In better times it may have seemed entertaining to send Mr. Sanders, with his extreme and radical ideas, to Washington in an effort to amuse and befuddle his co-conspirators in the destruction of our government. Today, we see our National Government on the verge of self destruction with an unbridled expansion that threatens to enslave us and our children with debt and regulation that we may never escape. It is no time to reelect someone who will deliver more of the same.

While I am sure that there are many who are better prepared for the task - I would consider it a rare honor and privilege to run for such an important position. I have for years watched as the all powerful Federal Government has seized ever increasing control and authority over every aspect of our lives. While much of this “power” was originally vested with State and Local Authorities, it was the timidity of those officials that allowed their responsibilities to be spirited away to Washington where the citizenry no longer could exercise any degree of control.

The Founding Fathers envisioned the relationship between the Federal Government and the individual citizen as almost invisible. “That Government is best which governs the least, because its people (will) discipline themselves” Thomas Jefferson. Today most would agree that the exact opposite is true - the Federal Government intrudes into every aspect of our daily life; controlling, regulating, restricting and confiscating everything in sight. It is time for this to change!

Many politicians believe their “jobs” are dependent on having the government in a constant state of crisis, allowing them to portray themselves as guardians of their constituents – in fact,  they are the creators and perpetuators of  the destructive conditions they feign to resist.

I have listed some of the areas where I believe that we can regain control:

Joblessness - We must work to return our Nation to full employment. The current campaign in the media to confuse and mystify the true unemployment figure of over eighteen percent (18%) by intentionally not counting the chronically unemployed and using other statistical acrobatics, does nothing to improve the situation and erodes what little trust in government that remains. We need a plan to get America back to work in real jobs, not phony make work schemes that only worsen the problem while disillusioning and disheartening those, who through no fault of their own, find themselves out of work. These jobs must come from the private sector where labor creates wealth - the public sector creates nothing and the expansion of government employment only worsens our economic crisis.

Taxation - We must restore an equitable system of taxes and revenue collection which is neither coercive nor oppressive. We must have a system that treats every citizen alike - a system that is fair to every citizen whether they are wealthy, middle class, or of modest means. The idea of punishing the rich for being successful is insane, just as giving them special privileges and allowances is equally absurd. Replacing the current system of taxing “earned income” with a National Sales Tax is one of the keys to resolving the inequities in our current taxation scheme.

Interest Rate Manipulation- Over the past few years the Federal Reserve has intervened in the markets to keep interest rates artificially low by loaning money to commercial banks at zero percent interest. These “interest free” loans are supposedly issued to stimulate the economy, the real goal is to prevent the Treasury Bond Fund interest rates low in attempt to contol interest payments on the National Debt. An unintended consequence of this activity is the suppression of interest rates in the private sector. Careful  savers including retirees, who in the past could rely on their savings returning a modest two or three percent in interest income, today find their savings accounts earning less than one percent.

Social Security- There has been a lot made of branding Social Security as a “Ponzi Scheme”. Those that have attacked this labeling apparently are unfamiliar with the definition of a pyramid scheme, simply stated any financial arrangement that depends upon an ever increasing group of participants to provide funds to reward or reimburse earlier entrants into the system AND is subject to failure when the number of benefactors nears, equals or exceeds the non-benefiting participants. This is exactly the future condition that politicians know will collapse Social Security in the near future. This is not fear mongering - it is an economic fact of life. The citizens participating are not responsible for the mishandling of this “insurance” system and rightfully expect the Federal Government to fulfill the promise of a retirement they have contributed into for their entire careers. The politicians and administrators who failed to sufficiently fund the “trust fund” and borrowed (confiscated) those funds to spend on unrelated  needs are the ones to blame - it is their to responsibility rehabilitate and restore the monies to assure that all eligible recipients promptly receive their promised benefits. This shortfall is easily restored by implementing sufficient funding to secure adequate “Trust Fund” reserves and insure that the reserves are “vested” in interest-bearing insured investment instruments

Deficit Spending -  National Debt and “Quantitative Easing” - There is no financial policy that is more destructive to the health of our economy or threatening to the security of our Nation than the continued reckless expenditures in excess of revenues. When these shortfalls are financed by the citizens of the country, it is a less precarious matter; however when the Federal Government engages in wholesale borrowing from foreign entities and nations it is a far more treacherous affair. The government itself becomes enslaved to the whims and wills of foreign interest - their demand for immediate satisfaction could result in the collapse of our economic structure. In recent years, the Federal Government in concert with the Federal Reserve Banks has engaged in the reckless practice deceptively labeled as “Quantitative Easing”. This practice is little more than the printing of paper currency used to pay the obligations of the government without generating or collecting of revenues. This Expansion of the Money Supply inflates the amount of currency in the financial system - reducing the value of all dollar based accounts and immediately results in inflation in the marketplace as more and more dollars chase a fixed quantity of goods.  This clever name for the unrestrained printing of paper money reduces the value of our currency – this destructive practice must end!

Healthcare Financing - We must develop a system to provide healthcare to the underprivileged without burdening the private healthcare insurance system.

Healthcare Delivery - We have the greatest healthcare delivery system in the world, when the world's elite need advanced care - they don’t head for countries with unremarkable socialist healthcare, they come to the U.S. to receive World-Class care.  Frivolous litigation and numerous unfunded mandates forced upon healthcare providers by the government have caused the “lion’s share” of the explosive cost increases in recent years.

Welfare - We must transform the current system of dependency and entitlement into one that motivates and provides incentives to recipients, encouraging them to achieve independence and self reliance.

Food Assistance - We must replace the current inefficient EBT and WIC programs with a new system that encourages the purchase and preparation of healthy and nutritious food choices - prohibiting “electronic benefits” from being used for alcohol, tobacco, junk foods, lottery tickets and a host of other unacceptable purchases.

Education - We must return the authority and responsibility for the education of our children to State and Local control -  allowing the professionals closest to the students to experiment with and implement new and innovative instructional programs that challenge and encourage our children.

Immigration Control and Reform - We must regain control over our borders while allowing worthy applicants to immigrate to this country as their first step to citizenship. It is patently unfair to require those who wish to come to our country to follow complicated and time-consuming procedures in order to immigrate here, while we turn a “blind eye” to the thousands of individuals, who sneak across our unprotected borders to live here unlawfully.

National Defense - Federal Government's greatest mission is to defend and protect our Nation from foreign attack. New technologies have extended the effectiveness of our troops, while helping to shield them from harm. We need to concentrate our assets on missions of vital importance to our country and at the same time work to control costs.

These are just some of the challenges we face today.  Remember, that many of those in Washington want to make sure to “never let a crisis go to waste”. If I am fortunate enough to represent Vermont in Washington, I promise to work every day to resolve these issues and do all that I can to restore the pride and dignity of our United States of America - the greatest, most compassionate, most generous nation in the History of Mankind!

My name is Brooke Paige and I would appreciate your support!

(rev: 5-15-12)