Michael Crimmins 53rd Congressional District Platform

By Michael Crimmins

Below you will find my core positions on a variety of issues. More can be found at: http://www.CrimminsForCongress.com. Thank you in advance for reading what I stand for.

Today not only are there a multitude of significant issues facing the 53rd District but our Nation as well. Below, briefly described, are the core positions you can count on me to take and relentlessly stand by while in Washington serving your interests. You have my word on it!

National Sovereignty and Security

As stated in our Nation's Constitution, the government's most basic, fundamental responsibility is to protect its citizens. I firmly believe in defending America's borders, language, culture, history, and her traditional values as stated by our Founding Fathers and our Constitution. As they provide us all a blanket of security, supporting our armed forces with the equipment they need so that they are second to no one on a battlefield and honoring commitments made to our service members, their families and our veterans is my unwavering position.

The War on Terror

There are individuals and political systems, who if given the opportunity, would not hesitate one second to destroy our Nation, its freedoms, and economic foundations. Very simply, America's adversaries must be identified, stopped and defeated overseas, and once discovered to be within our own borders, relentlessly hunted down. Remember, it was the Islamo-terrorists, fascists, and jihadists, by their words and actions who declared war upon all of us. Bottom line: we win, they lose, period! Surrender is not an option.

Illegal Immigration

Unquestionably, we must secure America's borders, finish building the legally approved fence, and enforce existing immigration laws. This includes identifying those who do not legitimately belong in America; those who place a serious economic drain on her social services. Absolutely no amnesty, driver licenses, or any other gateway official identification documents will be provided to undocumented international citizens. Rather all temporary workers must be positively identified to work within the United States with a tamper proof ID card to include fingerprinting, a retina scan and a DNA swab to be placed into a federal data base, which the temporary worker pays for with a fee, when applying for the work visa. This subject obviously is a far more complicated issue than just a simple sound bite. Our country was and is continually being built upon legal immigration. This is the historic strength of the United States and gives us a unique mosaic and fabric. Remember, past generations came to America not only for freedom, opportunity, and the ability to build a new life for their families, but to become part of the tapestry that is so uniquely American. They came to become Americans!

Taxes

Barry Goldwater once said, "A government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take everything you have." A government cannot tax itself into prosperity. Today, we are over taxed. It is our money, not the governments! I will work tirelessly to have it put back into your pockets to spend as you desire. I trust in your ability to determine how to spend your money and not a government bureaucracy filled with fraud, waste and abuse. Clearly we need to simplify the tax code, index the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) to inflation, make permanent existing tax cuts, and eliminate all estate taxes. The classic redistribution of wealth philosophy quote + "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" + is in fact from Karl Marx. It is decidedly un-American and un-democratic!

Economy

A strong economy is the engine that drives our standard of living and quality of life issues. It also enables us to protect and secure our nation. Transferring our industrial and manufacturing base overseas jeopardizes this. It's one thing to become a debtor nation in order to improve infrastructure and develop innovative technologies; it's quite another to go into debt to buy flat-screen TV's and cell phones which our nation is doing. Over a billion dollars of our money goes offshore every day just to buy oil; over $400 billion a year! We simply cannot sustain this transfer of wealth. We must put into motion technologies and make energy choices (e.g., wind, solar, nuclear, coal, methanol, etc.) to enable us to become energy independent and to sustain us into the future. Technology exists today to allowing us to drill safely anywhere within the United States and not harm the environment, regardless of what special interests groups have to say on the matter. Being tethered and dependent to the whims of other undemocratic nations that can hold us hostage for oil is simply unacceptable for the United States. This is an important national security issue for all of us.

Second Amendment

Originally written into the Bill of Rights, the Founding Fathers placed this amendment + that the government shall pass no law infringing upon "the right of the people to keep and bear arms" + into its present position for specific reasons. I am pro-Second Amendment and for the legal ownership of weapons. However, the right to bear arms does not include the right to own fully automatic assault weapons whose primary purpose is to kill people and not wild game.

