Candidates for U.S. Senate
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Glenn Miller
I am Glenn Miller and I am running for the U.S. Senate.
My family consists of a wife of 34 years, Bonnie (nee Rothermel of Milford, Delaware), one son, Eric, and one granddaughter, Alexis, age 4. I have some college but no degree. My interests include camping, boating and flying. I am a licensed pilot, although I have not flown an airplane in many years. I am a native of Oak Lawn, Illinois but have been a resident of Delaware since 1973 (when military service permitted). I have devoted over 23 years of honorable service in defense of our country as a communications, navigation and computer technician. I routinely performed duties as a classified courier. I served two tours of duty in Southwest Asia in support of the first Gulf War. I am also a disabled veteran.
Although I have never served in public office myself, I was raised in a political environment. My father (the late Richard B. "Dick" Miller) was heavily involved with the Republican Party in Cook County, Illinois. I had many close hometown friends who were involved with the Democratic Party including the late Lenon Wisdom Sr. who was the Democratic Precinct Captain in Oak Lawn, Illinois. I was once a member of The Young Democrats in Illinois. I have seen it from both sides. This, along with my more than 23 years of military service, I have a lifetime of experience dealing with the government bureaucracy.
I believe that the Constitution is not merely a theory or a law that should be enforced -- I believe that it's the Supreme Law of the Land. I believe that the United States is a nation "of the People, by the People, and for the People." I believe that the Constitutional grants us the right to personal privacy. I believe that federal judges need to be confirmed by, and answer to, the American People. I support a windfall profits tax on major corporations, those with more than a billion dollars in sales or more than 1,000 employees. I also support a balanced budget amendment and real tax relief for middle and low-income workers and small and medium business.
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Education: To solve the problems of education we need to start using the available modern technology to our advantage. I support the use of paperless technology such as downloadable pdf textbooks to lower costs. I also support modern multimedia classrooms. This would standardize classroom curriculum and enhance educational opportunities. Students could watch multimedia presentations at their desks and take electronic quizzes and tests. This would free up teachers to provide any special help that a student may need. It would also allow for larger classroom size as all tests would be graded electronically and the results displayed and recorded instantly. At the college level, almost half of what a college student learns has absolutely nothing to do with their chosen career path. I support the use of more Certificate programs for most professions in order to reduce the cost of higher education. Again, multimedia learning at the college level would also greatly reduce education costs and allow students to advance at their own rate.
All the top professions require college degrees. Colleges are deliberately kept private in order to keep tuition cost so high that only the elite few can afford to attend, thereby reserving these top jobs for the families of just the elite few who could afford to attend college. I also support on-line public college degree programs. This would allow any high school graduate with a home computer or access to a public library to attend college at minimal cost.
Health: HEALTH CARE
The Democrat health care plan is unreasonable, unconstitutional, unenforceable and is expected to be repealed soon.
No health care plan is going to work until health care costs are brought under control and the emphasis is placed on prevention and wellness. Everyone blames the insurance companies for the high cost of health care. The insurance companies just pass on the costs they are charged on to the policyholder. With medical treatments costing millions of dollars, the insurance companies must scrutinize their expenditures. That is not to say that the insurance companies are totally innocent. They are also posting record excessive profits. Once again, the solution is absolutely clear: Limit the excessive profits and the cost of health care will become more manageable.
While on the subject of health care, let me briefly address medical licensing. The majority of doctors are excellent however there are a few bad ones. It is these few who drive up the cost of malpractice insurance. The licensing of medical professionals should be administered on a national level. This would eliminate a doctor who lost his medical license in one state from moving to another state and opening a new medical practice. Once their medical license is revoked in one state for malpractice, it would be revoked in every other state.
Environment: Energy, environment and economic development are fundamentally and dynamically linked.
Environmental regulations should be streamlined to be relatively easy to understand and be based on true science – not junk science bent for political purposes. They should also not be unduly compromised by industry. For example, the federal government was powerless to stop BP from using an environmentally harmful dispersant in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. Environmental regulation must be constitutional, easy to live with and not unduly intrude upon the American people.
