Thank you for your support!

For the past eight months or so I have been an unaffiliated candidate for Governor of Colorado. I will be officially ending my effort and will be off the Secretary of State’s candidate list once I find time to do the necessary paperwork to end the campaign. I learned a few lessons, validated some things I suspected, and now know what is needed to be a candidate in today’s political climate and culture.

I would like to thank all of you that worked on the petition drive and visited my Blog on a regular basis. I hope you continue to come back here as I change my focus to education rather than a political campaign. The Blog will take on current affairs from the perspective of the constitution. I don’t expect to change the world here but I want to do my part to keep the constitution in our political conversation as a nation. We have lost our way because we no longer utilize the constitution as our guide. Both political parties are guilty.

Lessons learned:

• Political campaigns are a full time job which means if you are a an executive at a start-up firm building a business and jobs you will not have time to run for office. This is why we get the politicians we do, rich, retired, or living off the dole.
  
• Politics is broken because we the people have stopped paying attention. The Tea Party movement is changing that but my prediction is that too will fade.
  
• Money is the root of the evil in politics. I don’t care what anyone says politicians today spend most of their time cow towing to political donors and don’t stand on principle anymore.
  
• Term limits now.
  
• The two parties are both corrupt and self interested and we should continue all efforts to end the way our parties control the process.
  

Validations:

• People hate politics in general and suspect politicians have ulterior motives.
  
• We are in big trouble because the people we need with real experience to run for government have too much sense to get into the cesspool we call politics.
  
• The media is derelict in their duties to cover politics in a way that gives citizens a true picture of the political landscape. The media should be ashamed of themselves. They are lazy and part of the corruption.
  
• Family always comes first.
  

What you need to know if you run for office:

• You will be ignored by everyone but your friends and family. It will get lonely.
  
• People will support you privately but most will not lift a finger to help until the bandwagon is rolling.
  
• You can do one thing and one thing only; sell yourself and your campaign
  
• The people that are in politics are mostly good people but the system is so broken it will frustrate you to no end.
  
• Money is the root of evil in politics but it is the only way right now to make a difference. It is why most people hate politics.
  

I am off to educate now. I love teaching my kids about the constitution and anyone else that will listen. It is the key to our future and what we need to fix this nation. Always consider the constitution in every conversation about the government. Always ask; where is the government getting the authority to address this issue (put any issue here)? Show me the place in the constitution…

The constitution and our founders were given to us by God. Always remember without morality and law, we are the same as every two bit dictator and communist nation around the world. It is individual freedom and free markets that have made us the envy of the world not government. Capitalism is the greatest economic system in the world when we operate on moral grounds. Take away morality and every system fails. We must return to a government that was outlined in our founding documents.

The more government grows, the less free we are as individuals, the more bankrupt we become, and the closer we get to tyranny… Our founders knew how to fend this off with the framing of the constitution; now you can too…

Who do you trust?

If we ask ourselves this simple question, who do we trust, many things become clear in the political world, and why our founders believed in limited government intervention in individual’s lives. The founder’s trust of government was limited in the best case, and many considered it a necessary evil. They saw it in a context of necessity at a time when the young American experiment was under attack from many foreign enemies. They chose to protect the nation by having a centralized authority to make it easier to defend the nation. They found the separate states were less willing to support the other states unless they were under imminent threat. The founders also knew that in order to keep the union together, a fair trade policy would need to be administered at the federal level to make sure all interests were represented. They did everything they thought they could in the constitution to keep us from the current situation we are in today because they didn’t trust people in government.

If you read the arguments in the founding documents you realize how prophetic and correct their presumptions were. They did not trust centralized government so why would we? Has something changed from their time in history to today? The fact is, the founders were students of history and knew through study the propensity of humans toward tyranny and power. Human nature has not changed no matter how much people want to deny the reality. We still have a propensity toward tyranny.

The evidence is everywhere. Big government supporters want to tell you what you can eat, where you can drive, how warm you keep your house, when you can get healthcare, where you can build a house and what you need to equip that house with, and the list never ends. The tyranny is upon us and we don’t even realize it. We have people that are dictating the simple things in life that should be our decisions to make. Can you see it?

So who do you trust to decide what you eat? Who do you trust to decide what healthcare you can provide to your family? Who decides what car you drive? Who decides how warm you keep your house? Who decides how much money you can make?

Listen to what our government politicians are saying and ask; do I trust them to make that decision for me or should I be making that decision? Ask yourself who do you trust? Ask yourself; what is the price you are willing to pay for your freedom? People telling you what to do may be easier but it comes at the price of your freedom.

