Public Security

Public Security

As your Congressman, I will work my heart out for Peace, Prosperity, and Justice for all.

I will do my best to guarantee that all laws are enforced fairly, to defend our fundamental rights of freedom of speech, freedom to worship G-d, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. Some officials pronounce the word Justice as "Just Us." It's time to end this political double-speak, and working together, we must end it now.

Securing our nation's future means protecting our Quality of Life, as we:

• Strengthen the Middle Class by first reducing tax cuts for the wealthy to invest in small business programs, college loans, and vital health and education services;

by renegotiating trade deals to make them Fair - instead of Free; by balancing our budgets as we reinstitute Pay-As-You-Go; by eliminating unfunded federal mandates; by protecting the right of workers to form effective unions, everywhere in these United States; by defending collective bargaining, everywhere in the world; by driving corporations out of politics; and by establishing public financing of our elections.

• Elect Strong and Smart Leaders to Bring an End to our Involvement in the Civil War in what once was Iraq, and Win the War against Extremism. We are engaged in an Iraqi conflict projected to cost more than $2 trillion and saddle our next generation with a debt they are unable to repay. It is time to develop a smart and strong solution - other than by making war in the wrong places.

I strongly believe we must do whatever it takes to protect America from terrorism, and keep all hostilities off our shores. Our brave fighting forces have performed magnificently throughout the hostilities in Afghanistan and Iraq. Yet, as many retired U.S. military generals have repeatedly stated, Washington D.C Republicans failed in three critical areas: they went to war in Iraq based on lies and deceptions without a winning plan, failed to provide our troops with necessary equipment, and failed to win and secure the peace after capturing and imprisoning Saddam Hussein.

Even more importantly, Washington, D.C. Republicans have failed to keep the focus on those who really attacked us on 9/11 - Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. Washington, D.C. Republicans have a record of incompetence and failure: failure to secure our borders, failure to secure our ports, failure to implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission on Homeland Security, and failure to keep the focus on finding and destroying Osama bin Laden and his associates.

Bush took the wrong turn, and we're all paying the price for his poor judgment, and several thousand heroes have paid the ultimate price. Before G.W. Bush became President, we went to 7/11. Now, we all talk about 9/11.

Make no mistake. On 9/11, we were attacked by very intelligent, extremely determined, and well-financed enemies who intend to destroy the United States. Given the poor judgment thus far of Washington D.C. Republicans, Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda extremists may just win.

It is time for a change. We need new leadership, someone who is strong and smart.

• Make America More Secure by considering three initial decisions: first, implement all of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission on Homeland Security; secondly, secure our own borders; and thirdly, reduce the threat of nuclear weapons.

We must also strengthen our defensive options by developing more agile special forces. These moves will begin to make America more secure.

• Support Jobs at Home by closing corporate tax loopholes that encourage large corporations to ship American jobs overseas.

• Invest in Education and End Unfunded Mandates. We must make universities and technical colleges more accessible and affordable, and fully fund No Child Left Behind programs.

• Honor all our Veterans by securing health care benefits for them and their loved ones, not by funneling more tax dollars to Halliburton via insider, no-bid deals. We must never, ever "cut and run" from Veterans who defended all of our hard won freedoms.

• Hold Elected Officials Accountable for their bad judgment and dishonesty by strictly applying all public integrity laws.

• Establish a Living Wage, not a minimum wage — one that is sufficient to raise and educate our next generation as we defend and protect effective collective bargaining both at home and abroad.

• Protect our Environment because cleaner air, water, and soil are quality of life challenges, not political wedge issues.

• Secure our Retirement and Pensions by heading off schemes designed to make both Wall Street and Big Insurance richer by privatizing Social Security and Medicare. Social Security is our sacred contract between generations of Americans, and we must never, ever abandon our seniors.

• Reduce our Dependence on Foreign Sources of Oil by insisting that energy companies finally deliver on their promises to develop and market new energy sources and technologies that don't use fossil fuels. It's time to become an energy independent nation, and we can do it if we elect strong and determined leaders whose only interests are those of ordinary citizens - not the oil cartels.

These are some of the challenges we face together. I strongly believe there is a better way to do things, a way forward, even though our current Public Health care delivery system is near collapse, and Public Integrity is at an all-time low.

Our sense of Public Security is also threatened by a political regime that divides one citizen from another.

But by working together, we will strengthen communities across Wisconsin's 8th CD and around the country.

We can win this fight for America's future - right here and right now.

http://www.kagen4congress.com/kagensecuritypolicy.html