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Post by Tim Collins on Dec 17, 2010 7:35:38 GMT -7
Memories....
I will be moving the content of my 2010 campaign for congress web site to this thread.
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Post by Tim Collins on Dec 17, 2010 7:41:13 GMT -7
Website Home Page
TOMORROW MATTERS
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
When these words were written, to paraphrase Robert Kennedy, the author was not seeing things that are, and asking 'Why?' he was seeing things that never were, and asking 'Why not?' That is the essence of our nation’s success, a faith in endless possibilities and a dedication to doing what is right to build a better tomorrow.
Unfortunately, far too many of our elected officials have wavered in their faith and lost their dedication to tomorrow. By their actions, words and deeds they have demonstrated that party loyalty and short term gain are far more important than building for tomorrow. Political expedience has replaced forward thinking as their primary goal in drafting legislation.
And that is why I am running for the office of Congressional Representative in District 16. I still believe this nation is blessed with the people, resources, and determination necessary to continue building a better tomorrow for all of us.
I am running for Congress because I have not forgotten...
...TOMORROW MATTERS
Pol. website paid for by COLLINS FOR CONGRESS 2010 COMMITTEE, 10822 PICO NORTE RD, El Paso, TX 79935
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Post by Tim Collins on Dec 17, 2010 7:47:28 GMT -7
Platform Restoring Fiscal ResponsibilityMaintaining a strong military, providing infrastructure that facilitates industrial growth, promoting the general welfare through public education, disaster response and recovery, and all the various social programs that demonstrate our collective will to care for those who need our help, requires a sound financial position. If I am elected to represent you in Congress I pledge to gather the votes needed to accomplish the following four goals: - Change House Rules to require all earmarks (Pork) to be submitted as a separate budget request – out in the light of day, not buried in other legislation or attached to an unrelated budget request. (Draft legislation for this item is shown in another tab on this web page)
- Change the Budget Process so that each Executive Department Budget request is reviewed, debated, and voted on individually – not as an unwieldly and confusing Omnibus Bill.
- Restore the TRUST to trust funds such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pass legislation requiring that any taxes collected for a specified program CANNOT be used for any other purpose. No more Social Security IOUs.
- Develop a debt repayment schedule to prioritize the reduction of our foreign debt. We must pay down foreign held debt first, starting with “unfriendly” nations. (China, Middle East)
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Post by Tim Collins on Dec 17, 2010 8:35:17 GMT -7
Title:Earmark Accountability Act Purpose:Regulate and Provide Accountability for Congressional Earmark Spending Summary: The Earmark Accountability Act is intended to regulate and provide individual accountability to the practice of Congressional earmarking of funds within the Appropriations process. The Earmark Accountability Act prohibits the insertion of individual earmarks within any appropriations bill submitted by any Executive Department, requires each House to develop a Consolidated Appropriations Request for earmarks requested by its respective members, and defines the process by which such earmaks will be considered for acceptance and funding. The Earmark Accountability Act is submitted under the authority of The United States Constitution Article 1 Sections 5 and 7. Text of Legislation: 1. No Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner of the House of Representatives or a Senator may insert any earmark within a budget request from any executive department during the appropriations process. 2. The House of Representatives and The Senate will each prepare a Consolidated Appropriations Request containing all individual member requested earmarks. The Consolidated Appropriations Request must contain the following minimum information: a. Name of the member seeking the earmark. b. Amount of Appropriation Requested. c. Duration of the request – (one-time appropriation or an on-going payment, specifying length of payments, frequency and amount to be paid at the designated interval) d. Direct Beneficiary of any funds requested. e. Rationale for the request, and benefit expected. f. Disclosure of meetings held in relation to the requested earmark and a list of all persons present at any and all of these meetings.
3. Each Consolidated Appropriation request will be prepared and published on the public website for the respective House of Congress for a period on no less that 60 calendar days before the requests may be submitted for a vote of the members of the respective House of Congress.. 4. A Roll Call vote is required for each earmark identified within each House’s Consolidated Appropriations Request. Those earmarks not receiving a 2/3 vote in their favor will be removed from the corresponding Consolidated Appropriations Request and not submitted for consideration during the normal Appropriations Process. 5. No earmark approved in the above manner may be increased in amount or duration during the normal Appropriations Process they may only be reduced or eliminated. 6. Congressional Earmark Defined- In this section, the term `congressional earmark' means a provision or report language included primarily at the request of a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner of the House of Representatives or a Senator providing, authorizing, or recommending a specific amount of discretionary budget authority, credit authority, or other spending authority for a contract, loan, loan guarantee, grant, loan authority, or other expenditure with or to an entity, or targeted to a specific State, locality, or congressional district, other than through a statutory or administrative formula-driven or competitive award process.
