Self-Preservation At the Expense of Others and Our Nation

The courtship of Ms. Brown by some of her campaign contributors highlights a significant challenge we face as a nation as we:

1. Seek to reign in government spending and
2. Reduce our national debt.

I believe we will not be able to do either, when people knowingly or unknowingly hold self-preservation at the expense of others as their key principle.

I do not know of any other reason that would explain why staunch Republican businessmen and women would donate money to Corrine Brown, whose voting record casts her as a strong liberal and the antithesis to Republican interests. I say “staunch” because a large number of these Republican donors have a history of donating solely to Republican causes with the exception of donating to her. (Please go to this website. Search for those donors that are in the transportation and construction industries then type their name in this website to see a list of those to whom they donated.) I also believe that a “true” (which I think would be the same as “staunch”, but then again…) Republican believes in personal responsibility and small government (which means no handouts).

I have yet to meet a true Republican, white, black, green, yellow any color you choose, that respects Corrine Brown and I would think these donors would be no different. If these donors publicly supported her, I would have no beef. However, I have yet to hear any of these donors get up in front of an REC meeting to state their support for Ms. Brown and why others (Republican or not) should do the same. I bet you, none will.

I would support Ms. Brown, regardless of her political affiliation, if she pounded the table on issues important to her voters and our nation, such as:

1. We need to improve our education system so we can help our youth (& our future) survive in an increasingly competitive world;
2. Our workforce needs constant re-training to stay competitive;
3. We have become a nation of overweight and obese people, which makes it harder for us to compete and more importantly, will over burden an underfunded government medical system (aka Medicaid and Medicare);
4. We need to save more and rely less on our government; and
5. So on.
   

Instead I hear Ms. Brown pound the table on issues that pertain to her self-preservation, such as:

1. “Fair-districting” is unfair to her and
2. Political columnists do not have the 1st amendment right to freely state their opinion.
   

She is also very proud of her ability to raid the cookie jar to “deliver” handouts. These handouts increase our tax burden and led to a cycle of dependency, just like crack and meth. Some of these handouts amount to social welfare, but most amount to corporate welfare (i.e. earmarks), which it seems to me these executives so desperately seek for self (& wealth) preservation.

Fixing our nation will require us to replace our bad habits with good habits. It starts with us “just say[ing] no” to quote Nancy Reagan. I encourage these well-healed executives to help lead the way by example.

I walked the walks throughout the District to put a better representative in Washington and I will continue to walk the walk; I expect others that talk to talk to do the same. Conversely, if at anytime you believe that I have strayed, I expect you to hold me accountable as well.

One Is Known By The Company They Keep

Last week I met with some friends at Nikki’s Place, an Orlando soul food restaurant located in the district and pictured to the right. The friends were those that I made over the past year when I was on the campaign trail.

This is the second time I have eaten at Nikki’s. Each time the food has been, in a word: delicious. It seems I am not alone in my opinion. Nikki’s place has been nominated as one of the best soul food restaurants in Central Florida.

As I was paying my bill at the table, I was told of this distinction and asked to place my vote in favor of the restaurant online at www.gospelnow.net. This was unexpected and reminded me of a local incident about another firm giving away 'free meals.' It slipped out and I responded by asking our server with an innocent smile on my face if I would receive a coupon for a free meal for my vote.

While everyone at the table chuckled, my humorous jab at Corrine Brown’s recent gaffe bewildered our server. It seems she was unaware of Ms. Brown’s attempt to ** cough ** encourage people to vote. If she had then she had not consider it remarkable enough to give it a second thought.

Based on my observations and comments made by my friends, most in the community are unaware of Ms. Brown’s seemingly ethics violation and if they are, they are unaware that giving a paid inducement to vote is illegal.

One of my friends expressed a concern that when the news did become more widespread that it would give the black community 'bad press'. I understand and respect his fear because he is a proud man and rightly proud of his heritage. I responded to him that I thought the community could protect its pride by calling out Ms. Brown for her actions and deriding her for shedding negative light on the community. I believe if the community were to do that then it would most likely avoid a “black-eye” and possibly receive profound respect by the general population at large.

Post Toasties

No surprise. Corrine Brown soundly wins another term in Congress.

As we expected (please see my response to Bo’s comment pertaining to my ‘Yost Is Toast’ blog post) she handily beat Mike Yost. Ms. Brown received 61% of the vote. Mr. Yost received 36% of the vote and the remaining crumbs went to Terry Martin-Black.