If you believe freedom is worth the price, find the candidates that trust you to make the decisions. Those are the politicians that are trying to limit the scope of what government does. Those are the people you can trust…

Our Children Need Us…

We are watching our government at every level justify increased spending, borrowing, and expansion for programs that our kids will end up paying for but have no say in approving. We had a 1.4 trillion dollar deficit for fiscal 2009, and we have an 11.9 trillion dollar federal debt (we will be leaving for our kids to pay), and the states are crying more, more, more funding to “balance” local budgets.

When does it end? When is enough, enough? It is totally irresponsible to take our children’s future from them. We are reducing not only their economic future but their freedom as well. Every dollar we borrow, print, and send to a government program is undermining the foundational principles this country has grown on; constitutional government, individual opportunity, small business opportunity, free markets, and individual freedom. When are we going to stand up and fight for their future?

I know many of you feel helpless because the problem seems so big but like “eating an elephant” we take one small bite at a time. We start by supporting candidates that want to end the fiscal gluttony at the federal level of government. The federal largesse is making it difficult for state and municipalities to provide the services people truly need. People lump all taxes into the wasteful bucket because we see the gargantuan waste going on at the federal level.

Do we need to send $90 billion dollars to the Department of Education to tell us how to run our schools? Or could we use that $90 billion to buy books and support great teacher initiatives? Do we need to send $76 billion dollars to keep the GM car company afloat? Or should we keep that $76 billion dollars at the state and local level supporting Colorado business initiatives? The list of federal spending and waste is endless.

The federal government is over stepping all constitutional barriers with little resistance until now. We are going to stop this out of control government not just because it is unconstitutional, not just because it is crushing our freedom, not just because we need to pay for local services like education, fire, and police, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because we are parents and we care about our kids.

I am asking you and your kids to get involved, and join me to take back the future for our kids. It’s not just political, it’s personal…

Seniority in Congress and representatives like Doug Lamborn…

Inside pundits and party officials believe that you have to have political “experience” to be effective in elected office. They never clarify what that means in detail. Experience is usually described as having held office before, or being connected in the party apparatus. They never talk about the fact for example how Doug Lamborn (or other “career” politicians) have never held a job that has had a budget, employees, paid taxes, or had to work within or around regulations, say, like I have. That is not relevant if they have been a good party soldier.

I am the first to agree that experience is better than a degree any day. But what we have to look at is the results of that experience - not just the length of service. As the Republican and Democratic parties argue how independents are a “risk” for chairmanships and key roles in the government, they never point to results. Here are the results of the “experienced” and “career” politicians I have observed:

• Social Security is going bankrupt and being used to offset the real budget shortfall the federal government is running. No urgency here.
• Energy “policy” has been ignored - so now because of the “experienced” members of congress’ inaction, we now enjoy another crisis created by them, who now say they are the right people to fix it. Really?
• The inner city and minority communities are worse off than ever because of the programs of “career” politicians. It is criminal in my opinion to have spent trillions and the problem is worse. When will a new approach be tried by this group of “experienced” social engineers?
• The public education in this country has been hijacked by unions and special interests with the help of “experienced” politicians. The department of education funds need to be sent back to the states where they belong. I don’t want to cut education, because my experience tells me it is the answer to poverty, I just want the people closest to the community to have the funds they need to provide a quality education. Not a one size fits all approach. But I don’t have the experience to know this I guess.
• The federal “budget” is a disgrace. The economic ignorance is embarrassing because politicians like Doug Lamborn have never had to run a business within a budget. A budget is a foreign concept to most “career” politicians.
• Border Security is being ignored while our “career” politicians allow border agents to be assaulted and thrown in jail for shooting criminals in the arse. The fed sides with corrupt Mexican officials over our own American soldiers. And they act powerless? They are the US Congress in charge of securing our border; make it your issue dangit!
• Our military is the greatest most stabilizing institution in the world allowing for free trade to be conducted between the nations of the world, and yet our democratic “career” politicians continue to despise it and cut its funding whenever they can to divert funds that create jobs to put into failed social programs that suck the hope out of; New Orleans, LA, Detroit, and other inner cities that resemble third world nations. Never mind they are the defenders of all freedom loving nations in the world. Without them we have nothing.

I could go on forever here. So I ask; if this is what the “experienced” and “career” politicians results are, what is the risk in sending some fresh new blood to congress? We need to focus on results not intentions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions as they say so when will it be time to try a new approach?

We also need people in congress that are willing to passionately work to change the way it operates. Lobbyists, fund raising, selection of committee chairs, length of time in office and in DC, and the transfer of power back to the states where it belongs for most issues need to be addressed and changed. If you agree I say:

Give Congress a Hand; Rich Hand!

