"It is no longer ideals and issues that win political races in America, it is name recognition and big money."
Coors, Kerry (Heinz) and Fowler: What does Pete Coors, John Kerry and Charles Fowler Have in Common? They all three have the courage to enter into the rough and tumble political arena and run for office. But only one of them can actually relate to the issues that face the average American. Only one of them is willing to fight for the ideals of democracy. Are the political pundits correct when they say: "It is no longer ideals and issues that win political races in America, it is name recognition and big money."
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (PRWEB) April 14, 2004--I was just toying with the idea
of launching a Senate Campaign until I received a letter from a fellow
Republican. I understood the premise of this letter and took no offense. But
there was one sentence that bothered me.
"It is no longer ideals and
issues that win political races in America, it is name recognition and
money."
Now what is troubling about this most, is that it is true. The
fact that a candidate can be elected without taking a clear stand on all of the
issues, without ever being challenged in honest debate and without articulating
a clear vision for America is distressing. When I began to really think about
that statement is when I determined to follow through with this campaign of
fresh ideas and call for a reformation in American political
campaigns.
This election is one of the most crucial elections in our
nation's history. And it is already proving to be one of the most impassioned.
Unfortunately across America in our Congressional races, we are hearing the same
old "talking points" with nothing new added to the political debate. We are
hearing the sound of echoes across the country, the echoes of marketing
consultants, policy advisors and political pollsters.
Can you hear the
echoes:
-Lower Taxes
-Improved Education
-Second Amendment
Rights
-Family Values
All of the candidates say it, but what does
it mean. We are still hearing the echo of the debate from years gone by.
Unfortunately, what we are not hearing, are the voices of clarity, of vision and
the exchange of new concepts and fresh ideas.
The political pros in this
business are very generalized with nothing specific, nothing of substance to
offer the American voter. Many of their stances are so unclear and have nothing
definitive to say, so they can easily waffle around these issues at election
time. I guess that is why they are called "politicians."
With nothing to
get excited about the voters are bored to complacency and just stay home on
election day. So many Americans lack the motivation to exercise our most
fundamental freedom, the right to vote, they don't even bother to
register.
Personally, I do not think it is actually the voters fault. I
lay the blame squarely at the feet of the many lawyers, half the Senate which
are millionaires and all of the professional politicians who seem to be the
choices we have, usually the lesser of two evils.
Well, since I have
proposed a sort of reformation in American politics, in hopes of a fresh wind to
blow through our political campaigns, let me start things off with a few
specific proposals of my own:
More Funding for High Education
First of all, we can and should find more funding for our Colleges and
Universities in America. There is more than enough government waste that can be
slashed in order to accomplish this goal. If we don't accomplish anything else,
we must find the funds to help lower tuition rates and offer practical
scholarships, grants and loans for our students.
Like most Americans, I
worked in order to attend college and graduate school. How much more could I
have received out of that effort if I had been given just a small amount of
assistance at times. This must be a real priority for Colorado in the future and
not just a campaign slogan. It is the future of our children that is at stake
here.
More Tax Credits for Tuition
I would also propose that any
and all tuition payments from College entry, all the way to Doctoral Programs
would be completely tax deductible. It is time the government took the tax
burden off of students and promoted higher education again.
More Funding
for Rural Education
In addition I would propose a Rural Education Bill
that would guarantee kids in rural areas the same quality of education available
in other school districts and insure the funding is there to protect the
salaries of our public school teachers. If vouchers are the wave of the future,
then we must also guarantee our public schools have a level playing field and
that all educators have equal opportunity, whether in public schools or
private.
Regular Town Hall Meetings From Cortez to Sterling and All
Points in Between
It was Abraham Lincoln who said it best:
"No
man is good enough to govern another man without that other man's consent."
Nothing scares me more than someone who knows, with certainty, what is
right for me. My role in the United States Senate, if elected, will be to
"represent the people" of Colorado. Because I really do care, I will listen. If
I told the media my best qualification for the Senate, is that I will listen to
the people of Colorado. They would probably say: "Huh? What?"
But when I
personally look at a candidate I want to vote for someone that I feel
comfortable with, someone who will have an open door once they are elected and
would sit down and listen to what their constituency has to say. I would vote
for a good listener. Someone who is open, honest and humble enough to listen to
what someone else has to say. Someone who is willing to listen to both sides of
an issue with an open mind.