I do not equate large environmental bureaucracy and complicated regulations with true environmental protection as evidenced by the fact that 90% of Delaware’s waters are on the USEPA’s 302(d) list of impaired waters, failing to meet their designated uses for drinking, swimming and fishing. On a more insidious note, the entire scheme of “Carbon Credits” and “Cap and Trade” will artificially inflate energy prices and retard our economy by allowing some corporations, in effect, to purchase a license to pollute at public expense. Meanwhile, China and other rapidly industrializing nations will continue to expand their manufacturing capacity and increase net global pollution, while we lose more jobs and lower our standard of living.
I support safe nuclear, tidal, geothermal, wind and solar power. The government offers some tax incentives to convert to green energy sources or buy energy efficient products, which is great only if you have the money to purchase these products. The government needs to work together with the banks to provide very low interest loans to consumers so that they can purchase more energy-efficient products. Furthermore, the rights of individual inventors and smaller firms need to be protected on an equal basis in relation to large corporations and monopolies. Persons should also have the right to generate clean and safe energy without arbitrary interference from government or utility companies.
With respect to safe nuclear power, I support very cautious development of state-of-the art nuclear energy systems with the following criteria:
1. Development and use of Fast Breeder Reactors.
2. Triple containment of reactor and related components.
3. Increased plant security.
4. Increased operator and maintenance training and qualification.
5. Location away from densely populated areas.
6. Geologically and seismically compatible site-selection
Finally, we need to reassess and restructure the way we use energy and material resources with an eye toward recycling and reclamation. After all, pollution is a wasted resource and a symptom of poor management. Products should be designed to be more durable and reparable with less environmental impact. (A prime example is computer printers generating significant landfill waste when print heads should be refillable.) It is also possible to minimize pollution by planning an integrated industrial complex instead of building and isolated plant. This will channel the waste product stream of one plant into the appropriate raw material input stream of another plant, turning pollution into useful material.
Public Safety: Crime in this country is out of control because there are little or no consequences for criminal acts and major disparities in sentencing. One gets more jail time for beating a dog than for beating a next-door neighbor. It is said that 10% of the people commit 90% of all the crimes in this country. If we put the criminals in prison and keep them in prison, the crime rate would drop by 90%. I support mandatory minimum sentences for all but first offenders. If a suspect pleads guilty, at least the minimum sentence will be served. If a suspect pleads not guilty and is later proven guilty at trial, the sentence is will be increased for the added costs and time needed to convict. The solution to prison overcrowding is not early release. The solution is to build more prisons. The money needed to run these new prisons would come from the money saved from the drop in the crime rate and not having to re-arrest and re-convict the same criminals over and over again.
I fully support the sex offender registry most states have but I think that it should be expanded to include all convicted felons. Yes, I do want to know if there is a sex offender living in my neighborhood but, I also would like to know if there is a burglar, murderer or someone with a history of violent crime living in my neighborhood, too. I also fully support Chelsea's Law recently passed in California.
Economy: The recent recession is doomed to repeat itself because the politicians never addressed the root cause of the collapse in the economy. They mistakenly blame it on the credit and housing market, but these were just contributing factors. They are not the specific cause of the collapse. The actual trigger that caused the collapse was the high price of energy. For years, the banks were lending money to anyone, loaning homeowners more than their houses were worth and giving mortgages to people who barely qualified for them. This caused the housing bubble to inflate and the real estate market to skyrocket. A significant portion of personal income was being used to make the payments on this high debt. It was a disaster just waiting for a trigger. The timing of the high cost of energy and the collapse of the credit market was more than coincidental. When energy prices hit the ceiling, it wiped out the cash Americans used to pay their debts, resulting in massive defaults that subsequently caused the credit market to collapse. The defaults also caused the banks to foreclose on homes, placing a glut of foreclosed homes on the market, resulting in the collapse of the housing market. Also, with no cash to buy products, there was no need to continue to employ the people to manufacture or sell the products, so layoffs ensued, causing the unemployment rate soar. This may sound a bit simplistic, but, you get the picture.