Give Congress a Hand in 2008; Rich Hand!

This is my attempt to be clever with a slogan for my upcoming 60 day blitz to Election Day November 4th. I know there are so many clever citizens out there that could come up with a better play on words for the campaign.

I would like to challenge all of you to take a shot at it. Also notice the new video on the sidebar created by my wonderful daughter Emily!! She has 2 more videos to come. One on issues, the other on how simple it is to write-in Rich Hand!!

One of my blog posts has been picked up by the website Tenth Amendment Center. I am in the company of Ron Paul and other citizens concerned about the federal governments over reaching policies like unfunded mandates. I hope you check it out.

The League of Woman Voters will be posting my positions in the next few weeks on their site. I am all over the political sites which are driving a lot of traffic to my site. I am confident I can break 100 votes this year!

Doug Lamborn the republican incumbent has agreed to debate me in September; only kidding Mom!! He doesn’t have the guts and many would consider that foolish politics. But it just shows you what you get in the current system; gutless tools. Sorry Doug if you consider that a personal attack, I call it the truth. Two different ways to look at the same thing. I know you see everything from the lobbyist view but I see it from a citizen view.

Keep coming back as I add some audio (radio) commercials and hopefully start getting some speaking gigs. I will be walking School District 38 with Kelly Mobley who is working to maintain the integrity of the schools there by getting support for a mill levy increase that is much needed because the federal government gives back so little of the billions we send to the Department of Education in DC! See my position on getting that money back…

More news to come. Looking forward to some creative slogans!!

It is time to start campaigning…

From now until Election Day I will be starting to focus more on my cause of becoming the next representative in Colorado’s congressional district 5. The primary is done, and as expected incumbent Doug Lamborn cruised to an easy victory in the 3 way race. He could have been beaten by either of the 2 other candidates in my opinion in a 2 way race. Both Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn are good men and would have made much better leaders over Doug Lamborn. They split the vote because they are both such strong candidates. My only issue with either was their party status. I believe we need to work from the outside in because the parties have proven they can’t fix it from the inside out.

Doug Lamborn has a voting record that most in this district would support but being a leader in my opinion is bigger than that. He is content waiting in line for his place in a congressional system that favors length of service over skill, has money and lobbyists at its core, and is an assault on every American that lives in a district where they have had the guts to elect new representatives.

We need a leader that is willing to fight to change the rules of congress so they favor all Americans right to fair representation in congress. We need to change the system so good principled Americans want to run for office. And we need a representative that will stop taking their direction from the lobbyists in Washington DC. Mr Lamborn has been running commercials here stating how he has stood up to Nancy Pelosi and is willing to fight against her liberal policies. Well I take exception to that. From what he has done here by avoiding debates in the primary, and basically hiding behind an ad campaign, shows there is no way he is fighting Nancy Pelosi and liberals because he doesn’t even have the guts to stand up in front of his constituents to debate his candidacy with two “friendly” foes. Nancy Pelosi would eat this guy for lunch in a debate.

We need someone that knows that the system is broken and will fight to change the rules in the House. Doug will not even debate in an election cycle, do you believe he will stand up and challenge the Republican leadership to make the changes we need to get fair representation in congress?

I am running unaffiliated which is the largest voting block; and growing in Colorado. I will fight for changing rules that will help clean up congress so we can all feel better about the people we send to congress. The two parties have made this mess, and now they say they have the solutions to fix it?? Well I don’t know about you, but I think they need some help from us.

Please join me by going to my website and recommending it to other constituents in Colorado District 5. Thank you in advance…

If he doesn’t debate, what does that "say" about Representative Lamborn?

Doug Lamborn is refusing to debate his two rivals for the Republican nomination for his current position; Representative District 5 Colorado. Why would an incumbent politician not want to debate? The answer is obvious to the people who follow politics; because incumbents have an advantage, and debates can only hurt the incumbent while raising the profile of the challengers. Unless of course the incumbent is a competent and able leader.

The real problem for the incumbent is the more you see, the less you like. And that to me is a real problem for our country and district. What type of “leader” is he, if like his commercials say, and the Chamber of Commerce agrees, is someone we should send back to DC, but refuses to debate the issues? What would make him hesitant to defend and promote that record? I ask you; don’t the voters deserve at least a leader that will fight for himself, if not us?

What has happened to the definition of “leadership”? If Doug Lamborn is truly our “leader”, then why isn’t he out front promoting and defending his leadership? What type of leader hides and avoids the tough decisions or actions? What type of leader is one afraid to stand up against the competition? What is the definition of leadership today?

