http://www.gpb.org/election/press-club-debates

Here is a link for the Atlanta Press Club candidates debates. You be the judge.

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In America today, many of the choices, decisions and consequences we make individually and collectively are interwoven and the sooner we realize this fact, the better off we will be.   In the recent past, the “us verses them” mentality has splintered our country and brought us to our current state of confusion and descent. 

Education

The community as a whole must work together to ensure that our children learned in a safety and encouraging environment.  Parents, teachers, administrators and children themselves should be charged with this task because to many of our tax dollars are funding unproductive schools and today’s ill-prepare youth could be tomorrow’s drug addicted criminals who robs any and everyone in our community.

Food, Energy and the Environment

My years of employment with the United States Congress brought home the importance of agriculture in everyone’s lives because none of us can live without a safe and affordable food supplied by American farmers, producers and ranchers.  When the Congress finalized the new comprehensive Farm Bill, I wonder in the kid reaching for snack after school realizes the agriculture industry works from sun up to sun down to produces the food and fiber many take for granted. 

We must recognize that rural development in farmland is vital since our farmers today are part-international trader, part-economist, part-conservationist and part anti-terrorist.  I know you may wonder what role farming plays in the global fight against terror but we must remember that developing renewable energy sources reduces our dependency on foreign oil.  And as a moderate, I hope that our farmers will experience increased international marketing opportunities by supplying foodstuffs and better farming methods to undeveloped nations as a goodwill gesture to balance our military might—remember that the American eagle has any olive branch in one talon and arrows in the other.  Interwoven.

We must strike a reasonable balance between protecting the air, soil and water and economic development since God made us stewards of the land.  Our agriculture research universities are leading the way in invocative farm practices that produce better yield while reducing impact on the environment.  For example, peanut shells are being used as cat litter and wheat stalk waste is being made into office furniture and fuel.  Future developments in agricultural machinery will reduce use of migrate farm workers—even on delicate crops like tomatoes.  Interwoven.

Crime

The statistics and facts on crime in America are staggering and the standard “lock the them up and throw away the key” response is politically advantageous yet financially and culturally questionable.  Make no mistakes about it; I am for the stern punishment of criminals.  However, I have come to realize since I started monitoring crime policy in the early 1990s that crime is a result of the failure of the family, the schools and the individual.  A year in federal prison cost over $26,000 and we are not counting the governmental cost of providing for the inmates’ dependant children while he or she is a dependant himself or herself.  We dare not forget the cost of property loss and victims’ lives or astronomical healthcare cost of violent crime.  I proudly support the White House’s  Faith-Based Initiates which encourage community and church efforts to improve our communities.

I have always been a support of Second Amendment gun rights so Americans can defend themselves from sick-mined criminals. We must win the domestic war on terror so decent people can live without constant fear from Bin Laden nor Ben down the street.

There are no easy solutions to these societal ills but answers started with a return to core family values as Bill Cosby stated in his recent book Come on, People.  While some congressional and community leaders wait for a governmental response, I say we start now by supporting and acknowledging the majority of citizens who are positive and law-abiding people and collectively stating that others end their negative costly activities and behaviors. Tax dollars are being gobbled up to address problems that are needless.  Interwoven.

National Security

We were attacked by sicked-minded cowards—zealots who murdered unarmed men, women and children in an unprovoked manner.  Our nation responded and will always respond and we support our brave military.   The traditional battlefield wars of our grandfathers are history since today the fight is not town to town but house to house—room to room.  The enemy does not wear traditional uniform nor insist in clearly defined countries.  Face facts, we are fights wars in countries where the locals themselves are often hostile to our troops.  But, we will fight these wars because we are the world only superpower and unchecked aggression leads to eventual calamity. 

How we arrived at the current international climate requires review of our history.  American foreign policy for the last 100 years centered on the concept that if we were in good standing with the leader of a nation we were fine.  This standing often involved trade, resources and military installations.  One problem with these arrangements is that past American presidents often gave secondary regard to the treatment and lives of the people of these places.  So, as the leaders enriched themselves and lived lavishly, the people sometimes starved with images of the American president smiling with their so-called leader etched in their minds…i.e. the Shah of Iran. 