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Post by Tim Collins on Dec 17, 2010 8:36:38 GMT -7
SOCIAL ISSUES
SOCIAL JUSTICE “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Though written 234 years ago, and many times honored as much in the breach as in the compliance, these words still summarize the moral standards upon which we must judge ourselves as individuals and collectively in the actions of our government. We are weakened as a nation when we lose sight of the power of these words, and fail to recognize that for many in the world these are still nothing more than an ideal un-reached. We are strengthened when we embrace both the words and their meaning, and act so as to put the truth to our conviction. These simple concepts, individual equality, and government by the people, are the foundation of our past success and the key to our future advancement. We would do well to demand that our elected representatives, and we as individuals, ask ourselves in our public actions and discourse, “Are we advancing or hindering achievement of these simple standards?” * Immigration Reform
* Illegal Immigration
* Health Care Reform
* Equal Rights
* Financial Regulation
* Energy Policy
...Party loyalty and political rhetoric are hindering our ability to debate these issues and develop solutions. I want to reframe the discussion by focusing on the ends we wish to achieve
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Post by Tim Collins on Dec 17, 2010 8:40:04 GMT -7
EQUAL RIGHTS "DON'T ASK DON'T TELL"The very title of this military policy should tell all of us that it is wrong. The policy requires both parties to engage in deceitful behavior, which flies in the very face of the highest traditions of Honor upon which our military services have built their reputation. It repudiates all the progress we have made as a nation in our historic and never ending march toward achieving the ideal of equality that this nation set out upon over 234 years ago. Why would or should our government not only tolerate such a blatant act of discrimination against not only its own citizens, but against citizens who willingly take an oath to serve and defend the Constitution of our great nation against all enemies foreign and domestic. We have laws on the books, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, the Civil Right Acts of 1964, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 which were passed to protect us from discrimination based upon age, race, color, sex, national origin and disability. How in the world can we justify discrimination, and punishment, against anyone willing to wear the uniform of the United States Armed Forces? To me the answer is plain. We CANNOT justify this policy and remain true to the values upon which this country was founded. It is my belief that The President of The United States has it within his power as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces to issue an order abolishing this policy and to allow homosexual men and woman to serve openly in the military. If the decision is left to The United States Congress, then I will support any legislative action necessary to achieve this end. SAME SEX MARRIAGEThe Federal Defense of Marriage Act signed into law in 1996 states: ``Sec. 7. Definition of `marriage' and `spouse' ``In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, or of any ruling, regulation, or interpretation of the various administrative bureaus and agencies of the United States, the word `marriage' means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word `spouse' refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.'' The intent of the law was to bypass the "full faith and credit" clause of the United States Constitution as shown by this section of the law: ``Sec. 1738C. Certain acts, records, and proceedings and the effect thereof ``No State, territory, or possession of the United States, or Indian tribe, shall be required to give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any other State, territory, possession, or tribe respecting a relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of such other State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship.''. I oppose this legislation. Our laws offer many rights, obligations, and privileges that are reserved only for married couples. This law serves to deny these rights, obligations and privileges to a specific class of citizens - homosexual couples. As with the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, this is just wrong. The government has no right to institutionalize discrimination of any of any type. In fact its role, as history has shown, is to fight discrimination in all its many forms. I believe marriage is not limited to, or reserved for, only couples of the opposite sex. Marriage should be defined as two people who choose to publicly acknowledge their love and commitment to one another and willingly and knowingly accept all the responsibilities that go with such a commitment. This law should be repealed, and the issue of same sex marriage should be left to the individual states, and such state decisions must be honored by all states under the "full faith and credit" clause of The United States Constitution.
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Post by Tim Collins on Dec 17, 2010 8:44:05 GMT -7
Immigration
Let me start by stating without any equivocating, it is every sovereign nation’s right to establish laws regarding a process for immigration. It is also the responsibility of every other nation to respect the immigration laws of others.
This issue must be dealt with in three primary areas:
1. How do we end the flow of illegal immigrants (both those who cross our borders illegally and those who enter legally and over stay their visas)?
2. What do we need to change in our existing laws and procedures for legal immigration and how do we go about making those changes?
3. What do we do regarding those that are already here illegally?
******************************************************************************************************** How do we end the flow of illegal immigrants (both those who cross our borders illegally and those who enter legally and over stay their visas)?
On this issue I believe we need to do a number of things:
1) Increase our capability to spot and apprehend those crossing our southern border in a more efficient manner. Perhaps UAVs and satellite surveillance increased and matched with an ability to quickly dispatch Border Agents and equipment to apprehend those crossing. I would support completing the wall fully. It should be our policy to immediately return these people to Mexico , no matter their country of origin. Those apprehended who are engaged in drug or human smuggling should be prosecuted under the law.
