments on this from last week by clicking here.)
And with regards to the war in Iraq, McConnell continuously puts his party and President first by repeatedly voting to write blank checks for the Iraq war, with no strings attached and no accountability. I support a different approach. As the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended, the Iraqi government must understand that maintaining law and order is its responsibility. I believe we must redeploy our troops to protect ourselves from more direct threats to our country. At the same time, he votes time after time against our veterans, voting against health care and other benefits for those who served our country. I will also work hard to make sure our veterans get the care and benefits they deserve.
Mitch McConnell will no doubt resort to his typical nasty, personal attacks to try and win this race. That's why he's called Mean Mitch. He'll call me all kinds of names, criticize my business record, and twist the truth about me like a pretzel. His best friends at the big oil, insurance and drug companies have funded his attack campaigns in the past and are doing so again. After 24 years in Washington, Mitch McConnell is not on our side. He has lost touch with Kentucky and with America. He is more interested in keeping his special interest friends in business then he is with doing what’s right for Kentucky and for America. It is time for change.
I’m committed to this race and we’ll go toe to toe with Mitch and push back his negative ads. Kentuckians know authenticity when they see it. I'm a guy who laid blacktop to help pay for college and served our country in the Army Reserves during the Vietnam era. I cut tobacco when I was a kid. I grew up on a farm with no indoor plumbing and worked hard to build a business from scratch into a Fortune 500 company with 62,000 employees caring for 50,000 patients a day. Nothing was ever handed to me. Kentuckians will see through McConnell's attacks and we'll be keeping the campaign focused squarely on his awful 24-year record in the Senate.
Make no mistake about it: Mitch McConnell is the Senate’s chief obstructionist, choosing time and time again to help his special interest friends instead of helping Kentucky and America. I am focused on achieving results. We cannot allow his cronyism and parliamentary games to keep us from the change that we need. Defeating him must be a top priority for the netroots. Working together, we can do it.
I will do everything in my power remove the last vestige of the Bush/Cheney/McConnell era and begin to right the wrongs caused by their leadership. McConnell will try to run from his record. He already tried to say this election isn’t about his last 24 years in office, but rather the next six years. Well, if Kentucky and America have another six like the last six, dark times are ahead.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this. I hope you’ll support my campaign. I’ll be monitoring the message board for the next 30 minutes or so, and I’ll be happy to take any questions.