The economy did not recover as a result of any government stimulus. The only thing the stimulus did was reward the banks for their silence for being the scapegoats for the economic crisis by giving them more money to lend to Americans, placing them deeper in debt. The politicians are concealing the real cause of the collapse because the big oil companies make large campaign contributions.
When gas prices dropped slightly, it mistakenly gave the appearance that the economy is beginning to recover. It is said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Don't be mistaken. We still have high unemployment, a depressed housing market, oppressive taxes and little disposable cash to spend. When energy costs increase (and without any government regulation they will increase) the economy is doomed to collapse again. The bottom line is if the government spent as much time overseeing big business as they do spying on the American People, the economy would not be in the sad shape it's in today. If you let corporations run wild without any restraints, they will run wild without any restraints. We absolutely need to reasonably regulate the oil companies and big business in order to protect American consumers in the greater public interest.
Businesses and corporations don't pay taxes on sales or expenses. What businesses and corporations pay taxes on is PROFIT. Profit is what's left over after a business or corporation pays all its operating costs such as raw materials, payroll, research and development and the obscene corporate salaries and bonuses. The economy remains slow because there is a lack of available cash. This is because large corporations are posting record profits and sitting on this money, effectively removing it from circulation. Exxon-Mobil is predicted to post a $60 billion profit this year. That's $200 for each and every American. That is just one oil company. What about the other oil companies? I find it amazing that although we get our oil from Venezuela, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Alaska, the Gulf Coast, from all over the world, that when it gets to the gas pumps the oil companies all charge the exact same price, give or take a penny or two. What about the other large corporations, banks, and insurance companies that are reaping gigantic profits? That $200 per year per person could easily grow to $2,000 per year per person. If we institute a windfall profits tax, these large corporations would avoid paying this tax through lower prices, higher wages and more jobs. This same $2,000 per person (or about $600 billion per year) would remain within the economy, placing a higher demand on goods and services, thereby creating more jobs to produce the goods and provide the services to meet this higher demand (according to the Federal Reserve, corporations are hoarding $1.8 trillion or about $6,000 per person). The economy will recover in no time. With more people working, there will be more money to buy more goods and services and the process would soon become self-sustaining. An added benefit is that all the Americans returning to work would also increase the tax base, increasing the revenues for the government and decreasing the amounts paid out in unemployment benefits. On the other side, although big business would not make as much profit per item, they would still post huge profits by selling more items. It’s a win-win solution for everybody.
The estimated cost of the combination of the TARP bailout and the economic stimulus was $752 billion, most of it paid to reward the same banks and big businesses that contributed to the collapse of the economy in the first place. That is about $2,500 for each and every American. If this money had instead been given to low and medium income Americans, they would have put it right back into the economy and this would have had the same effect as the above reduction in corporate profits.
The average American pays about $3,500 a year in Federal Income Tax. If the government gave low and middle income tax payers a six-month income tax holiday it would also add money to the economy. This short-term loss in income tax revenues would be more than offset by the long-term number of Americans returning to work and paying income taxes. The government could then begin paying down the national debt, provided that they get spending under control.
If we elect the right people – those with the intelligence, integrity and courage to tackle the National Debt and make the tough budgetary decisions in the greater public interest, we will go a long way in solving our economic problems.
Click here to search the WDEL Archives for stories about Glenn Miller.
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Christine O'Donnell
As a woman of principled determination, with a governing philosophy centered on the core values of the great American tradition and a wide experience in taking on the liberal establishment, Christine O’Donnell is your candidate for U.S. Senate from the First State.
Christine O’Donnell is a nationally recognized political commentator and marketing consultant. She appears weekly, sometimes daily, on national news outlets such as the Fox News Channel, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC and ABC, including major ratings hits like “The O’Reilly Factor,” “Hannity & Colmes,” “The Glenn Beck Show,” “Hardball with Chris Matthews” and “Entertainment Tonight.” Christine is also a frequent radio talk show guest-host on WGMD in Rehoboth Beach and WDEL in Wilmington, DE.