2) Withhold ALL non-humanitarian foreign aid to Mexico unless and until they take action to stop people from crossing their northern border into the United States . The current situation where they not only do not take such actions, but have encouraged their citizens to ignore our immigration laws is an affront to our sovereignty.
What do we need to change in our existing laws and procedures for legal immigration and how do we go about making those changes?
1) Improve our process for issuing of temporary work visas. Currently, based upon discussions I have had with both a representative of a group involved with farm workers and a rancher and elected official from Hudspeth County , most of these visas are obtained by professional staffing companies in the employ of large corporations. This leaves small farmers and other businesses that require temporary workers form ever obtaining such workers legally. We need a better system for awarding these visas in a more equitable manner, and for the ability to issue enough to cover the demand.
With this change we also need to develop processes and procedures that put in place mechanisms for mutual accountability for compliance with the terms of these visas. Accountability on the part of both the employee and employer to comply.
2) Develop a system that tracks all issued tourist and student visas and provides for a means of following up when someone's visa has expired. Again with a mutual responsibility for compliance.
What do we do regarding those that are already here illegally?
There are many that say we cannot round up all 12 million people already here illegally. I disagree; we most certainly can if we wanted to do so. However the real question is should we? The answer is a resounding NO..
What we should do is identify those who are engaged in criminal activity and find them and deport them.
Those that are here for all the reasons that make this a great country - the search for a better life - must be identified and given the opportunity to chase their dream.
We must end the practice of confining people who have broken no law other than illegally entering the country in detention centers. It is too costly, and more importantly just wrong.
I would propose a defined period of time (maybe 90 or 180 days) for all illegal immigrants to come forward and identify themselves to law enforcement or government officials. They would be assured that by doing so, no deportation steps or incarceration would take place unless and until it can be shown that they have engaged in criminal activity. They must fully disclose if they have ever used a stolen social security number or any other false identity and provide a complete work history showing all employers and duration of their employment.
Anyone caught crossing illegally during or after this 90 or 180 day period will be immediately returned to their country of origin.
************************************************************************** I welcome any and all discussion on this very important issue.
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Post by Tim Collins on Dec 17, 2010 8:48:15 GMT -7
RESTORE OUR INDUSTRIAL CAPACITY
Industry is the engine that powers our financial and national defense pillars and provides the greatest opportunity for individual advancement. If I am elected I promise to seek out like minded members of Congress and create opportunities to support the restoration of our industrial capacity. Specifically I will:
* Review all “Free Trade” agreements that encourage off-shoring and outsourcing of our industrial capacity and replace them with FAIR Trade agreements.
* Restore our Infrastructure, by using the funds already allocating for "shovel ready" projects, and to find additional funding through the elimination of wasteful spending to rebuild our roads, bridges, dams and waterways.
* Rebuild our intellectual capacity by creating educational and research opportunities for those who will move us forward technologically, scientifically and industrially.
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Post by Tim Collins on Dec 17, 2010 8:57:18 GMT -7
NATIONAL DEFENSE
Since the end of WWII and through the cold war The United States has willingly, honorably, and successfully served as the world’s policeman. The cold war ended in November of 1989 with the fall of the Berlin Wall. Yet we still maintain the role of world policeman. The time has come for our military to return to it primary role – deterring military aggression and defending our own nation. To that end I strongly support a military that few nations would dare to challenge. We must maintain our forces at such a level that conventional military aggression against us would be unthinkable. Military readiness and capability are but one aspect of national defense. The world has changed greatly in the last 20 years. Traditional national threats, those posed by recognizable nation states, have been greatly diminished. It their place we have seen a rise in non-nation state threats - terrorist organizations. These groups cannot be fought through military action alone. We must think more broadly about National Defense. As we tranistion out of the role of world policeman, I propose that we consider a new role– EMT to the world. How proud were you seeing our military responding to Katrina, the Tsunami, and more recently in Haiti? How grateful were the people whose lives we spared, whose health we restored, whose bodies we nurished, whose shelter we provided? How many of our young men and woman, who currently would not consider a military career, would jump at the chance to serve their nation in a humanitarian role? We currently spend approximately $164 million per year to operate The United States Military Academy at West Point. We invest approximately $299,000 per cadet to provide one of the best four year degrees offered any where in the world. In return our nation benefits greatly from their service, and their future contributions to the nation. Given our future needs as a nation, in the areas of Medical Care (shortages of Doctors and Nurses), National Infrastructure (crumbling bridges and roadways), an Educated Work Force (failing schools, high drop out rates); I believe offering an alternative to military service, but an alternative that incorporates the discipline that is a hallmark of our military, will provide a win-win opportunity for our nation. We can accomplish this using our existing military training capabilities and infrastructure as well as existing civilian educational facilities.
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