Why
are you running?
America is the best concept for
good, prosperity, and freedom the world has ever seen and I’m tired of seeing
it lose its force in the world because of a gridlocked and ineffective
government. We’re losing ground on the world stage and we’re losing ground with
our own people as they lose faith in their government.
I think veterans from the new
greatest generation are a critical piece to making our country and government
healthy and working again. I’m tired of hearing how bad our country is, and how
it is destined to fail. We’ve been through tough times before, and I believe
our greatest days are ahead of us, if we elect the right leaders to get us
there.
I have the right mix of integrity,
character, responsibility, accountability, service and experience to lead the
types of coalitions that can get results for America and its citizens.
The 4th District is my home. I
grew up in Auburn, and my parents still live in the district in Lincoln. I
attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School and graduated from Placer High
School. I spent 12 years in local Scouting, reached the rank of Eagle
Scout and spent time in leadership of Auburn’s Troop 19 and summers in Soda
Springs and Truckee as a shooting sports and wilderness skills
instructor. I know the District and its people, and I know they want a
Representative who lives here, and will work hard for their interests in
Washington. I will keep an open door and work past gridlock. I will work
for jobs, individual liberties, roads and water infrastructure, rational
federal lands management, and ensure we keep our promises to America’s veterans
and seniors.
We need ethically strong dedicated
and motivated leaders to make tough and critical decisions for the future of
the 4th District and for America.
What
do you believe are your qualifications for this office?
I am a West Point graduate, Iraq
War combat veteran and Bronze Star recipient, with a combined fourteen years of
Active Duty and National Guard service, including thirty months deployed
overseas. My career also includes eight years as a business executive in the
building products industry and U.S. Intelligence Community. I am proud to have
earned endorsements from former U.S. Senator and California
Governor Pete Wilson, Congressman (Ret.) George Radanovich, The Fresno Bee, Combat Veterans for Congress PAC
and numerous County Supervisors.
I experienced first-hand the
consequences of defense and foreign policy decisions made in Washington. As an
executive in the building products industry and as a management consultant, I
experienced the challenges of trying to create jobs in the face of ever-growing
regulations and red tape, taxes, and other mandates coming from unaccountable
bureaucracies. As a life-long outdoorsman, I have seen how the federal
lands of our District have changed as resource questions have been stymied by
gridlock rather than guided by good science and sound management
practices. I have seen and experienced how decisions made in Washington affect
people, both for the good and for the bad, and as your Congressman my decisions
will be guided by what is best for the people of this District.
What
is your top priority currently?
My top priority will be to rebuild
middle class jobs. While most coastal areas of California now show some
jobs growth, this economic recovery bypassed most of the interior regions
including the counties of the 4th District. More critically, this economic
recovery skipped many of our middle class jobs, with job growth predominantly in
the higher and lower wages. Unemployment remains unacceptably high. Even
those with jobs face underemployment, working only part-time, and far too many
have simply given up and left the workforce.
Rather than tackling the recession
with actions to stimulate job growth, the federal government responded with decisions
that made things worse. Tax increases hurt investment and left families
with reduced incomes. New rules increased the cost of hiring new workers
and therefore decreased the likelihood that new workers will be hired. Continued
court rulings took federal statutes intended to conserve our natural resources,
and turned them into an ungovernable mass of rules that hinder natural resource
management and the jobs that depend on reasoned and balanced planning. A
continuing stream of new regulations has increased costs, threats of
litigation, and uncertainty to businesses trying to create jobs.
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