By Mike Thompson
I AM HONORED AND HUMBLED BY THE OVERWHELMING SHOW OF SUPPORT I received throughout our district on Election Day. With your vote, you put your trust in me to return to Washington and work to make our district a better place to live, work and raise a family.
Now, the election is behind us. A new year and a new Congress are in front of us. It is time to move forward — not as Democrats and Republicans, but united as Americans, with the common goal of building a stronger nation.
That means creating jobs, paying down our debt, protecting our seniors’ retirement security, ensuring our veterans and their families get the benefits they have earned, and reforming our broken immigration system.
While I am willing to work with anyone from any party to accomplish these goals, I will never abandon my core principles and values, or the core principles and values of our district.
For our economy, we need to make smart investments in infrastructure, energy and education.
The best way to create jobs is to put people to work fixing our roads, bridges, overpasses and waterways. Smart investments in infrastructure and port improvements create jobs and reduce hidden taxes on business such as congestion and travel time. Projects like the widening of Jameson Canyon Road in Napa, the SMART Train in Sonoma, and dredging in Solano and Contra Costa Counties make our communities and harbors more accessible for business.
We also have to build an economy that can compete in the long term. One of the best ways to do that is to make sure our district continues to grow as a national leader in the development and manufacturing of clean energy technology. We’ve already seen renewable energy successes in Lake and Sonoma counties. With the right investments, places like Mare Island in Solano County have the potential to be a hub for renewable energy jobs.
For our fiscal future, we must get our debt and deficit under control and avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. This requires a balanced approach that starts with job creation. More jobs means more revenues to help start our nation on a fiscally sustainable path.
Next, our tax structure must be reformed so that everyone pays their fair share. Congress must also pay for the bills it passes. We can’t just cut and borrow our way out of this crisis.
We have to look at all government programs and make sure taxpayers are getting the most bang for their buck. We have to get rid of programs that aren’t needed, and if a program is needed we must make sure it’s running efficiently. Defense cuts must also be on the table. There are responsible cuts to be made that will not put a single American life at risk.
For our seniors, we must make sure they are guaranteed the retirement security they’ve earned. Each year, Social Security and Medicare reliably pay benefits to millions of beneficiaries and deliver on their promise of protecting those who have worked hard all their lives. Social Security and Medicare are not just important promises to our seniors — they’re important to our economy. More than $2.8 billion comes into the counties that make up our district each year.
For our veterans and their families, we must make sure they receive the benefits they earned. No one who has honorably served our nation should go without a paycheck, proper health care or a roof over their head. That is why I am working to increase funding for job training, veterans homelessness, and health care for those suffering from injuries like TBI and PTS.
For those who have moved to the United States in search of a better life, we must comprehensively reform our broken immigration system. I’m working on efforts to ensure our agricultural industry has a stable workforce, and that there is a way for children who were brought to the U.S. through no choice of their own to go to college or join the military. I’m also working to ensure that all active-duty military personnel, veterans and their families have a pathway to citizenship.
It’s no secret that our nation faces big challenges. They won’t be solved though partisan gamesmanship. We’ve tried that for the last two years and the results were terrible.
But the next two years don’t have to be like the last two. We’re not a country where politics comes first. We’re a country that overcomes big challenges, does big things and never backs down from our principles. We abolished slavery, won two world wars and emerged from the Great Depression with the strongest economy the world has ever known. We made astounding technological advancements and cured dreaded diseases.
We didn’t do all these things as Republicans and Democrats. We did them together, as Americans. It’s time to get to work and do it again.
Mike Thompson represents Benicia in Congress.
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I’ll say one thing Mike, I like minimal government involvement but the stimulus plan of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has done a great job repaving parts of I-80 and Highway-99. It has also put people to work
Congressman Thompson said: “For our economy, we need to make smart investments in infrastructure, energy and education.” This single sentence is apparently his total solution for the enormously complex economic disaster our nation faces right now. Like most of what the Congressman wrote in this column, his words have obviously been lifted verbatim from the Democratic Party platform boilerplate we’ve all been reading and listening to during the past eighteen months. The election campaign is over. The Democratic Party won. Yet President Obama, the Democrats in Congress and the so-called maintream media are still in campaign mode. You people continue to recite the same nebulous incantations. Everything is generic, but we all now know what you’re really saying: “For our economy, we need to make smart [taxpayer dollar] investments in [federally owned, staffed and operated] infrastructure, [green, taxpayer-subsidized] energy and [NEA/AFT-controlled public] education.” In other words, for the next four years you want to keep doing the same things you’ve been doing for the last four years but you expect different results. Sounds like the definition of madness to me.
The big question I have:: OK so we up the tax rate for the folks in the 220/250 range. Is that going to solve the problem? Are we going to go further in debt in the next four years? How much more will the Federal Government be able to stand of over spending without the revenue to back it up. Yes I do believe some money did help but very little. Good example by RKJ. If President Obama and his 51% think the rich shoulfd pay more why not up the rate to say 50%. Then lets see what happens. Why do we all pay the same to cross the bridge. Should not the rich have paid for the total one dollar increase by just taxing them only and not up the toll. You see that is just one example . If President Obama is so set on redistribution of wealth why not just tax the rich so there is no incentive to make money. This is a class war on the bigger earners that will never satisfy the Liberals till they find out they were so wrong. So I say make it simple give the President what ever he wants and now who is to plame for the huge debt? Not W.Yes you are right it is the Liberals. Make them wear it on a daily bases till they get the picture. Strong economy with good paying jobs solves the problem. Not taxes on the so called rich or uping other consumers prices. It has never worked and never will. Just a thought.
From the above article: “It’s no secret that our nation faces big challenges.”
http://www.zcommunications.org/the-archeology-of-decline-by-steve-fraser
NHothing new Will. Give us some new ideas. Not taken from someone else. It appears you are driven by others who can only talk about doom and gloom.
Bob – try critiquing the content, not the commenter – for a change.
Roger I did. Where have you been.
Roger it appears you did not read my comment. It also appears you are also on the Will team. You know our citizen reporter that never worked for the Mayors campaign. Now Roger the Mayor did thank him for his work. Explain that one. Roger do not jumb on me because you politicaly do not agree. Come up with some more reasonable response to my comment. Not your own personalo belief. Move on Roger your man won.
. We all benefitted from what our grandparents built. Now it is time to reinvest again. Thanks Mike. Citizenry and patriotism requires giving back and looking forward. We drive on the roads built in eisenhowers era. We drink water regulated by nixons EPA. When did republicans stop realizing that investments in America ansd safety nets, benefit people and industry alike and that they pay off in innovation, risk taking, and infinite possibilities for growth. Investing in ourselves is not Obamas idea or Democrat or Repiblican in any way. It was our grandparents idea and it has made America prosperous. There is room for creative kindness in capitalism. Our country has proven this. Thanks mike for your leadership and may those opposed to this finally realize they are opposing their own best future!
I am saddened by the terrible loss suffered by those in Newton, CT as well. However, I strongly urge you to take a broader scope of view when looking at gun violence in our society. As a nation we are mourning this loss, but on a daily basis ignore the terrible tragedy that unfolds daily in our inner cities and the toll that gun violence is taking on citizens who have been marginalized for generations. I plead with you to represent all of the members of your district take a broader stance committing to solving problems that will help to identify and prevent individuals from acting out in as in the most recent incident in Sandy Hook Elementary, but also to stop the devastation we see day to day in our city streets.