As part of a delegation of journalists, Christine toured the middle-eastern country of Jordan as a guest of the Royal Jordanian government. Having witnessed firsthand the oppression in the Middle East, Christine describes this journey as truly a life changing experience and says it deepened her commitment to the women’s movement.
An effective communicator, Christine is known for her skill in winning over even those who disagree with her most. Liberal Bill Maher stated, “I don’t know how many times you’ve been here but it’s always a good show when you’re on.” Even Democratic strategist James Carville was forced to admit of Christine O’Donnell “Now, this is one hip woman,” on CNN’s “Crossfire.”
During her 20-year career, Christine has served as a social advocate in Washington, D.C., participating in regular White House and Capitol Hill strategy meetings and leading delegations to the United Nations to lobby on behalf of pro-family global policies. She’s successfully debated Cabinet members, lawmakers and international leaders.
In the early 1990’s Christine worked for the Republican National Committee (under then Chairman Haley Barbour) helping to develop the marketing strategy credited with having had a key role in the historic ’94 Republican Congressional sweep.
Christine has served as a marketing and media consultant to various clients, including: Icon Pictures’ The Passion of The Christ; Natalia Tsarkova, the Vatican’s first female portrait painter; and non-profit organizations such as the World Education and Development Fund, a charity that provides scholarships to children in poor communities throughout Latin America.
After attending Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, NJ, Christine was awarded a 2002 Abraham Lincoln Graduate Fellowship in Constitutional Government from the Claremont Institute in Claremont, CA. She resides in Wilmington, DE.
Christine O’Donnell is a member of the Delaware Press Association and served on the Board of Directors for Birthright of Delaware until May 2008.
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Education: We can do better than what we are offering Delaware families. No child should be trapped in a failing school. It is appalling that with all the money we are putting towards education, good teachers are still forced to buy their own classroom supplies.
To improve education we must not simply throw more money at a broken system. We need to work with teachers and parents to create a real solution that addresses the root problem. Education funding should flow primarily from the people most invested in the success of schools, local communities and states. However, the Federal government has become a major funder of local education. Therefore, we must improve oversight of Federal education appropriations to ensure our dollars go directly to improving education, not funding more bureaucracy.
I will:
Support programs that provide parents with maximum choice of schools for their children, including giving parents options to transfer their children from failing schools to schools that work, whether they are government schools or not.
Fight to ensure that all schools receiving Federal dollars meet basic minimum standards of success, set by their states or local communities.
Health: Delaware is drowning in rising healthcare costs and even Democrats now admit that Obamacare only makes the problem worse. We pay more for our government healthcare programs per person than the national average. Our average growth in Medicaid spending far exceeds the national rate. Obamacare will also dramatically increase these Medicaid costs by forcing by law lower-income families into Medicaid who do not currently qualify, even as the program faces a crisis of providers fleeing the program because the government reimburses them below their costs of providing care. More people and fewer doctors in the program is a recipe for disaster.
The fact is, the government takeover of healthcare is wrong for Delaware and wrong for America and I will oppose it vigorously.
Instead, I will:
Support measures that bring more competition into the private insurance market, including allowing employers to contribute to health plans that employees can take with them when they leave their job and allowing plans based in other states to compete for business in Delaware. As in any industry, this added competition will lower prices, increase efficiency, quality and customer service.
Support measures that get Big Government out of the exam room. Politicians and government bureaucrats should have absolutely no say in life and death decisions made between patients and doctors.
• Support reforms that would reduce the frivolous lawsuits that are driving up healthcare costs and driving doctors out of business, especially in certain high-risk fields such as OB/GYN.
• Support the self-employed and small business owners by taking steps to eliminate the unfair tax penalty on those who are not insured through their employers. The tax code currently favors employees with Cadillac plans provided by their employers, while punishing those who have to buy their own plan in the individual market.