Political strategy aside, this is not leadership. I am embarrassed to have representing me a man that doesn’t have the fortitude to back up his positions and motivate the electorate with his vision. Anyone can vote, leadership is more than voting.

His TV commercials ring absolutely hollow when you assess his unwillingness to defend and promote his candidacy. Crank and Rayburn will be speaking to an empty chair at the debate. They should place an empty suit on that chair because that is what Lamborn is, an empty suit.

My candidacy is about changing the foundation of a broken system. This is one example of what is wrong today in the election of the people that are “running” this government (into the ground). One of the reasons we keep getting the Doug Lamborns of the world is exemplified in this process. Crank and Rayburn are putting themselves out there for judgment before the voters, and Lamborn is allowed to avoid the venue, denying the republican voters an opportunity to make a clear choice. The parties have reduced our choices in candidates, and Lamborn embodies the problem with the party system. Once you’re in the good ol boys club you will be protected and given special privilege even if you don’t have the guts to be a leader.

I have nothing personal against Doug except for the fact that he doesn’t deserve to hold a position he is unwilling to defend. This is unacceptable if you want to be a leader. As a constituent I am outraged at his lack of leadership. In his commercial he talks about fighting the liberals in congress. Do you believe that a man that cowers from a debate in his own party is “fighting” liberals in congress? Have some guts Representative Lamborn…

It is time to focus on congressional races…

For the sake of America’s future, we need to focus our attention on the 2008 congressional races to insure we offset the executive branch. It will not matter who becomes president if McCain wins the nomination, both party nominees will push liberal agendas, so we must build up our defenses on the front line, congress.

If it ends up being Barrack and McCain, I vote 3rd party. If it ends up Clinton and McCain, I’m still not sure if I will have to hold my nose and vote McCain. I just don’t know yet but what I do know is that anyone who is conservative leaning, believes our borders need to be secured, taxes lowered, and more market based solutions for healthcare & social security, has no advocate in these two nominees. My guess is conservative voters will say, let them eat cake and stay home letting the country fall apart for four years, hoping a Reagan will appear on the horizon.

I watched the debate last night and the angry old man is someone I just can’t see voting for. Huckabee gets old really quick, and Paul was dissed again but I have to respect the way he kept his composure. I would have been making a stink if I was Paul, but that’s me. McCain represents what is wrong with Washington but unfortunately people seem to be fine with the status quo. Why not; there giving away the ranch with rebates, healthcare, free housing and food; heck I may just quit and get on the dole. Why work when they are giving it away.

We are in for some interesting times and I don’t know when the tipping point will come; but I will be ready to take back our country. Anyone in?

Doug Lamborn; was it a Coors beer you were drinking?

Doug Lamborn, fresh off of trying to get Pike’s Peak designated a National Monument, is “caught” hob knobbing with lobbyists and drinking all the free beer he could, I’m sure. I just hope he was at least drinking our home brew, Coors. (He is seen twice. Be patient, he is near the end of a very short video clip)

Let me state right here right now, when I run again for congress in 2008, I will pledge to drink only Coors beer, but I will not attend one lobbyist event if elected to congress. I will be spending my time in congress fighting for congressional reforms; sober. One of them will be to reduce the influence of money in congress. I am all for attending constituent events in district 5, but events that are designed to listen and present issues to the constituents.

I will not launch personal attacks on Doug once I announce, but I have to say here and now, he is embarrassing. He is the stereo typical politician and he will be voted out if I have anything to do with it. But my guess is he will have a hard time getting past the 08 republican primary. The good news for Doug is he will have plenty of time to drown his sorrows in beer. Just a thought…

The “Fred” Factor…

No not the book “The Fred Factor” by author Mark Sanborn (good book by the way), but the “Fred Thompson Factor”, and his decision to join the republican presidential contenders seeking the office. Will it be a “factor” at all?

I heard Laura Ingraham interview the Senator this morning and I liked him. Didn’t love him, and he didn’t impress me as a guy that is going to bring the “Reagan Factor” to the race, which is much needed. In all fairness, Fred can never be Reagan. He even stated on the show that Reagan was unique and he has never claimed that he was or could ever be Ronald Reagan. I happen to be reading the Reagan Diaries (an awesome read if you loved Reagan), and he was the real deal. We will be double blessed if we ever uncover another Reagan in our lifetime. But Fred is not that guy.

I think it was a big mistake for Fred to announce on Leno rather than join the NH debate. The debate far outnumbered Leno in viewers, and the viewers watching the debate were the voters Fred needed to connect with to win the primary. Bad choice, yesterday’s news. Moving forward we will see if he makes another bad decision like that. We’ll be watching.

