Gainesville Daily Register
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1. What is your background and what made you want to run for Congress?
During the last 27 years of practicing law we have watched the erosion of confidence and trust is our government and elected officials. We look to Washington, not for solutions and help, but as interference and obstruction. With the policies of the past eight years of protection of the wealthy and affluent while ignoring the needs of the middle class, we have witnessed the evaporation of the American Dream for an ever growing number on our fellow Americans.
As an attorney in a small law office, I have seen the tragedy of hard working and dedicated citizens who cannot afford to send their children to college because of massive increases in the cost of tuition. I have viewed the destruction of families because a member became ill and had to file bankruptcy due to the spiraling costs of heath care. I have watched children neglected because one or both parents have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. I have seen willing, able-bodied citizens unable to find work because their jobs have been outsourced overseas and their retirement evaporated in an era of greed. I have seen the chasm between the wealthy and middle class continue to grow. I have seen public officials who believe the Government is a tool of the wealthy and privileged to provide them and their cronies with a pathway to riches.
It is time to restore trust and integrity in government. We deserve open and honest government, not acquiescence and executive secrecy. We need government where public service is first and special interests are last. A government where personal and professional responsibility guide decisions, not ideology. A government where accountability is clear and direct, not obscured by spin and lies. A government of balance and equity which listens to all our citizens.
In short, it is time for action and leadership. I am running to bring to the citizens of Texas District 26 the innovative leadership to rebuild our middle class and revive the American Dream for all citizens. I invite you as a fellow American to join me as we fight the politics of rejection, fear and division and return Government to THE PEOPLE.
2. What are the biggest issues facing the 26th district?
Affordable Quality Education for All
For years, the politicians in Washington have talked about education and then passed one unfunded mandate after the next, burdening our local school districts. Education has become an endless cycle of “teaching to a test” rather than training our youth with the skills of critical thinking, creativity, and pragmatic problem-solving so vitally necessary in our rapidly changing world. If we do not change the present course and content of our educational system we risk losing our technological and competitive edge in the global economy.
Health Care
Spiraling costs of care, prescription medication, hospital services, and all aspects of our present system need reform or we face national bankruptcy. Over a million people a year declare bankruptcy, not from squandering assets or over spending, but simply because someone in their family got sick. The crushing burdens for families, individuals, and small business, left unchecked, will stagnate growth and destroy our ability to compete in the world economy. We can no longer put off a solution, we must act now.
Jobs and the Economy
Our national economy has been driven into the worst recession since the Great Depression by unregulated greed and a national policy of neglect which disconnected Wall Street from Main Street. We cannot afford continual bailouts of corporations considered “too big to fail” while neglecting small business which is largest generator of jobs and growth.
Second Amendment
I was raised as an outdoorsman hunting the grasslands of North Texas during dove season, deer season, and all of the great hunting seasons we enjoy here in Texas. As an avid sportsman and firearms owner, I also enjoyed collecting firearms of all types and competing as a Cowboy Action Shooter by the name of “Shingles.”
I believe in a common sense approach which respects and honors our Second Amendment rights while protecting the law-abiding public.
Transportation
In Texas Congressional District 26, it is clear that laying more concrete and asphalt will never alleviate the present congestion of our highways and transportation corridors. America has the technology and innovation to move away from a transportation system built on the politics and dependency on foreign oil. With continuing rise of costs, instability, and finite supply of fossil fuels, the issue of transportation is now a matter of national security. This transition to national energy independence will come with its fair share of challenges.
Immigration
Our country's diverse culture and economy would not be what they are today without the contributions of men and women who have immigrated to our country since the founding of our nation. Today, our immigration system can't keep up with the demands of the 21st Century and is badly in need of reform and revitalization. Drug and human trafficking and spill-over violence-not to mention the ever-present threat of terrorism-threaten our borders and ports. Congress and the President must work through the political divisions on this issue to pass comprehensive immigration reform sooner, and not later.
Secure Our Borders
Our borders and ports must be secured to ensure America's safety. We must implement new technologies that improve security while coordinating with our intelligence agencies to track persons who immigrate to our country for work, education, or business for either temporary or extended periods of time. Newer, better technology and improved security along our country's borders will help fight spill-over violence, narcotics trafficking, and help quell the threat of terrorism.
Pathway to Citizenship
It is time to use common sense to apply a pragmatic pathway to residency, and eventually citizenship, for undocumented people who desire to follow the law and who are willing to embrace American values of hard work and family responsibility while contributing their fair share. This effort calls for streamlining the current citizenship and visa system by improving technologies and ending costly and inefficient backlogs.
3. If elected, what sorts of things would you hope to accomplish once you got to Washington?
New leadership in Washington for the citizens of Texas District 26. It is time to stop the name calling and bickering. We can disagree without being disagreeable. Shouting "Baby Killer" and "You Lie" may make for bad theater and worse politics. Debates should be based on evidence and facts and not slogans and sound bites. The merit of legislation is not whether it is liberal or conservative, from the left or right, or even Democrat or Republican, but whether or not it works for all the American people.
After nearly thirty years of practicing law, I believe I understand what representation means. The citizens of Texas District 26 have not been represented. "NO" is not an answer to the problems we face in this nation and it is certainly not a policy. We need leadership in this country who will do more than oppose and vilify. It is time to re-build the middle class have somebody in the room who will advocate for their interest and not special interest.
It is time for new leadership in Washington and not the same old worn out, failed policies of an entrenched politican whose opinons change with the winds of political fortune and are not anchored in the values of our citizens or the principles of our country. It is time to return Government to the People.