Environment: It is critical that we preserve and protect the incredible natural resources that America is so blessed to enjoy. As we do so, we must balance our fundamental Constitutional rights as well, especially private property rights. In caring for our environment, we must always proceed with the right deference to the welfare of our people, including ensuring that protecting the environment doesn’t place an undue burden on them that might cost jobs, reduce economic well-being or cause undue hardship on farmers, employers, and private citizens’ use of their own property.
At the same time, our policies need to ensure that polluters pay for real and verifiable damages caused to the property and well-being of individuals. Congress has a duty to strike the right balance between responsible stewardship of our environment and the protection of the most sacred Constitutional liberties of our citizens.
Unfortunately, my opponent supported a job-killing, family budget-raiding, economy-choking cap-and-tax bill that would impose a national energy tax and artificially jack up the price of energy to the tune of $1000-2000 per family every year. Small businesses and farms would be harmed even more by these government-mandated price hikes. This misguided scheme to demand conservation of the citizens would come at far too high a price on America’s already-strained family budgets, our job creators’ ability to survive and grow jobs and would essentially choke off the fuel that drives the engine of the American economy.
Public Safety: Public safety involves several elements, including the primary role of local and state law enforcement, but also federal homeland security and immigration efforts. The best way that Congress can help local and state law enforcement is to stay out of their way, and do not tie their hands as they seek to protect the safety of the citizens in their care. For instance, the Federal government should never sue another state for trying to help enforce Federal immigration, drug, kidnapping or other laws.
With respect to homeland security and immigration, one of the best ways that we can fight terrorism is to know who is in our country by effectively securing our borders and monitoring the status of all lawful visa holders, including immediate follow-up of visa over-stays.
Economy: We can’t spend our way to recovery nor tax our way to prosperity. Yet, Harry Reid and Mike Castle continue to back spending bills that only serve to cripple our economy and increase our debt that our children and grandchildren will have to repay. Career politicians who vote to spend money we don’t have are just as guilty as those who then vote to raise taxes to pay for the overspending. As a result, taxpayers are left to foot the bill for this irresponsibility.
The best thing the government can do to help the economy is to get out of the way of the small business owner and the entrepreneur. This is how real job growth is created. I will vote to extend all the Bush Tax cuts, propose a two-year tax holiday on the capital gains tax and vote to eliminate the Death Tax. The Death Tax is a second tax on income and assets that have already been taxed and force families to sell businesses and other assets that their loved one worked hard to pass on to them, just so they can pay the tax man.
Click here to search the WDEL Archives for stories about Christine O'Donnell. |
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James Rash
I’m a Delawarean, born in Milford, raised in Harrington. After graduating from Harrington High School in 1967 I worked for a year at DuPont’s nylon plant in Seaford.
In August, 1968, I joined the Navy. I attended three service schools in Pensacola, Florida, and received orders to Morocco then Guam where I served as a Communications Technician (T Branch).
I attended Delaware State College in Dover upon separation from the Navy, married a girl from Dover, then moved to California in 1973.
While in California I worked in radio as an on-air personality and Music Director at KKXX, the highest rated station in Bakersfield. I moved to Fresno and was Program Director and Station Manager at KTED, a contemporary Christian music station.
While in Fresno I joined the California Army National Guard where I served full-time (active duty) as Operations Sergeant at the Aviation Brigade, 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized).
I moved back to Delaware in 1990 after the death of my father. My first wife and I divorced and I married my high school sweetheart.
I’m a real estate broker. My wife, Carolyn, and I have been partners in the business for the last 13 years.
About three years ago I became involved with the Libertarian Party of Delaware. Presently I serve in the capacity of State Chair. This is my second term.
I first voted Libertarian in 1980 when I heard Ed Clark, LP presidential candidate, say, “I don’t want to cut the fat out of government; I want to cut the muscle.” I had finally found my party. I still consider myself a recovering Republican which has put me at odds with some Libertarians from time to time. However, every position I take is supported by the Libertarian Party Platform.
