First, recognize there are many, many things that can be done to bring local jobs back home to our district. It’s just a matter of having a congressman with the determination to do it.

Our district is rich in natural forest land. We have long neglected our forests to the point where they are over grown, thick with underbrush, and pose a real fire danger to our families and communities. Responsible forest management will not only reduce fire danger, but it will also create jobs and do so with minimal or no cost. We are doing it right now in Calaveras and Amador counties. We have a small project to clear low lying brush (and convert it to bio-diesel), thin the forest and harvest lumber, and replant some of the areas. This project will provide 200 jobs over 10 years and harvest 1.5 million board feet of lumber. As your Congressman, I would expand this kind of project across our national forests and use the sale of timber and brush to pay for it.

I see this as a win, win, win for our district. We can reduce the threat of forest fires, add thousands of local jobs and pay for it with the revenues generated from the sale of timber and brush. I will bring these jobs back to our district. It doesn’t makes sense not to.

We can also do more in infrastructure. Infrastructure is more than just roads - it also includes bringing high speed internet to the rural parts of our district. Much of our district has nothing faster than dial-up service. In these days of the 21st century, it is nearly impossible to run a business, or for our kids to get a decent education without high speed internet. There are federal programs already in place to bring high speed internet to rural districts. We just need a congressman who would be willing to work to bring these funds back home. High speed internet will create hundreds of new jobs. First by installing it, and then by the new opportunities our people will have to sell their products and services over the internet. And at last, all our children can compete with kids from all over the world with a 21st century education.

There are many other examples of road, sewer, and water projects, that will benefit from having a representative who believes, as I do, in improving our communities. 

However, projects such as these require a Congressman who cares more about the people of our district than his own ideology. My opponent does not believe in bringing any federal dollars back to our district, even when those funds would create thousands of local jobs and greatly improve our economy. 

I believe the prime responsibility of our congressman is to represent our district in Washington, and do all he can to improve the lives of our citizens and our communities. And you can be sure, I will represent you. I will bring good paying jobs back to our communities and I will do all I can to get our district’s economy thriving once again.