2nd US Congressional District Issues
Economoy | Creating Jobs | Drug Prevention | Bear Arms | Identity TheftECONOMY AND BUDGET
The lack of fiscal responsibility in Congress is one of the most serious threats we face as a country today. Congress continues to borrow against our children’s and our grandchildren’s future to avoid the political ramifications that may occur as a result.
Our country is a nation that consumes too much, saves too little and has to borrow huge amounts of money from abroad to finance our fiscal and trade deficits. Both political parties must begin to work together to solve this crisis now! The finger pointing and political posturing of the past several years has done nothing to resolve this very real threat. Inaction by Congress is threatening our quality of life.
The rising sea of debt this country is in and the resulting lowering of the value of the dollar are issues we need to honestly discuss and work together to change. As a result of inaction by our leaders, we are drowning in a sea of red ink. Both sides of the aisle in Congress share responsibility in what is shaping up to be a real fiscal crisis.
An individual need go no further than to examine the two largest government entitlement programs: Social Security and Medicare. If Medicare and Social Security aren't taken into the "Congressional Garage" for repairs soon, both programs will be wiped out by 2019 and 2041 respectively. The problem becomes even worse when you consider that Social Security is running a surplus right now and instead of investing the extra cash right now to ensure the program is there for our kids and grandkids, Congress is spending the surplus on other government operations. In just nine short years the program will be paying out more than it takes in and be well on its way to insolvency. I'm 59 years old. I want to collect my Social Security knowing my children will be able to do likewise!
Americans are fed up with politics as usual. I believe that when it comes to our economic future and protecting our quality of life, we want real change in Washington D.C. Teamwork is part of the answer to this threat. The days of "bringing home the bacon" (earmarks) has been taking cash in the form of taxes from each of us and our families in disproportionate amounts to pay for it and all in an effort to get re-elected!
Our next Congressman needs to be a team player and focus on the global economy and the need for government to make it easier for Americans to prosper and businesses of every size to flourish. We need to give our workforce the training and education they need to compete. We don't need bigger government, more debt and increased taxes.
Economoy | Creating Jobs | Drug Prevention | Bear Arms | Identity TheftCREATING JOBS
Our economic future is dependent in part on the ability of American businesses of all sizes to develop and expand in the global market. We must assist American businesses in developing programs that educate and train our work force to be competitive on a global scale. Our leadership in Congress must begin to work to reduce the sea of red ink our nation is swimming in. We must take steps to ensure that the value of our currency will not further erode.
The recent failure of Boeing to secure the U.S. Air Force Tanker contract is an excellent example of our inability to compete in a global economy. It is extremely difficult for American businesses to compete when foreign businesses have the government support in training and education EADS now enjoys.
The size of government continues to grow and the growth of new American business is declining. We can't succeed to create new family wage jobs if this trend continues. We need to support American business know how and our system of education in order to reverse this trend.
Increased business taxes, fees and personal income taxes all discourage business from developing and expanding. Venture capital that is needed to research and develop new competitive global products continues to be hard to come by because of all the government related expenses American businesses are now required to pay.
There is something wrong with the concept of American businesses manufacturing their products and parts outside of our country in order to ensure enough profit to be successful. We have to turn that trend around and make it attractive to American business to manufacture all of their products back in the United States!
America has the best the world has to offer. Many of the world’s best educated and talented people come here to work. Our leaders in Congress have lost sight of what used to allow American business to grow and compete with anyone in the world! Too much regulation and government red tape has slowed our job production and the creation of new family wage jobs.
We live in changing times and have to learn to adapt quicker to the challenges being thrown at us in this global market. Freedom must be given to American businesses to move quickly within the marketplace. Our government must support and trust American business more if adequate family wage jobs are going to be created at a pace needed to bring us out of this slumping economy.
Economoy | Creating Jobs | Drug Prevention | Bear Arms | Identity TheftON DRUG PREVENTION
As the Snohomish County Sheriff for the past 12 years and a law enforcement officer for more than 35 years, I understand the far reaching negative effects drug addiction can have on a community. It is imperative that we have properly funded drug prevention strategies in place to combat addiction and reduce illegal drug use.
Methamphetamine use kills brain cells after only being ingested a few times. The addiction it produces in the user is so powerful that the user wants nothing else than to find and use more of the drug. The addiction is so powerful that the treatment for it is long and difficult.
