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"Vini" on the Ballot
U.S. Congress House of Rep. (District 7)

Why would one want to run for Congress?

You are probably here because you received a flier I left at your door. I have walked to almost 2,000 homes in district 7. At the end of a hard day's work I walk for a couple of hours per night. Why? because I love this country and I see it in decline. This effort is far more than just me becoming a Congressman. I as a single Congressman have little chance of making the significant changes in government that are needed. So, here is the plan (some might call it a dream). I prove that an independent can win this year (2024). I then help other independents (people like you and me: teachers, doctors, businessmen, chefs, waiters... who go to Washington to do their civic duty and come home to being what they were before they left - NOT career politicians)  across the U.S. to raise money to run in 2026. It is possible that with sufficient funding independents can obtain a majority in Congress in 2026 AND we have not accepted a single $ of special interest money - we truly work for the American people AND we all agree to come home to our previous jobs after 2 terms (self-imposed term limits - current Congress has never been able to pass a term limit law for Congress).  Even better, we go to Washington with solutions to the debt crisis, inflation (due to the debt crisis), no border, health care costs that most in the middle class cannot afford, a social security system that will have huge shortages in 8 years (due to Congress spending the SS monies), ...

Now, let me be honest with you, independents rarely win, in fact I may not even get to the 500 signatures to get onto the ballot. But, at least I can say I tried to do a little something good for a country for which millions have given their lives for.

 

To get on the November 2024 ballot, I need to obtain 500 signatures from voters in district 7, which I sent to the election officials in Austin, Texas.  Please support my effort by going to the tab "I Need Your Help" and providing me your email address, phone number and name. I will contact you after May 28 to tell you where you can go (probably the Bellaire Rec. Center or Evergreen park) to sign. Thank you.

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More about why I am doing this...

After completing a report card (see menu for details) of the U.S. Government (I gave the U.S. Government an overall score of D), I came to the conclusion that this country is in bad shape, and most of my fellow Americans do not have an idea as to how bad it is. I feel that since I have the ability to do something, I have the obligation.

Why is the country in such bad shape? I think because many (not all) of our elected officials (Democrat and Republican Congressmen) have put special interest groups priorities ahead of the American people.  It takes a lot of money to run an election and there is in excess of $7 billion (2020) to Congressmen per election cycle from special interest groups. I think also because the massive problems we have are very hard to solve and the solving of them has negative political ramifications. 

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My Priorities if Elected

If you elect me to Congress from district 7, my main priorities will be to: 1) be a model representative who will only work for 2 terms and not accept money from special interest groups, only individuals ($3300 maximum per individual); 2) to insist that my constituents become informed of what their government and representatives are doing ( I will assist via my website); 3) to work tirelessly on the incredibly complex problems that threaten the future of this country (most importantly the massive debt and extremely high healthcare costs); 4) to convince others around the country, especially younger voters, to run, but vow not to accept money from special interest groups and to commit to 2 terms maximum (1 term for senate). In fact I am formally starting an independent party called VOICE (Values, Openness, Integrity, Civic Engagement) and creating a Super PAC to support those who run for Congress who agree not to take special interest money and agree to have self-imposed term limits - please email me if you want information on this). 

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In addition to the not good status of this country (see my Report Card herein) additional proof of what goes on in Washington is provided below by certain Congressmen. There are great people who go to Washington to try and make positive changes.

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Quote by former Senator Jim Demint (DeMint served in the Senate until January 2, 2013, when he stepped down to become president of The Heritage Foundation). Jim Demint "I found the D.C. Swamp is programmed to destroy anyone who tries to disturb the status quo. There really are big special interest that guard their nests like vultures. The big union bosses for government workers will spend millions to defeat anyone who dares to cut government spending or eliminate a wasteful government program. Big corporations will fight tooth and nail to protect their tax loopholes, credits and targeted tariff waivers. All the big hospitals, banks, corporations and media moguls actually push for more complex regulations because it gives them an advantage over their smaller competitors. Washington D.C. is swamp of murky water filled with terrapins, alligators, and venomous snakes, only we call them lobbyists congressmen and bureaucrats. The American people deserve better. " (from "Drain the Swamp" book, Ken  Buck).

