"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 12, 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 (http://www. charlesfowler. com)
