Driving back from Callao, Utah on a moonless night, I looked out my driver’s side window and saw lights on the mountain in the distance. I struggled to understand why the mountains were sparkled with tiny dots, then I realized I was looking at the stars.

I stopped the car at the side of the road, turned off the ignition, and stepped outside into the darkness. The sky hit my eyes like a power chord from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. It had been many years since I was far away enough from a city or traffic to actually see the milky way.Suddenly it all came back to me. This was the end of a journey that had started in the spring of 2005. Traveling town to town, learning more, understanding Utah.

Callao was spectacular. I had never visited a town so small, yet overwhelmingly beautiful. Unpaved streets, no municipality, no police force, a one-room schoolhouse, and the most serene desert landscape you can imagine. Fighting for their very existence against the state of Nevada who wishes to drain their home of what little water exists for lawns in Las Vegas. A drilling exercise that would be suitable for an episode of the Simpsons if it weren’t so tragic. These committed Utahns continue their battle in spite of an ignorant congressional delegation that claims it is “conservative Read more...

As Co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, I feel very strongly about bringing fiscal responsibility back to Washington. In this election, we have an historic opportunity to take our country in a new direction by electing candidates who will put a stop to the record deficits and exploding debt we’ve seen under the current leadership in Congress.

Recently, I hit the campaign trail on behalf of Jill Derby, who is running in Nevada’s second congressional district. Jill embodies the best traits of a Blue Dog - she is independent-minded, down to earth, and believes to her core in government accountability and fiscal responsibility. These are qualities that are in short supply in Washington right now.

The Blue Dog Coalition has proposed a twelve-point plan for restoring fiscal responsibility to your government. Some of the reforms we have outlined include: mandatory spending caps, reinstating Pay-As-You Go rules, and requiring every federal agency to pass a clean audit. With Jill Derby’s help, we can affect real, lasting change in Washington by making this plan a reality.

President Bush doesn’t want to change direction on the debt - that’s why he will be campaigning for Jill’s opponent this Thursday in Elko, Nevada. Jill’s campaign theme is "Boot ‘em." Help us send a message to the current leadership in Washington. Let’s restore fiscal sanity and give deficits the boot.

We are undoubtedly a safer nation due to the actions of the Republican led 109th Congress. This Congress passed numerous bills that will help secure our nation from future terrorist attacks as well as legislation to end the flow of illegal aliens across our border. This Congress reauthorized the PATRIOT Act, a key piece of legislation initially drafted after the 9/11 attacks to allow for greater communication among our intelligence community and local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and reaffirmed their ability to conduct terrorist surveillance, while also updating our laws to adapt to new technologies. Make no mistake, the fact that we have not experienced an attack on American soil is not due to the lack of effort from the terrorists. It is because of Congress and the Administration’s policies to protect Americans and fight terrorism.

Illegal immigration and national security are inextricably linked, and the possibility of terrorists infiltrating our country undetected across our borders is far too real. The 109th Congress passed several bills now signed into law which are critical in protecting our homeland. The Secure Fence Act authorizes the construction of 700 miles of two-layered reinforced fencing along the southwest border and was recently signed into law as was the FY 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Conference Report which appropriates $2.77 billion to add new border patrol agents and $1.2 billion for border fencing and state of the art surveillance equipment to maintain operational control of our borders. Also signed into law was the Border Tunnel Prevention Act which criminalizes border tunnel construction and carries penalties of 20 years in prison for creating or financing a tunnel. Read more...

Voters tell me they are ready for a change. With the Foley scandal, the highest deficit in history, the failed policies in Iraq, the No Child Left Behind Act funded at only 16%, and no solutions to the healthcare crisis, Americans want a change.  I believe that America's best days are ahead of her, but we must have a change in leadership.  I propose job development through our aging transportation infrastructure, and a single payer system using medicare deductions to solve our healthcare woes.As a former educator, I believe that we are failing our children and will not vote to renew NCLB, and will propose a blue ribbon committee of "Teachers of the Year" from all 50 states along with parents who can give legislators the information they need to fix our broken education system.  I also propose adding paraprofessionals to every grade K-12 to help with instruction and monitor our school hallways to give peace of mind to every parent.

On the issue of security, we need to secure America today.  If we can secure Iraq, we can secure America, today.  This has been a do-nothing Congress. They have met in session less and accomplished less than any Congress of recent days.  My campaign is this:  to work as hard every day as you do.  We are facing the most important election of the decade.  I would appreciate your help and support.

When Fannie Lou Hammer was denied a seat at the Democratic convention, this woman from Mississippi said, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired." I say to the voters of the 12th District It's Time For A Change. If you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, it's time to put this woman in the house, as well as"Get A Doctor In The House" with a Prescription that's good for what ails us. After all it's the democratic thing to do.

Hey Roy,

Let's talk about the issues for a minute. It's one week until the election. And I have a few questions for my opponent, Roy Blunt. Let's be blunt, Roy:Why are you avoiding the issues? Why don't you answer Southwest Missouri voters questions, and tell us what we want to know? All of us down here have a lot of questions - and you're hiding and not giving us any answers.

I think you need to open up your eyes and ears, Roy, and hear what all of us here have to say. Southwest Missourians are fed up. And we have had enough. But you don't have to answer. I think all of us know where you stand on the issues:

I support setting a timetable for our troops, and bringing them home. You support standing behind Bush and 'staying the course', and continuing another Vietnam.

I completely support National Health Care for every American. Philip Morris is your biggest contributor, and your record clearly shows where you stand on this issue. Read more...

In August, my opponent, Rep. Brad Sherman made a public promise to many constituents that he would debate me.  He lied.

For weeks, Mr. Sherman has skipped candidate forums in the district, and ignored requests by my campaign staff to schedule an event: any time, any place.  Most recently, he refused to even respond to a formal proposal that called for the San Fernando Sun newspaper to moderate a debate in the northeast San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.

I was especially looking forward to meeting Mr. Sherman in the northeast Valley because it is an area that he publicly fought to exclude from his district, one he has utterly ignored since it was forced upon him after congressional lines were redrawn in late 2001. Read more...

October 30: Today was a typically busy and exciting day, with radio and print interviews, and as we've hit trip 560 with a Rotary Club speech in Clear Lake City. I was also delighted to finally read my opponent directly addressing me. It was a direct insult (she called me "ill-tempered") in the Dallas Morning News. She's taken offense at my description of her and her voting record of 95.6 percent votes in accord with the Bush Administration as a "puppet. Read more...

Recent polls reveal a reversal of fortune for the Republican Party. They also show a change in the number one issue for the electorate. Asked what’s at stake in this year’s election, the average voter says a solution to the Iraq quagmire. Even more revealing is the fact that a majority of Americans now specifically fault President Bush and his party for bungling the post-war plan or, even worse, for not having a plan in the first place.

While this shift among the American public is only weeks old, a strong majority of union members have been turned off for years by this administration and its co-conspirators in Congress. And unlike the average voter and Iraq, union members fault this administration for its ability to actually set a clear goal, put together a plan and implement it.

But the plan that union members despise? Bush & Co.’s systematic program to drastically weaken unions and, consequently, the labor movement’s ability to advocate for working families. Their end goal has been to remove the last line of defense – unions – against a right-wing blitzkrieg on workers’ rights, benefits, safety and retirement security. Read more...