I am still not “jazzed” about the current field although there are a number of good men in the race. I really wish there was a conservative woman in the race. I think we could be served well by a number of the current candidates if elected. I could live with Romney or Huckabee, possibly Rudy but I am already getting NYC fatigue (and I am a native New Yorker!).

Based on Fred’s entrance into the race, we have seen him at his peak. I hope I’m wrong and he starts to ignite some kind of passion in me, but I am not holding my breath. The only thing I know for sure; there is no democrat in the race that I would be comfortable calling president. And for those that would say there is no democrat I could embrace as president; you’re right. So if it is Fred instead of a democrat, then let it be Fred. Just a thought…

Can the two party system be fixed?

When I chose to leave the Republican Party it was not an action that I took lightly and here is why. It is “conventional wisdom” , that if you do not have party support (either D or R) you have no chance of winning any national election; but will that “wisdom” continue to hold with the current actions of both parties?

- Both parties are addicted to power rather than a vision for our
country
- The parties see all things through the lens of what it means to
the party rather than the country
- The parties in congress have created rules
that favor, longevity, political favors, towing the line, and committee
chairmanships that have shifted the balance of power from individual congressman
to party control and obedience.

The founders of this nation were quite concerned with the formation of “parties” and believed they were bad for the country. They believed the system would fracture the country and make it difficult to unite around a common cause, therefore undermining the common good of the infant nation. It was a foresight that took over 200 years to gel but I believe their concerns are well founded and have now become the fear they envisioned. Obviously the party system survived but what is it that has helped foster its survival? The voter’s tolerance and lack of choice of viable independent candidates and a system that punishes voters of districts that fail to tow the party line. The parties do this by controlling chairmanships of committees, and making it “impossible” for “outside” congressman to get anything done while in congress.

The people of this nation are voting for the party system with their feet. The “unaffiliated” voter is the fastest, and now the largest single category of voters in this nation. There are pockets of party strength in the country, Colorado Springs for example, is still strongly republican but it is changing. It is changing because the party has become a “who you know”, not what you can do for the country, party. It is a “good old boys& girls” club and you must put in your time to be considered a viable candidate. What the party is producing today are followers, not leaders. The people that make it through the system are willing to trade principals for money, principals for power, and principals for the chance to become a candidate for office. The candidate of the party is a product of insider trading, a lack of principal, and an indebtedness of their few supporters in the party.

Some would call this “paying your dues”. I don’t believe that as an American I have to prove myself to anyone but the voter. I want to be unencumbered by the “chains” of anyone thinking they have been responsible for getting me to office. I will get to office through my ideas and actions, not the anointment of the “power players” of the party.

The people are crying for leadership as the party candidates are promising fringe groups a seat at the table. The people that want to abort babies up to the ninth month, people that believe the moon landing was fake and 9/11 was a George Bush conspiracy, business coalitions that want cheap labor at any cost, individual lobbies that are ruining our healthcare system by supporting private insurance companies rather than the market; while the issues that need our attention are put to the side because they are hard or controversial. Our borders are open to terrorists, and gang members, our social security system and healthcare system are crumbling under government control and regulation, we are fostering generation after generation of minority poverty through support of a failed education system, and every election our party “leaders” promise that they can fix it. They can’t because they are indebted to the people that are getting them elected; Planned Parenthood, Daily KOS, Moveon.org, the open border lobbyists and big business cheap labor lobbyists, insurance company lobbyists, and AARP. We have fractured beyond repair. The only answer is to bypass the morass of the party “chains” and go straight to the voter.

The party system is broken and our country is crying out for leadership. We must break the back of blind self interest and focus on common self interest; we must break the back of the rules that favor parties over individual congressman in the halls of congress; we must engage the values that made this country great and stop cow towing to donors rather than good values and vision.

It is my belief the only way either party will reform is if good people leave and stop donating. I will build coalitions with individual congressmen that believe in America’s future. I know I’m not alone; I can feel it! I am a born leader in my mind; I just have to convince others to change theirs. No small task but if you have read my book, I like a challenge. Please join me in changing a broken system. It will be fun; that’s a promise I am willing to make. Just a thought…

I have left the Republican Party

Today I went to the El Paso county offices to change my registration to "unaffiliated" from Republican. It was a big decision for me since I have been in the party for nearly 20 years. I will be running in 2008 as a general election candidate free from any party politics. I don't know if the strategy will work but it doesn't matter because it is the right thing to do. The party is off course and the party politics are undermining the efforts of good people in the congress. I think we need more non party candidates to run in 08 but I will not hold my breath.

So today marks the day "I left the party". I look forward to running over the parties in the election. Just a thought...