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Quote by current Congressman Ken Buck (elected 2014, U.S. House of Representatives)

Ken went to congress for the right reason and below is some of what he found:

"It's bad enough that the budget plan was designed to deceive the American people. Even worse was that House leadership handed us talking points to explain to our constituents how all these lies, damn lies and false statistics balanced the budget, as if they did. There was plenty of bipartisan agreement that Washington should increase the size of the federal government and spend money it doesn't have. Members of Congress are, for the most part, fat and happy alligators who feel pretty darned comfortable in the swamp in Washington." (from "Drain the Swamp"). For an interesting video, click on the link below:

Issue Monday: Congressman Ken Buck Tells Another Story From the "Swamp" (youtube.com)

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What I Believe

Financial responsibility

America's outstanding debt is $33 trillion and current annual deficits are in excess of $1 trillion, projected to get much worse (128% of GDP by 2030). Mandatory spending is a breathtaking 83% of tax revenues and the deficit was about 30% of revenues (imagine yourself having 100,000 of income and 130,000 of expenses - the government has been running these types of deficits for many years and the forecast is that it will go on and on into the future (see my Report Card herein). There has been talk about reducing the deficit, but it never happens (example, Simpson Bowles attempts in 2010) - and the Fiscal Reform Act of 2023 was a joke (still adds $18.5 trillion over 10 years). 

 

If something isn’t done soon (3-7 years), economic instability will result. This will result in massive losses in value of pensions, homes and jobs lost. Most experts agree: Black Swan author Nassim Taleb, who correctly called the 2008 financial crisis, says the U.S. is in a ‘death spiral’ over government debt. Ray Dalio, one of the leading luminaries, has determined that the U.S. is on a decline cycle (see charts below, and the attached YouTube video (this is important).  

Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order (5-minute Version) by Ray Dalio - YouTube).

The Black Swan' author Nassim Taleb on looming crisis: The risk is in front of us (youtube.com)

 

Secure Border

6.2 million illegal immigrants crossed the border in the past 3 years, adding tens of billions of  dollars to cost of social services, when the country already runs trillion $ deficits. I love immigrants and we need to increase the number of legal immigrants.

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Access to Affordable Healthcare

The U.S. healthcare system is currently the most expensive in the world (by almost a factor of 2 - relative to European countries (OECD)) but ranked 15th to 30th in terms of quality. Many Americans (46%) struggle to afford the premiums, deductibles and out-of-pockets and yet the medical industry, which realized extremely healthy profits (in excess of 39% ROE, "Healthcare Providers and Services,"  "Pharmaceutical Companies" at 17% and Hospitals near 69%), gave $290 million to politicians in the recent election.   See healthcare poll below.

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Medicare, which provides healthcare to those over 65 years old, is a single payor system (but is not considered socialized healthcare since the companies providing the healthcare services are privately owned). "Medicare Advantage" is very popular among beneficiaries (90% are either satisfied or very satisfied - only about 33-50% are satisfied with their private insurance carrier, depends on the poll).  Medicare is cost-free to those over 65. Most European country healthcare models require ALL to have insurance - so the younger citizens in effect partially subsidize the costs for the older recipients. Additionally, they impose price controls on healthcare companies (much like the U.S. government does for Medicare funded procedures), which makes healthcare affordable. The main reason that healthcare is so expensive in the U.S. relative to other countries is due the prices of medical procedures and drugs. For example, a hip replacement in the U.S. costs $100,000, in Belgium it costs $13,000. Lipitor, a popular drug costs $7 in New Zealand and $124 in the U.S.  Medicare, which serves 28% of America has price limits on medical procedures and thus costs are far less than those of private insurance companies.   Another important point is that in many European countries, the insurance companies are non-profit entities. This cuts the middleman profits out of total costs, which brings costs down for recipients. So, the government regulating prices of procedures for all healthcare companies (not just those serving Medicare, for example), regulating insurance company profits, requiring all to have insurance would reduce costs dramatically. But this would also adversely affect healthcare company profits. We all want healthcare providers to be motivated and to make a healthy profit. If the profits of healthcare providers drops below a certain level, the quality will also drop.  So therein lies the challenge. Make healthcare affordable while at the same time allowing healthcare companies to make a fair profit. Of course another issue is American citizen lifestyle. We have a diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure epidemic in this country that can only be fixed by better diet and more healthy lifestyle. So, we cannot rely on government to solve all of our problems. 

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See these YouTube video for more details - click on link below

The real reason American health care is so expensive (youtube.com)

Health care: America vs. the World (youtube.com)

Why Medical Bills In The U.S. Are Out Of Control - YouTube

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