It is interesting to learn from people from China, the former Soviet Union, Cuba, and World War II Japan that the average American did not have a constant desired to kill them personally—yes, we did want to see democracy come to them but not hatred on a personal level.  We must remember this history as we deal with our current worldview.

We will fight those who mean us harm with the full power of the greatest military ever.  We should simultaneously work to ensure that the people of the world better understand that the heart of the American people is not evil or filled with hate.

I am encouraged by the sentiment Presidents Kennedy and Reagan drew from John Winthrop and the Gospel of Matthews 5:14-16.  We are the shining city upon a hill and the eyes of all people are upon us.  America’s good works around the world are the beacons of light that combats those who would wrongly demonize us. 

Jobs  

As a nation, we must stop exporting job opportunities aboard.  In the modern high-tech world, an unemployed American worker might receive a call regarding his overdue student loan from a person in a call center in India making a few dollars an hour.  Our children must be prepared to compete with the world for jobs.  While monitoring the military hazard from Iran and South Korea, we must also keep a watchful eye on the economic emergence India, China and others.

In this part of Georgia, elected officials should work in partnership with the community to create a climate that attracts new and various opportunities.  Honesty, new industry insist on a well-trained, fully focused workforce and all the incentives in the world can not counterbalanced the fact that Johnny can’t read the manual or Sue is not a serious worker.

Older Americans

The fastest growing group in America is senior citizens and we should always respect and protect them.  My blood boils when I think about seniors who are afraid to sit on their porch at night or walk to the corner store in the afternoon.  Some might say God bless these besieged people; I say God put us here to help them as your children will help us in the future.  

Also, the reality of modern medicine and healthy lives dictates that Americans are living longer and must plan for retirement income, housing and health care that extends decades longer than their grandparents.  Congressional policy should encourage situations where older Americans can live in their own homes and with family if they choose.  Of course, the Social Security system must be strengthen.       

Healthcare

If you told the average American in the early 1980s that health care would be a luxury to many Americans in 2008, they would have had a hearty chuckle at your expense.   But the current health care crisis is no laughing matter because working people are forced to choose between the pills and pasta.  We also realize that the uninsured are using the emergency room as a doctor’s office and the cost is passed-on to everyone else.  While the healthcare debate will be one of the most important discussions facing the next president and Congress, we know that southern sensibility can solve many of these problems.  For example, regular doctor visits and prevention can address health issues before they become serious, costly and deadly.  Computer technology can significantly reduce billing errors and investigate fraud.

Americans must take personal responsibility for eating, exercising and activity decisions that lead to poor health—the government can not protect you from you.

Governmental Operations

While some in Washington do not want to admit it, the federal government was never intended to be the “fix all” to every problem every Americans face.  I sincerely want people to understand this point so they can function accordingly.  Far to often, those who have contributed the least are the same ones who drain the temporary safeguards provided my other taxpayers.  The role of a congressperson is to act as a liaison between the federal government and the people.  This situation includes truthfully informing the citizen about federal budgetary limits.  We must also use scarce resources wisely to ensure every tax dollars goes to good use.

I could see the crisis with Hurricane Katrina come to the gulf region because I wondered if Georgia was ready for a similar situation.  While the storm was still in the southern Gulf of Mexico, I, like many Americans, knew there were thousands New Orleans residents without the resources to evacuate rapidly or who were reluctant to leave if the storm missed their area because of possible looting.  Without playing the blame game, I am sadden by two facts: the federal government did not fully understand all of the people who live in that region and citizens who choose to live on the coast must be have disaster plans interwoven with the governmental warning systems.   Preparation and responsibility are part of President Kennedy’s question about what we should do for our nation. 

I recognize that much ofAfrican American Georgia is moderate to conservative but the Democrats get that support because GOP strategists don’t know real people and direct candidates away from our community.  They think all African Americans are the images they see in music videos.  But, some candidates know better and they deserve our support because logic dictates that a sensible Republican or two could make for a productive dialog.   

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