These results line up with what our research predicted. As we noted 20% of the voters were undecided, but these voters lived in the inner city. These voters believe (correctly) Corrine Brown has accomplished little and more importantly feel she is an ineffective representative of the African-American community.

However, these voters chose her over Mr. Yost primarily because of Yost is of the 'wrong' party affiliation and that he did little to court their vote. I think the axiom, tried and true: "rather do business with the devil you know", holds true here.

Even though Ms. Brown won this election, her actions leading up to the election may put her in hot water. It seems she offered free meals for early voters. If this seeming ethics violation does not sink her career then we think the release of the Census results, and the decennial redistricting that follows, along with two amendments requiring the Florida Legislature to draw district boundaries without regard for partisanship that were approved by voters yesterday will go a long distance down the path of ending her vacation in Washington DC.

If True To Their Word, Republicans Will Cut Jobs

With the general election upon us next week, politicians seeking office are performing a full court press to deliver their message. Most Republican candidates seem to be stating popular catch phrases such as, will reduce government spending, lower taxes, reduce the size of government, etc.

Those phrases sound great, but the phrases are not new. Politicians have been stating them for ages, but our government is bigger today than it was 200 years ago, which leads me to wonder whether Republicans will have the backbone to 'walk the walk'.

Republicans can sure 'talk the talk'. However, if they are serious about reducing the size of the government and lowering taxes then I think they better start telling folks they will need to cut jobs, more specifically, jobs within the Federal government.

The Federal government is no different than most organizations. Arguably one of the largest cost centers for the government is wages and benefits (which include the hidden 'timebomb' of unfunded retirement benefits); therefore, to reduce spending - and the need for taxes, the number of positions will need to be cut.

Time will tell whether the Republicans will address this dirty little secret and more importantly, follow through on their rhetoric to reduce the size of our government.

When President Obama had to walk the walk by seeking to raise taxes to pay for his talk about providing benefits to all, he lost some of the goodwill he generated on the campaign trail. I suspect the same may happen to the Republicans once the press starts to publish news articles which contain stories of human suffering as a result of job cuts within Federal government agencies.

Therefore, I think the Republicans need to state a truthful, fair and balanced plan to the American people, a plan that will detail opportunities provided by a smaller government as well as the challenges to arrive at a smaller government. This plan needs to acknowledge possible financial setbacks by those who may lose their Federal government job. By articulating such a plan sooner rather than later and addressing the human element, I think the Republicans could gain the respect of the American people and in the process ward off any bad press that may come about from job cuts within the government sector.

Yost Is Toast

Yesterday Florida held its primary elections. In the Primary election, Mike Yost, who thinks he should be representing Florida's Third Congressional District, won the Republican primary with 8,758 votes (or 45.8% of total). The Democratic incumbent, Corrine Brown won the Democratic primary with 34,292 votes (or 80% of total) over her opposition candidate. Even though Mr. Yost won here, sadly I think he should realize that he is toast.

The results indicate that Corrine Brown should easily win the general election in November. She received more votes than the total number votes cast for all Republican candidates plus her lone Democratic opponent, 34,292 versus 27,720 or 55% versus 45%.

Based on my research in the district, the swing vote is with those in the inner city, an area Mr. Yost seems afraid to tread. Case in point, just look at Mike's website. Even looking closely, it is very hard to find pictures of the faces of people that make up the core of the district. Additionally, he does little to address the specific core issues in the district, such as extremely high unemployment (3x the figure he uses), crime, broken families, etc., which may be a sign of the 'anti-incumbent' times. As I walked and talked in the pre-primary explorations I found that these local concerns are the issues that resonate in the swing voters. I say the following sadly for Mr. Yost (because he has worked hard), I believe he will end up like all the other Corrine Brown opponents, a Loser with a capital L.

Human Nature Led To The Oil Spill In The Gulf

It has now been three plus months since BP’s Macondo oil well began spilling oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill has had little immediate effect on the people living in Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (FLCD-3); however, I believe the spill highlights the challenge we face in solving any problem, whether it is inner city poverty, unemployment or a disaster such as the oil spill. The challenge is us, more specifically, human nature.