Also, it’s important for any bio about me to include the fact that I’m a Libertarian because, first and foremost, I’m a Christian. As a Christian, the Libertarian Party is the only political party that aligns with my faith. In 1 Corinthians 10:23, Paul writes, “‘Everything is permissible’ – but not everything is beneficial.” With liberty comes responsibility and my liberty is only restricted by the liberty of someone else. I can’t violate your liberty to exercise mine. However, there are consequences to my actions for which only I am responsible. In Matthew 7, Jesus taught, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” As a Libertarian, I believe that gay people have every right to be married and enjoy the same benefits as straight couples. I support marijuana legalization because God created it and, Genesis 1:12 tells us, “it was good.”
You can find out more about me at JimRash.com, RashTeam.com, and NewspaperTaxi.com. |
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Education: Before I address the issue of education, I think I need to address whether it’s a legitimate federal function. I’ve been on both sides of the argument. Clearly, the Constitution does not mention education and, therefore, it becomes a State issue. However, under the “general welfare” clause, I think the Federal Government may have a right and proper role. Surely, the general welfare of our country is dependent on having an educated populace. But, because Education doesn’t appear in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, I think guidance from the Federal Government should be broad while State regulation should be specific. We certainly do not need a federal-level Department of Education.
As a federal office holder I would only seek to set guidelines which would include a standard for the States to achieve. For States that didn’t meet the standard, I don’t think withholding Federal funds would be appropriate. I believe pressure from citizens of those states would prompt their state governments to bring the quality of education to a higher level. If a state did not, school districts within the state would be motivated to graduate students who were academically superior to other districts’ students.
Each state would compete aggressively to provide the best workforce in the country. Those that succeed would have the benefit of a robust economy as the result of luring manufacturers to that state, having successful small businesses, solvent banks, and the like. I think of it as Free Market Education.
Health: Health Care has traditionally been a State issue, and rightly so.
As a federal office holder I would review every federal law regarding the health care industry that is currently in effect with the intended consequence of repeal.
Environment: I believe all Americans want clean air, water, and land. Every State has the right to determine how these resources are protected within that State. There is no need or Constitutional authority for the federal-level Environmental Protection Agency.
Public Safety: I’m not sure what you mean by “Public Safety.” That’s a collective noun and, in general, I’m not big on collectivistic terminology. I believe in individual safety and in the individual’s right to protect his/her person and property.
Does public safety include, for instance, helmet laws for motorcyclists? Or, gun laws?
I hope this clears it up; I believe in Individual Rights and Responsibility. I believe in the libertarian principle that I should be able to do anything I want as long as your rights are not affected. Until you infringe on my rights, how you choose to live is none of my business.
Economy: The economy has stalled. Government stimulus has failed. The private sector is holding onto its cash out of fear of what the government may do next. Uncertainty has had its predictable effect.
I believe there should be separation of economy and state. There is no provision in the Constitution that authorizes the federal government to meddle with the economy.
Government spending is the problem. Taxes cannot be raised enough to offset the current level of spending. Government must be downsized.
That prompts the question, “Where do the cuts come from?” You don’t need to look any further than the President’s Cabinet. George Washington had four seats in his Cabinet; the Attorney General (our Department of Justice), Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, and Secretary of War (our Department of Defense). Barack Obama has 15. I would look at eliminating as many of these additional Departments as possible. Some might be warranted under the Constitution but most are not. For instance, the Department of the Interior, by definition, is the States.
To be sure, there are Agencies within these unconstitutional Departments that fulfill Constitutional roles. Those Agencies could be moved to the remaining Departments. The Bureau of Indian Affairs, for example, could be within the State Department.
Some of the functions these Departments provide would be transferred to the States that chose to keep them. Of those, nearly all would be modified and made more efficient. Some would go to providers in the private sector. Some would undoubtedly be eliminated.
Click here to search the WDEL Archives for stories about James Rash. |
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