Hi. I'm Elaine Marshall, North Carolina Secretary of State and I'm running for U.S. Senate.
You and I both know that we need a change in Washington. That's what many of us in North Carolina and throughout the country voted for in 2006 and 2008. Yet, somewhere down the road, beltway politicians like Senator Richard Burr and others lost their way, and forgot who sent them to Congress.
In this election, plenty of politicians are going to start adopting populist tones, and start railing against Wall Street. But rather than simply talking the talk, I've walked the walk throughout my career in public service.
As Secretary of State, I’ve worked to reform and modernize government. I was the first to push and enact tougher lobbying laws, and took on Wall Street to protect consumers. In fact, in just the last year and a half, my office has recovered $340 million from Wall Street banks and returned it to the people of North Carolina.
That isn't talk, it's action -- and I'll be the same advocate for regular Americans in the halls of Congress.
Before we get into the meat of it, I wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself with these videos our campaign has put out. The first is called "Foundation of Values" and the second is called "Experience."
Both detail who I am, what I've done, and what kind of Senator I'll be for the people of North Carolina.
This is the top legislation I would fight to enact in the Senate:
-- Institute real financial regulatory reform that would, amongst other things, create a new Consumer Protection Agency, recoup taxpayer money given to banks and institutions, and re-enact a modern Glass-Steagall Act.
-- Work with other Senators to propose meaningful rules reform in the Senate that would return the institution to working order. This includes taking a serious look at reforming the filibuster and how we confirm lower-level Presidential nominees.
--While I disagreed with the troop surge in Afghanistan, now that we are there I hope for its success and I'll continue to support our troops. It is my hope that we wind down our commitment there are soon as possible. That way, we can focus those resources here at home.
-- Education is the foundation of a strong economy, that is why I would fight for serious education reform that would give educators a fair salary, do away with the unfunded federal mandates, and expand access to higher education that provides better trained educators.
These are only a handful of the issues I plan to push in the Senate, but I'll be committed to them everyday.
My hope is that this blog post will be the starting point for a long, strong relationship with the netroots during my campaign and in the Senate. Sadly, I can't stay and answer your questions this morning. I had hoped too, but duty calls. Mike Nellis from my campaign will stick around to record your questions, and I'll try to answer them promptly. We'll post the answers early next week.
Thanks for your friendship and support.
Learn more:
http://ElaineMarshall.com
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