In the case of the oil spill, BP is responsible, but so is the US federal government. The common element between these two entities is humans. Humans by nature want more of something (it) than less (i.e. greed), want it now versus later (i.e. impatient), and want it by incurring the least labor/cost (i.e. lazy). This type of human behavior has led to the invention of the remote TV control, the dishwasher, the washing machine, etc… This type of behavior has also led to the Macondo oil well spill.

BP wanted the well producing oil ASAP (i.e. greed & impatient). The company pursued actions that contained costs (i.e. greed & lazy) and allowed the company to proceed expeditiously, actions that in hindsight are now considered by all to be irresponsible. Obviously, BP forgot or just did not know my mother’s axiom, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Similarly, our federal government acted irresponsibly; the people running Minerals Management Service trusted the industry they were tasked to monitor instead of incurring the cost of time and labor to ensure proper oversight (i.e. lazy).

Government is not the solution. Neither is private enterprise. We, as individuals, are the solution. However, as individuals we can not solve large problems on our own, we need each other. As such, we should seek interdependence, but to achieve interdependence we should first seek independence. We must take responsibility for our own actions because once we do that, we can then hold others accountable for their actions and respect others who hold us accountable for own actions. Whether in private enterprise or government, I believe we will be able to achieve more when we all think of the consequences of our actions (i.e. cause and effect).

The question you may be asking is how does this all relate to FLCD-3? In the case of FLCD-3, the people need a hand-up, not a handout. Private enterprise will not do it because there is little money (i.e. greed) to be made in giving a hand-up; however, it is easier (i.e. lazy) for government to give a hand-out then designing/creating programs that help people stand on their own two feet.

It is in Corrine Brown’s best interest to "deliver" handouts to her constituents by taking other people's money (arguably those that live outside the district because they make more money than those in the district) via federal taxes because it keeps her in power (i.e. greed). I just wonder when her constituents will wise up to the difference between a handout and a hand-up and say enough is enough and seek more out of life (i.e. greed).

I suspect her constituents could care less where the money for the handouts comes from even though they should. I contend her constituents should care because I suspect it will become increasingly hard to take other people's money to continue these handouts. Once the handouts start to diminish, life will become harder. To paraphrase Margaret Thatcher, the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.

I contend those with the money should also care. I believe it is in their best interest to ensure that folks in communities such as those like FLCD-3 receive hand-ups not handouts. Both cost money (via government taxes of middle and upper class Americans), but hand-ups will eventually produce dividends and will help reduce the demand on the middle and upper class to pay for future government programs. In other words, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Get Involved! It Is The Only Way To Protect Your Interest.

Time flies. It has been more than two months since I last posted, which leads me to think about one reason why we, as a nation, are so frustrated with our (federal) government.

I suspect my challenges are similar to most at a very high level. We, as a nation, have more obligations/commitments than there is time in the day to accomplish (i.e. we attempt to fit ten pounds in a five-pound sack). Consequently, higher priorities, such as family, career, staying fit, etc…, take precedent over investing time and efforts in things such as, our government. As a result of not investing our time and efforts (except on Election Day) in OUR government, we wake up to find one day that we do not like what our government is doing (Please forgive me if I do not speak for you and you are satisfied; keep doing what you are because it seems to be working).

We are to blame for this problem. We are ceding control to those we have little to no influence over. We elect politicians who typically have the biggest campaign account. If neither you nor I gave them the money, where did it come from and what kinds of strings are attached to the money? Forget the strings, donors have greater access than non-donors to our politicians. Consequently, this access gives the donors a greater ability to influence the political process.

To offset this influence, we need to get involved. I am not asking you to donate money; I am asking to do something harder. Make phone calls; go door to door. It will be enlightening, fun and most of all it will be rewarding. Find someone you like and respect that is making a sacrifice to represent you. We need citizen politicians, not career politicians. The longer a career politician is in office the more likely he or she will end up representing their financial backers’ interest, which may be (... and probably is) opposite to your interest. If you choose not to get involved, please never say anything bad about our government because if you cannot walk the walk please do not talk the talk.

Get involved!

Oh, one last thing to think about it. If we had a smaller government (i.e. we govern ourselves individually) then we would not need to get heavily involved, would we? Sounds like a post for another day on personal responsibility.

Saving Lives vs. Rail Transportation

What is more important, saving lives or advocating railroad transportation? I asked myself that question after reading Teen pleads guilty in pizza murder in the Metro section of the April 23^rd, 2010 print edition of the Florida Times Union.