Courts and Judges

Immigrants left countries where their lives were ruled by the whims and dictates of kings, tyrants, and dictators. They came to America where their personal rights and freedoms were outlined and protected by a written code of laws and duly elected representatives. The mottos etched in stone above our Supreme Court building are "Equal Justice Under Law" and "Justice, the Guardian of Liberty." I oppose writing new laws when it is clear the current ones are not being enforced. I will support only judges who are proven strict Constitutionalists and not those who choose to legislate from the bench and interpret the Constitution to suit a particular social agenda.

Trade

Our Nation needs to adopt and enforce a policy of "fair trade" that encourages the development of overseas markets, while protecting our homeland industries and workers from unfair competition and business practices. There are countries, like China, which have a history of flooding our markets with inferior and sometimes dangerous and deadly products + products often produced in near slave-like labor conditions. Additionally, there are countries who manipulate their currencies to purposely place the United States at a disadvantage and who flagrantly pirate our intellectual properties and technologies. Countries engaging in various unfair business practices must be held accountable. I also oppose vehicles with Mexican license plates, both trucks and cars, operating on American highways unless they can provide tamper-proof documents of a U.S. safety inspection. For far too long we have been placed at an unnecessary safety risk by our government.

Education

Our children represent our country's future. As a highly trained and credentialed teacher, I recognize they are presently not being well-schooled or prepared at large to accept the reins of responsible citizenship. It is imperative that we do much better for them. They certainly deserve no less from us.

No Child Left Behind, while well intentioned and recently reauthorized, needs to be modified and restructured. Teaching students to the test is simply a disservice to them. I will work tirelessly to ensure that education standards and practices in the 53rd District provide our young people with critical thinking skills rather than the ability to just spit out facts without any contextual meaning.

Having been in classrooms on a daily basis, I am also concerned that many children are not being taught patriotism or civic engagement, which is being part of a larger democratic community. Nor are they being role modeled in the proper behaviors of "love and pride in and of one's country". Too often filled with a false sense of self esteem, the prevailing student cultural attitude is: "This country owes me this. This country owes me that." Or worse still, "I don't owe this country anything...it owes me!" This attitude represents a far cry from President John F. Kennedy's inaugural challenge in January, 1961 of, "ask not what your country can do for you + ask what you can do for your country."

Marriage

I totally support the initiative that would ban same-sex marriage, targeted to be on the California statewide ballot this November, in order to protect traditional marriage. Marriage is and should be defined as that of a union between a man and a woman which is fundamental to maintaining civilized society. Support for traditional marriage is a mainstream view as demonstrated by the 61 percent of California voters in 2000, who voted for Proposition 22, a statute banning same-sex marriage. While some gays and lesbians may contend this is discrimination and a denial of their civil rights, I support their right to join together in civil unions / domestic partnerships; just not traditional marriage.

Sarah's Law + Parental / Family Notification

Each year over 16,000 abortions are performed on teens under age 18 in California. Many of these pregnancies and ensuing abortions are the result of older men who impregnate vulnerable teen girls and then pressure them to have a secret abortion in order to cover up crimes of statutory rape. And all too often due to short-sighted laws being on the books, these abortions are carried out without the parent's knowledge, consent, or protection. In California today, a girl under age 18 can't get a flu shot, a cavity filled, or even an aspirin dispensed by the school nurse without parental consent. Yet a doctor can perform an abortion on the minor child without informing her parents. I support Sarah's Law as it will amend the California Constitution and require a physician to actually notify a parent or adult family member at least 48 hours prior to performing an abortion on a minor girl under 18. Sarah's Law will ensure that a family caregiver of a minor teen is aware of her pregnancy situation / medical condition, and the course of action that is potentially being contemplated. Tragically, "Sarah" might not have died had her family been informed of the medical complications following her abortion.

Summary

Thank you for taking the time necessary to read my platform. Please know that you can count on me to relentlessly stand by these core positions while in Washington serving your interests. You have my word on it!