Whoever wins this Senate race in Colorado
will probably be our voice in Washington for the next six to thirty years.
Listen, there will be alot of changes in the next six to thirty years and I want
someone in the Senate that will listen.
Cut Government Waste
An
estimated $15 billion a years is spent on what we call "pork." This money is
wasted blatantly and without remorse on everything from the eradication of brown
tree snakes to golf videos in Ireland. One classic example is the $393 million
"road to nowhere" in the Natchez Trace State Parkway in Tennessee. An Interior
Department official laments that it is a nice road and such ashame that nobody
ever uses it. There are many well documented books on this nauseating subject.
The point being that $15 billion used correctly could bring about something
positive and productive for America.
Efforts to Support "Made in the
U.S.A."
It is also time for us to promote goods and products that are
made in America. I would support tax breaks and other incentives for retailers
who sell products that are "Made in the U.S.A." I would support every effort to
bring home jobs and create new and better jobs for all Americans.
Real
Tort Reform
It is also time to limit malpractice claims and put a stop to
all of this needless civil litigation. We are losing too many good medical
professionals because of these out of control law suits. But I have to be honest
with you, Tort Reform will only come when we stop electing all of these lawyers
to public office. This is another reason we need citizen legislators. How do you
think we got into this mess to begin with?
Military Pay
Raises
Next on my agenda would be to fight for military pay raises and
insist that Congress break this deadlock and give our active duty military the
kind of pay increases that they deserve.
Funding for Veterans
Benefits
Listen, we ask our troops to risk their lives in battle to
protect our freedoms, so it is our God given responsibility to make sure that
our veterans have excellence in health care, are given more than adequate
benefits and retirement in order to enjoy a quality of life that their service
to our country has merited. We can no longer allow Congress to play political
games with this, for this issue must also become a real priority.
Protect
Working Families From the Department of Labor's Proposed Overtime
Regulations
Because many of todays Republicans are employees too. We need
to safeguard the rights of workers. The Department of Labor's regulatory impact
analysis is flawed in so many ways, its numbers have no credibility. The
Economic Policy Institute’s study demonstrates that the paychecks and work hours
of millions of workers are at stake in this rulemaking. If the Department wanted
to preserve the current law's overtime protections, it would have to withdraw
this rule and rewrite it. The Department should eliminate loopholes and clarify
the rules in ways that preserve or expand overtime protection, rather than
weaken it. There is no reason for workers to sacrifice their right to one of
this country's bedrock entitlements.
The Harkin amendment, which permits
changes in the rule to guarantee additional overtime protection for low-income
workers, while prohibiting changes that would eliminate protection provided by
current law, is clearly the best answer for America’s working men and women both
Republican and Democrat.
Protect Religious Liberties
Did you ever
think the 10 Commandments would come under such attack in our nation?
Did you ever think that marriage would be anything else but one man and
one woman?
Did you ever think that it would be unconstitutional to have
your child say the pledge of allegiance in school?
Did you ever think
that the Supreme Court would rule that virtual child pornography would be
constitutional?
Did you ever think that the IRS would impose an absolute
ban on all speech that may be regarded as "political" by your pastor or head of
any house of worship?
I am determined to fight for the fundamental
principles of the free exercise of religion and the freedom of speech in
America. The courts have no right to take out the Ten Commandments or suppress
religious freedoms as they are doing.
Protect Civil Liberties
Last
but not least, and certainly not the end of my list of priorities for America;
are our civil liberties. It is now time to fix the USA PATRIOT ACT and defend
our civil liberties and the Bill of Rights at home. I will join Senators Larry
Craig, Mike Crapo, John Sununu and others in support of the SAFE ACT which will
significantly modify the USA PATRIOT ACT to not only protect our country against
terrorism, but also protect the Constitution of the United States by defending
our civil liberties at the same time.
The First Amendment survived the
Civil War and many other times of national crisis and the First Amendment will
survive this War on Terror also.
It is my firm belief that the best
leadership for the future of this country will be found in citizen legislators
who are supported by grassroots campaigns and who will go to Washington and take
issue by issue with great caution and care on behalf of their constituencies.
And with that kind of direction we can guarantee the faith declaration of one of
our great American Presidents:
"A government of the people, by the
people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth."
- Abraham
Lincoln
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Charles Fowler for Colorado
Post
Office Box 5532
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80931-5532
719-392-1823
http://www.charlesfowler.com
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/4/prweb117959.htm