Obviously, saving lives is more important. However, for Corrine Brown I believe advocating railroad transportation is more important (Ms. Brown chairs the Railroad subcommittee of the Transportation committee; the only other committee she sits on is Veteran Affairs).

Without even asking Ms. Brown, I know she would whole-heartily disagree. Who would not? Is it not human nature to have some natural instinct to care for others? However, realities of our own individual lives may leads us to take action(s) in the near-term that conflicts with this natural instinct.

In the case of Ms. Brown and the Democratic Leadership, it made perfect sense to place her on the Transportation Committee when she was elected in 1992 for 2 reasons:

1. There are railroads, airports, ports and waterways in her district; and

2. She and the Democratic Party would more likely receive donation from companies and individuals in these sectors than they would in say….early childhood development, lifelong learning, and communities.

I do not fault the individuals and companies that have donated to Corrine Brown. I would expect them to. I am all for railroad transportation, but what I do expect is for my representative, Ms Brown, to focus on representing more of the district than a select few for her and her political party’s financial well being (I say political party because the Republican Party is just as guilty). If she truly cared about the district then she would have found a way to be on a committee that would have a greater positive impact on the citizens of Florida’s 3^rd Congressional District (CD-3).

The following table shows all the committees our representatives could sit on (can click on chart to enlarge).

Based on what you may know of CD-3, which do you think would be appropriate? When I surveyed voters in the district, an overwhelming majority selected Education and Labor first. Transportation was typically fourth on the list after Financial Services and Small Business.

If I have not helped you convince yourself, please look at the subcommittees for Education and Labor and Transportation shown below and think about which would have the most impact on the people in CD-3 (can click on chart to enlarge).

Back to the above mentioned news article. The story is similar to most news articles pertaining to CD-3, young black person commits a crime ….. Sometimes, news outlets report about community representatives (ministers, social workers, community activists, etc..) that speak out against the police for either going over the line or not doing enough to prevent such a crime. I could lead into personal responsibility, family unity, etc…being most important in preventing crimes, but the purpose of this bog entry is show that Ms. Brown could have done more. I could go as far as to say that she has blood on her hands. However, she is like most of our elected officials in Washington. She is concerned more about donations and running for office than doing what is right.

For the past 18 years she has spent approximately 10,000 hours (or 5 years if one assumes a full-time career) on transportation matters. Just think, if she spent that same amount of time on the Education and Labor committee then is possible that one life in the district could have been saved? I definitely think so and it is just example on why we need term limits. She and the Democratic Party are obviously not going to change. She is too well entrenched. Term limits would force her out and give us the opportunity to have better representation.

Term Limits = Voices Heard

Have you ever thought about the one thing that we can do today to help solve a large percentage of the problems associated with our Congress? I have, a lot. I conclude it is quite simple. We vote for candidates that support term limits. To better understand my thesis, I will explain the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ below.

The ‘Why’

The key benefit of term limits is that more candidates will run, which means that there will be a greater chance that our voices will be heard in Washington.

When was the last time that Corrine Brown went door to door as aggressively as I did? The answer was back in the 1990s. She now spends her time supporting special interest (her donors: individuals & PACs) possibly at places like football games. More specifically, she primarily supports railroads.

Should she not support early childhood development, lifelong learning, and communities? Yes, but there is no money in these areas, but there is money in railroads.

She has used the community’s goodwill to her and to her financial supporters best interest. No serious contender has run against her in a decade because the powers-to-be in the community (i.e. ministers, community activists, etc…) have not held her accountable, which is a crying shame.

However, Corrine Brown is not much different than most other representatives. Our representatives bow to these well-funded interests because they need the donations to stay in office. It is a win/win/lose situation. The candidate wins, the special interest wins (see below) because they know it is hard to vote out an incumbent absent a scandal and the community loses (District 3 still has high poverty, high unemployment, high crime, etc.).

Special Interest Wins

If not convinced, please think about this. Why do young, healthy people that choose to be uninsured now have to pay for insurance? Short answer, the well-funded interest (in this case, the insurance industry) paid-off your representative (through campaign donations) to make it happen in the recently passed healthcare bill. As a result of this bill, government will grow, which means we will pay higher taxes. One of those taxes will be hidden in the cost medical devices, which will be passed on to all consumers through insurance premiums.

