I'm running for congress...and I need your vote...

I have been lamenting the pathetic souls the Republican and Democratic parties have been putting out front in elections across the country...duping the citizens (those few that feel it worthwhile to vote...most likely because, unlike those that stay home, we have not figured out that whoever is office really doesn't make shit of a difference in our daily lives). Particularly, I look to the congressional seat here in Albuquerque and the surrounding area and am amazed that this is the best the parties could do...Heather Wilson or Patsy Madrid. Excuse me if I refrain from dancing in the streets.

Heather Wilson...perhaps better than some Republicans at independent thought...but really nothing more than another "yes woman" for the current war administration. She has consistently voted for bills that erode our civil liberties and assist those who need it the least over those who need it the most. While the world was going to hell and American service members were dying and people around the globe and in this country were being destroyed by the united states government...Heather Wilson was teary-eyed and mad...at the networks for allowing a split second boob shot on Janet Jackson.

Patsy Madrid...miss cover for your corrupt brethren herself. I find it not at all surprising that Madrid would indict those who testified against her democrat friend, Michael Vigil, a corrupt son of a bitch. While that doesn't seem like a bad thing...there was a mistrial the first time around, and these folks testified against Vigil...and now they will not be around for the second trial, because Madrid went after them based on their testimony. Conveniently close to another looming corruption scandal reported by the local media bit by bit so far this summer. At least she's got the "you scratch my back i'll scratch your's" routine down already.

I, for one, am no longer willing to sit idly back and watch the Republicans and the Democrats argue with each other over which is the better path to American and world decline...I refuse to vote for either of these candidates just because they are not as bad as the other...and everyone out there should do the same. for that...I offer myself, Paul Linnenburger,...unedited...to you...here is the first of a series in my effort to win your confidence.

This is what I can promise you...

I am not now, nor will I ever be, beholden to any monied interests. My staff has been directed to turn down any attempt at monetary campaign contributions. I find it disgusting that the State of New Mexico spends taxpayer money to send a lobbyist to the halls of the United States Capital. That's right, our current representatives are so inept, that we must pay someone else to roam the halls of Congress and look out for New Mexico.

I find it entirely unacceptable that each time the government is looking to cut back on military bases within the United States itself New Mexicans begin to worry that their bases will be taken, and the economy of this state will suffer. Yet the government has no problem building dozens of permanent military bases in and around the Middle East. The beneficiaries become, not the American people, not the good people of New Mexico, but a handful of contractors with ties to even fewer companies that happen to have people like the President's father on the board of directors. If we are going to spend a ridiculously high percentage of our GDP on "defense"...I propose it actually benefit the American people number one, and actually be defensive number two. Bringing some of these bases home.

While the folks in Washington have been using your tax dollars for years to find a way to secure the hydrocarbon resources of the world to support our energy habits, the United States has fallen behind the leaders in researching and developing alternative energy sources. How many trillion does this country currently spend on military ventures to protect our energy interests abroad? A fraction of that money could be spent to fund research and development of alternative energy sources so that this country may be ready for the day when oil becomes too expensive to prop up our economy. A whole lot of this research could and should be done right here at the Sandia Labs, an invaluable resource that is being improperly used by the folks in power now. We built an atomic bomb in the blink of an eye...we put a man on the moon...we can figure out a way to power our lives in a more efficient manner. In fact, our livelihood will eventually depend on it. Capitalism requires energy to power growth, our current energy sources are finite and depleting quickly. If we can get ahead of the curve, not only will it mean growth for the economy in the future, but it will mean we are no longer required to send hundreds of thousands of our troops to hydrocarbon rich regions of the world.

Along those same lines, the State of New Mexico should be leading the country in alternative energy to begin with. The amount of sun and wind this state sees provide an ideal testing ground for the benefits of solar and wind power. Tax incentives to develop these technologies further would provide New Mexico the opportunity to lead the world into the next age, which would, in turn, provide revenues to rival those of the oil and gas lands of the southeastern portion of the state.

Three of the most profitable businesses in this country are currently the illicit drug trade, industry connected to arming the world's armies (not just our own), and the industries connected to developing prisons. Thus, many of the biggest money makers in this country are directly connected to destroying lives or ending them. What does this say about the priorities of the people in Washington? Since the government began the "War on Drugs" illegal drugs have become easier to obtain and of better quality than ever before. Yet the solution seems to be to throw more money at solving crime, which leads to a booming prison industry that includes millions of Americans placed behind bars. If the unemployment numbers in this country were to include those in prison, the rate would climb more than a few percentage points. This is an entirely unproductive way to mobilize society, especially considering there are currently somewhere in the range of 2,000,000 people incarcerated for nonviolent offenses. All of the money spent on fighting drugs and fighting the world is highly unproductive for the overall economy. It is a large part of the reason the United States is teetering on the edge, and it can no longer be condoned.

I would never even dream of voting for a bill that hasn't even been printed for my viewing pleasure yet just because the country is scared and the title is PATRIOT. Such an abrogation of the sacred duty of a representative is repulsive.

A fair tax code, one in which those that can afford to pay more at least pay an equal percentage of their disposable income, should be re-implemented. Stratification of wealth is a serious problem in this country and one which has historically signalled an economy on it's decline. While the stock market continued to climb, your leaders told you live was better, yet you found it harder and harder to make ends meet. All of this while they and their friends fleeced the American taxpayer. Take just a small portion of that back, and our struggling schools just may be supported financially to turn around.

It is idiocy to remove funding from schools that are "failing." The logic of removing needed help from those that require it the most escapes me. No Child Left Behind, while it was at least an effort, was a horrible mistake. It was modeled after the program George Bush set up in Texas. While the test scores improved in Texas, as those students made it to colleges, they were discovering they never learned critical thinking skills and were way behind their classmates from "lesser" schools. Giving our children the ability to take a specific test is not giving them opportunity, it is robbing them of it.

Immigration is at a fraction of the rate it was at this point in the 20th Century. Yet the folks in Washington and Patsy Madrid and Bill Richardson want you to think Mexican workers coming over the border to work hard and establish families that are close-knit, largely church-going, and unequivocally American by the second or third generation, will be the end of the American dream. This is a lie that is perpetuating a racist view of an important ethnic group in this area.

The tribes and pueblos of New Mexico have been cheated by the Federal Government long enough. The fact that these peoples are forced to spend money on lobbyists is disgusting, it is a job our representatives should be doing. The established rules stifle economic growth in Indian Country, leaving them without the opportunity to decide whether or not they are interested in such growth. While the Federal Government claims to be stewards of the Indian, I am at a loss to remember one instance in which it acted as such.

I do not confuse being "soft" on crime with an intelligent approach to combating crime. I refuse to accept wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on a single criminal case seeking to kill someone who killed someone to show that killing someone is wrong. I refuse to accept that 2,000,000 nonviolent offenders could not be productive members of society. I refuse to accept that the best and cheapest way to deal with an addict is to throw them in prison rather than help them get off drugs.

I have no party affiliation, I have no affiliation but to the people who trudge to work every day in order to provide for their families.

We have allowed the major parties to play with us long enough, it is time for the true citizens to stand up and take back their government...to once again ensure that it is "of the people, by the people, and for the people."