Economy

I support returning to a balanced federal budget. With an economy in recession, capital and credit markets in disarray, and the dollar’s value declining, it is dangerous for our Federal Government to be dependent on borrowing from foreign countries like China and Saudi Arabia.

I support reversing the tax holiday the wealthiest Americans were granted by the incumbent Congressman and President Bush in the 2001 tax bill. While wages and incomes for most Americans have been stagnant, and workers can barely afford gasoline to drive to their jobs, the wealthy grow wealthier. CEOs should not have an income tax rate lower than their secretaries.

I support plans for the purchase of defaulted homeowner’s mortgages under terms that will allow most people a reasonable means to work out their debt and stay in their homes. I support diligent regulation of capital markets so that homeowners will not suffer another mortgage crisis and so that our industry and national credit will be sound.

I will be wary of Free Trade that hurts America and will push to reexamine NAFTA. I support the philosophy that America needs to maintain the means of creating wealth rather than merely investing abroad and amassing wealth. Empty factories mean the creation of wealth has moved abroad. Empty factories mean that Americans are not working at good jobs that can provide a decent standard of living.

I will fight for a new U.S. Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield. The “Med Center” is a major employer and its 1930’s structures must be updated with a new prison hospital. I will not stand by and let the Med Center jobs move away because the facility became obsolete while your Congressman was not paying attention to federal projects in our District.

New Energy for America

America should pursue the opportunity to make a substantial investment in a clean energy future. Putting our great American ingenuity and productivity behind alternative and renewable energy sources, improvements in energy efficiency, and reductions in carbon emissions would help consumers and the environment and create jobs. We cannot continue to labor under the yoke of dependence on foreign energy. We should not continue to pursue failed experiments like the “corn-to-ethanol” scam, which has proved to be environmentally destructive, energy inefficient, and bad for consumers. The 2005 Energy Bill, which your present Congressman helped guide through Congress, provided tax breaks and subsidies for oil companies, some of which are the most profitable enterprises in the history of mankind. This bill must be repealed.

Defense

I have proudly served on active duty in the U.S. Army. I support a strong defense and will vote for war when needed.

An unnecessary war is a shameful thing. From its dishonest beginnings to its incompetent prosecution, the Iraq War has been a disgrace. To continue the quagmire with no end in sight would weaken our national defense. Therefore, I support, with other candidates for Congress, “A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq”.

We must have a defense posture that gives our Armed Forces the readiness to meet new threats as they develop. Your incumbent Congressman has been a leader in supporting the Administration’s misdirection and waste of military resources. Fighting on two fronts, our troops have become stressed to the breaking point. Their valor and fortitude deserves more than our gratitude, it deserves our practical and strategic support, on both the front lines and the home front. I pledge to fight for the equipment, personnel and training that will allow our soldiers to do their jobs. I will also support badly needed improvements to the shamefully inadequate services that support our veterans when they return home.

Law and Order

Law Enforcement will have no better friend in Congress than Richard Monroe. As a prosecutor in military courts martial, state court and federal court, I prosecuted a broad range of criminal activity, including drug trafficking, illegal immigration, and white collar crime such as bank fraud and corruption in the healthcare industry. We need to restore sentencing equality, suppress methamphetamine and ferociously confront violent crimes and child exploitation. I will work to keep Indian Casino gambling out of the Ozarks.

Illegal immigration is just that – illegal. Border and other enforcement is appropriate but inadequate. In addition to stronger enforcement, I support enhanced penalties for American employers of illegal aliens and measures to improve the agricultural economy of Mexico, which has been devastated by NAFTA. Cutting off the supply of wage depressing employment in America and easing agricultural misery in Mexico will do more than a fence to secure the homeland.

Healthcare

I believe all Americans deserve access to good healthcare. We must work towards universal health coverage for all. It is disgraceful that millions of Americans, uninsured or underinsured, risk illness or even death from lack of access to basic health services. This must stop.

The expansion of health coverage (Medicare Part D), forced through the House of Representatives by your present Congressman, and those he led, is a boon for drug companies, subsidizing them rather than using the market power of the government to insure the lowest and best price.

I would appreciate your input and support as we take on the challenge for you, the tax payer.