If not railroads or healthcare, it will be something else in favor of well-funded interests until we receive term limits.

I know I have not connected the dots as well as I could, so I reserve the right to keep coming back to this point.

The ‘How’

Support is action, not talk. Once in office, our representative’s top priority should be term limits, similar to our current President’s making healthcare his top priority.

We know it will be a top priority when our elected officials do whatever they can to create a bill, vote on the bill and pass the bill to add an amendment to our Constitution whereby members of Congress can serve only ‘x’ number of terms. We will know it is a top priority when:

1. We see them on C-SPAN at 10:30 PM EST speaking on the floor with the same fervor that current members spoke about healthcare the past six months;

2. The Speaker of the House stands on the steps of the Capital and makes a proclamation that the bill is great for America similar to what the current Speaker did in support of healthcare; and

3. Other similar visible acts.

If we do not see such actions then we know it is not a top priority and we must act accordingly. We most vote for the best challenger that indicates that they will help create and vote for such a bill. If they fail to do so after being elected then we must act again. We vote for the best challenger (I do not care if the challenger is not as smart, not as nice, etc..All I care about is putting term limits in place). We keep doing this until our members of Congress are subject to term limits. It is that simple.

Last Thought

The Founders of our nation did not have to contend with term limits because life expectancy 200+ years took care of that.

My Email To Chairman Bernanke

Below you will see a copy of my email that I sent to Chairman Bernanke based on an April 7, 2010 news report in the Wall Street Journal entitled Bernanke Says U.S. Should Tackle Debt.

Did I expect him to respond? No. Why should I? He probably receives thousands daily and probably has a staff solely dedicated to reading his email. However, I was hoping, albeit remotely, someone from his office would respond. Anybody can talk the talk, but few will truly walk the walk.

I put my money where my mouth is; I just ran out of money (please see post below). However, I plan to keep walking and may be even start running. I may also be tilting at wind mills, but DAMN IT!, if we do not change, then a CRISIS will force us to change.

What we are currently experiencing is not a crisis. I realize and understand for those unemployed, it definitely is, but for our nation it is not. I plan to explore this topic in greater detail in a future post.

If Chairman Bernanke is truly serious about our debt - beyond just trying to ensure he pacifies owners of our debt (wink, wink - China) - then how hard is it for him to direct his staff to take some actions. With a little brainstorming, a few great ideas could pop out. My suggestions are:

1. Put together a one page talking paper for the masses which:

A. Can be easily consumed (not written to an 8^th grade level, but a 4^th grade level);

B. Highlights the challenges associated with our debt;

C. Highlights how we, as nation, may reduce our debt; and

D. Can be easily found and downloaded from the Federal Reserve website or sent to people in response to their emails;

2. Arrange to go to all the lobbyist firms and trade associations to help them see - requires a little salesmanship - the benefit(s) to their respective industries by supporting politicians that are committed to reducing the debt (currently politics is primarily about the money and we have allowed the these organizations to have too much sway over our elected officials, another future post);

3. Work with K-12 education groups to start promoting a better understanding of a sound fiscal policy (our children will bear the true cost of our debt; so should not we prepare them to handle it? – another future post); and

4. The list could go on.

I/we do not need Chairman Bernanke to perform some of the above-mentioned items. I/we can do it our selves. Even though I need to focus on my business and family as you probably would prefer doing, I am making time to work on this matter because I believe it to be of utmost importance. Hopefully, I can help you convince yourself and others of the same. Please read the September 4, 2009 opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal by John Fund for a possible start.

Copy of email to Chairman Bernanke:

Dear Chairman Bernanke:

Thank you for commenting yesterday on the challenges associated with our national debt.

I wholeheartedly applaud you for doing so.

However, I believe you cannot mention once and move on.

I strongly encourage that you pound the table daily on this matter.

We did not get here overnight nor will we get out of our mess overnight. I believe the only way our elected officials will tackle the debt is when those that help them get elected realize that it is important. The only way that will happen is if someone, such as you, makes it his or her mission to constantly sound the alarm.

I recently attempted a run for Congress as a citizen candidate primarily for this reason, but due to lack of funds I ended my campaign. The following link to my blog, http://flcd-3.blogspot.com/, highlights my short-lived, but enlightening campaign.

I would like to help you help our nation tackle this issue, please let me know how I may assist you.