Drug addiction is NOT an isolated thing that only involves the drug user. Drug addiction CANNOT be successfully reduced by law enforcement alone! Addiction has far reaching effects on everyone around it. Addiction affects our immediate families, our extended families, our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers and our entire community. Drug abuse leads to behavior patterns that eventually blur right from wrong and almost certainly leads to criminal behavior. Prevention is a vital and key component to any effective reduction strategy. It is just as important as enforcement and treatment.
Drug prevention strategies can work in conjunction with treatment and enforcement if we properly fund them. Just throwing money at the problem won’t work. When I came to be Sheriff, meth use was the worst I have ever seen it in my entire law enforcement career. I witnessed people of all ages become slaves to this drug and their lives and the lives of people around them become ruined. Without proper prevention strategies in place that address our youth about the dangers of illegal drug use, we cannot effectively reduce illegal drug use. Strategies like Drug Court, Teen Courts, Youth Meth Summits and citizen-based groups such as "Lead On America" can be extremely effective in reducing the number of drug houses and users in any community. When prevention programs such as these are in place and allowed to succeed communities are safer and better places to live. A safer community pays less in taxes to support jails and support for families no longer supporting themselves.
The Sheriff's and Police Chiefs in the 2nd Congressional District have been working together as a team to develop proactive prevention policies since the year 2000. These policies have reduced the number of drug houses and assisted in returning once-addicted otherwise good people back into their communities to become successful once again. In Snohomish County, we were able to educate over 10,000 school age children about the dangers of meth and other drugs. We formed a citizen-based prevention group known as "Lead On America" that is still in operation today and responsible for shutting down many drug houses and returning entire neighborhoods and communities back to the people who live there. Thousands of tax dollars have been saved through our efforts.
When we reduce drug addiction in our communities, we reduce the crimes that are associated with it. When we make our neighborhoods safer and free from crime, we improve our overall standard of living. Our efforts in Snohomish County and in many other places in the 2nd Congressional District are excellent examples of how teamwork between government and the citizens we serve can solve community problems.
Economoy | Creating Jobs | Drug Prevention | Bear Arms | Identity TheftON THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
A couple of years ago, Wendy and I were hosting a member of a Rotary Group Study Exchange from Southern Thailand. Our guest Mai was a Palm Tree Farmer who spoke very broken English. This was his very first visit to America.
At first we all struggled with communication, but we eventually were able to understand one another enough to have a great visit. Mai marveled at our freedoms and especially enjoyed our freedom of travel. The one thing he was amazed about most was my gun collection and our ability as Americans to possess them.
Mai took many photographs of all of my hunting rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers. He had me take photographs of him holding many of them so he could show his friends back home. He explained that he was not allowed by his government to have so many guns. He had always heard Americans could do this and he was very envious. Mai told me I was "so lucky to own them and be free."
I have been around guns my entire life. My parents were hunters and they taught my sister, brothers and I how to shoot and be responsible gun owners. My high school graduation gift from my parents was a 12 gauge shotgun that I still own. I began hunting with them when I turned 10 years old. It has been a way of life for me ever since.
I cherish my right to own my guns and will always fight to make sure this freedom is never taken away.
Economoy | Creating Jobs | Drug Prevention | Bear Arms | Identity TheftIDENTITY THEFT
What once was thought of as the crime of the future, identity theft is very much the crime of here and now. Identity theft destroys a person’s credit and gives them years of grief in trying to fix it.
As sheriff, we attacked identity theft with new technology and hard work that warned potential victims sooner and locked up crooks longer. Working together, investigators from the prosecutor’s office and sheriff’s department opened a computer forensics lab that allowed us to dig deeper into the hardware and software Snohomish County law enforcement officers seize as part of identity theft cases.
The new computer lab was part of a beefed-up emphasis on identity theft, which had been heavily linked to methamphetamine use and is another predominant problem in Snohomish County.
Investigators discovered area residents whose identities were stolen from a local tax preparation service. Their names, addresses, Social security numbers and employers’ names were part of the files discovered on a computer connected to a suspect in the case. That computer also had software to create counterfeit checks and credit cards.
We want to evolve as the crime evolves and not just play catch up. Congress needs to give local law enforcement agencies more resources to combat these types of crimes. Our Congressman should lead this fight and I’m just the Sheriff who can and will make that happen.
Economoy | Creating Jobs | Drug Prevention | Bear Arms | Identity Theft
