Home Page   Meet Mike   Contact Us   Contribute Here    Issues
Mike's "Stump Speech"   Miscellaneous Thoughts From the Candidate  

 

Comments by Mike Freeman, Democratic Candidate
for the 9th Congressional District of Georgia

I don't need to remind you that these are difficult and troubling times for this nation. There are a lot of issues that we could talk about here this evening.
  • We could talk about a medical care delivery system, that despite the improvements brought by the pending legislation, will still have a lot of broken parts,
  • Or we could discuss how difficult it is to find an effective way to eliminate the threat to our national security from Al-Qaeda.
  • We might even share our concerns over the growing "anti-government" movement, fueled by the flood of Republican and right-wing media demagoguery.
  • And we might voice our frustrations over the unwillingness of government and industry to find ways to curb the pollution of our air and water.
But as pressing as these issues are, they will have to wait for a later time - because this evening I want to focus on the most difficult and the most urgent of all the issues we face today - the economic crisis. You know the details of our current economic problems as well as I do:
  • The Obama Administration has done great work in stopping and reversing the economic collapse. However, despite encouraging signs, there are still hundreds of thousands of people out of work or seriously under-employed.
  • We continue to be plagued by home foreclosures that devastate thousands of families.
  • We watch as our retirement plans disappear along with our pensions or 401Ks.
  • We feel the effects as critical programs at the state and local level are cut back or eliminated.
  • As individuals or small businesses our plans are hindered by financial institutions that continue to be unable or unwilling to make credit available to us, often despite having received federal bailout funds.
  • And we watch as local banks fail, particularly here in Georgia where more banks have failed than in any other state.
These problems are going to take a lot of time and effort to repair, partly because Republicans are more interested in making President Obama and the Democrats appear incompetent than in joining with them to find solutions, and partly because federal resources, which could be applied to those solutions are being borrowed and spent on those two wars that we are unwilling to tax ourselves to pay for. How do I propose to address these concerns when you elect me to represent you in Congress?
  • Work has already begun to make sure that another economic crisis like the one that we just recovering from can never occur again. However, I know that the root causes of this crisis are still alive and well. They are greed, and the pressure of special interests, working to undo effective regulation of financial institutions. So I will be alert to any attempts to weaken the new regulations being set in place.
  • I hope that by the time I get to Washington, the growth of new and returning jobs will be well underway. However, many economists predict that it will be years before we return to the employment levels we enjoyed before the 2008 collapse. So I will work to put plans in place to make sure that those who continue to be unemployed or under-employed will have opportunities to regain their financial security and independence.
  • Until revenues to state and local governments from taxes and fees rebound, it may be necessary for the federal government to continue grants and loans to them to ensure that funding for education and other essential services does not continue to erode. I will join with other non-partisan colleagues to insure that these resources are available.
  • The problem of financial institutions that have received massive amounts of federal bail-out funds and have failed to make credit more accessible to invigorate economic growth may be resolved by next January. If not, that issue will be a focus of my efforts.
As interesting and important as all these thoughts are, my primary reason for inviting you here this evening is to make the case for why you should:
  • vote for me,
  • support the campaign with your time, talent and treasure,
  • and get all your family, friends and neighbors to do the same.
Here are five good reasons to do that.
  • First, I'm certainly not the typical candidate for public office. I've learned no bad habits in previous legislative settings, and I'm not interested in becoming wealthy or making a career in politics. And I'll never forget who I work for and why I was hired.
  • Second, after 41 years as a minister and 30 years as a military chaplain, I've learned how to listen to and work effectively with all sorts of people. I look forward to the opportunity to work with 435 other Representatives as varied in their political philosophies as Nancy Pelosi and the current Representative from this District.
  • Third, the words on my campaign literature, "I will represent YOU" are not just a slogan. They are the heart of who I am. They mean that, as long as you make the effort to make your concerns known to me, I will listen to and respect them. Just because a constituent has a political philosophy different from mine does not mean I can ignore their concerns.
  • Fourth, I will always tell you what I believe to be the truth, even when it makes me uncomfortable or is not what you want to hear.
  • Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I love this nation and the unique principles on which it was founded. Having had the opportunity to visit several under-developed countries, in Africa and the Caribbean, I stand in awe of what America has accomplished in just 235 years, and I want to take an active role in maintaining what we've accomplished so far.

Thank you for being here this evening. I know that your presence shows your commitment to electing a Representative of the 9th Congressional District who will faithfully represent you.

We have a difficult, but exciting, challenge ahead of us to change the voting patterns of the last decade. Our success depends almost entirely on your efforts. But if I didn't believe that you were up to that challenge, I wouldn't be standing before you now.

Tonight we begin the process.
Thank you.

 

paid for by Freeman for Congress