Best,

James Gilman

What's Up Doc?

If you have read this post and want to see the most recent then click here (at the rate I have been posting lately, it could be one and the same, lol).

You may have been redirected to this blog by visiting www.votegilman.com. Please read the following to have a better understanding why I ended my campaign to represent Florida’s 3rd US Congressional District. I thank all my supporters and hope each of you will continue to follow this blog.

 

I suspect you may be wondering where I have been for the past three months. Well, I encountered several challenges that essentially culminated in late December 2009/early January 2010. As a result, I thought it would be prudent and financially sound for me to focus on my business, which I had neglected because I thought it could run on autopilot.

 

To best understand the challenges, I need to be more forthcoming on whom I am and what I originally sought to accomplish with this blog.

 

Who is James?

First, I am married to a beautiful bride and have 2 wonderful and adoring children. Professionally, I am a financial analyst, but have had held other varied positions in my 20 year career. I have always had a sense of civic pride and most everything I have done has been to build skill-sets with which to one day seek public office; however, I did little in those 20 years to be politically active, which in hindsight was a mistake that will be shown painfully clear below.

 

Why Blog?

In October 2008 at the height of the last election cycle, I decided I would seek federal office because I was and still am concerned about the direction our government and nation is heading (a post for another day). I started this blog in August 2009 as a way to document what I was learning about the citizens and issues of District 3. I thought the blog could be one way to gain people’s trust and confidence that I am qualified to represent the District in Washington. It had always been my intention to have a formal campaign website, but until it was built, I decided to use this blog as a surrogate.

 

Was There a Plan?

When I made the decision in late 2008 to run, I built a plan with the help of trusted advisers to accomplish my goal. One thing the plan required was for me to become self-employed so I would have greater control over my schedule. After landing one contract and working on landing another, I became self-employed in January 2009. Concurrently, I attempted to build-out a campaign organization. I knew I did not know much about running a campaign. I thought 2 years would be enough time to learn and recover from the mistakes I may make; however, I now know differently.

 

Money, Stupid!

A campaign is like a start-up. No!; a campaign is a start-up and here I was attempting to get 2 start-ups off the ground during one of the worst economic downturns we have experienced in several decades. While starting a new venture and building a campaign organization during an economic downturn may not be the wisest move, I was and continue to be a firm believer that anyone with a positive mental attitude can accomplish almost anything in reason.

 

However, in my case, my optimistic assumptions were tested and some if not most were proven wrong:

1. My business started slow and some contracts never materialized;

2. Donations for the campaign were extremely hard to come by;

3. I attracted few volunteers and some that I attracted would never start or would quit a day later;

4. The economy failed to take off; and

5. The list goes on.

 

The painful reality of my challenges hit in late 2009. I had collected little in donations to pay the approximate $11,000 fee to get on the ballot, so I started in earnest early December collecting signed petitions. I woefully underestimated the challenge and the costs involved (I would have known if I had participated in other campaigns previously). I quickly calibrated my plan, but I would have to invest most of my time in the field, which meant neglecting my business. I was not too worried; I still had one contract that would come through soon and as a result everything would be okay.

 

Murphy’s Law Still Applies

Well, Murphy of Murphy’s Law paid a visit. I received new information on MLK day that the above mentioned contract would not materialize anytime soon if it would materialize at all. While my family had been very supportive over the past year and I am sure they would have continued to be, I personally came to the conclusion that my family needed me to focus on my business. I just could not campaign about financial stability when my family was not financially stable. I had put us at risk; I had loaned money that we really did not have to the campaign and there was no guarantee I would get on the ballot. I had to stop the bleeding so I could fight another day. As such, I stopped actively seeking petitions and stopped actively fundraising. Now that the qualifying period is coming to an end, I can say with certainty that I will not be on the ballot.

 

Life Is Not Worth Living If You Do Nothing With It

Looking back on the last several months, I fell into a serious funk after I made the decision to stop actively campaigning. The past year has been fun; there is nothing more exhilarating than pursuing one’s dreams and aspirations. I encourage all people to chase theirs.

 

I will most likely run for office again, but priorities require me to focus on providing for my family, which I truly look forward to doing. In the meantime, I will continue to post to this blog because I have learned a lot. You would be the judge, but I believe this knowledge and insight could help District 3, Florida and our nation. So, stay tuned.