I am a candidate for Congress Campaign Website in the Fourth District of Iowa. In my district, we are (not) represented by Tom Latham, a Republican back-bencher who rarely emerges into the limelight like Steve King or Michelle Bachmann. But his voting record is solidly with them and with his party. I think I can do better. The Fourth District can do better. We must do better!
I grew up in the small northwest Iowa town of Peterson. My father, a veteran of World War II and the Battle of Iwo Jima, took a job teaching and coaching. Mom worked in the home, on Main Street, and eventually became a school cook to help pay the bills. They worked hard to make ends meet and raise a family. Through their example, my brothers and I learned the value of family, community, faith, education, democracy, service, and hard work. It is upon these values that I have based my personal and professional life.
I became an educator, and was honored to serve as a school superintendent before leaving the school district to run for another public service job: congressman. For the past 34 years, I have witnessed first-hand the manner in which economic and social injustice affect families and especially children. I have seen how a poor economy, inadequate health care, discrimination, a deteriorating environment, rising energy costs, poverty, and limited opportunities hurt people. We can and we must do better!
People in the Fourth District are frustrated with Washington. There is too much talk and posturing, and too little action. People need jobs, and they need them now. I will seek out and work with anyone willing to sponsor legislation that accomplishes the following three things: 1) Provide direct funding to Main Street and small businesses for the creation of jobs that will put people to work and grow the local economy. 2) Provide funding for continued research and development of renewable energy sources. Iowa in particular is well poised to be a big part of an emerging bio-economy. (3) Create a federal jobs program similar to the WPA and the CCC of the 1930s, until the economy recovers and the private sector starts hiring again.
People who complain about the cost of government stimulus programs are ignoring the enormous cost of having so many millions of people out of work, facing foreclosure, hunger, and homelessness, and not paying taxes on earned wages. We can do better, and we will!
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