Ben F. Wofford Political Info:

What do we want to leave our children...  A mess? Or the promise of a brighter future?

   The time to act is NOW!
I decided I could no longer vent my frustration in discussions with my family and friends, especially after they encouraged me to take this next step. I know there are no guarantees, and getting into this race is certainly filled with uncertainty, but any journey begins with the first step. Because I believe there are many others like me, with similar feelings and frustrations, knowing that something needs to be done to get our country back on track! Well, I think the time has come to join together and speak up about the inequities that are affecting our lives and will affect our families lives for many generations to come—

Economic Well Being:

Just before Congress left for Spring break, it raised the debt ceiling to 9 Trillion dollars, an additional 800 Billion plus dollars just so the government can keep running—with no real plan to make up for the shortfall except through budget cutting of more than 140 programs that mostly affect lower income families. In addition, there is no long-term plan to solve the debt problem. The lack of tax revenue and the continued increases in spending indicates to the foreign investors that we have lost the will to control our economy. When their confidence is gone they will look for other places to put their money. We will then be forced to raise interest rates just to keep foreign monies here. Our interest payment on the public is now over $300 Billion per year and growing. This is a large amount of money that could otherwise be available for initiating or maintaining our country’s infrastructure. The intelligent choice is to get the budget back in balance, it will be painful, but more painful the longer we wait!

Education Must be a Priority --- Not an afterthought:

Spending on Public Education is considered discretionary, meaning it is an adjustable line item in the budget. While it is true that spending has increased for education, many areas are still under funded. Education of the future generations provides the life-blood for the future of our society and the economy of the world. There exists a major gap between the level of achievement in the school curricula and the requirements of employers. To remain the leader in the technological age that we are competing in, the United States must bridge this gap by developing our young people with the best education possible—now, not later!

Veterans Care:

In 2005, the budget for the VA was short by $1.6 Billion dollars. Emergency funding had to be passed by Congress to sustain the system. Mostly, due to failure to recognize the additional burden caused by our Middle East entanglement — with no end in sight. Let the record show that we have talked the talk of supporting our veterans, but the reality is that Veteran Benefit funding is also a discretionary spending item in the budget, which is subject to cuts when money is needed elsewhere. We must be committed to their well being no less than they committed their lives for our well being!

The Environment:

It is blatantly arrogant to continue to use as much energy resource as we do without considering the effects that it has on the environment, and perhaps it even contributes to global warming! It would certainly be disastrous to lose the conveniences of modern life based on fossil fuel energy. So we should be implementing alternate energy programs so as to reduce the present dependency on oil from whatever source before it is too late.. Accelerated research and development of efficient and cost effective solar heat and energy systems is essential. All alternative energy sources should be encouraged and endorsed through the implementation of government standardization and public acceptance. Life as we know it is certainly in the balance at the moment!