A More Compassionate, Common Sense Approach to Governing

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Paul Aronsohn in his own words...

These are challenging times.

We work longer hours. We pay higher taxes. And we spend more time worrying – about our security, about our children, about our health, and about our overall quality of life.

Our lives seem to be getting harder and costlier, yet the response from Washington is too often one of silence…or worse. It is too often one of indifference.

Our elected officials often seem more concerned with winning their partisan battles and pointing their accusing fingers than with fighting for the issues that matter most to us. Rather than helping us with solutions, they seem only to add to our problems.

As a result, for many Americans, politics has become meaningless.

This is particularly true here in New Jersey’s 5th Congressional District.

Despite his title, Representative Scott Garrett doesn’t represent us. He doesn’t represent our mainstream values. And he doesn’t represent the majority of us who reject the divisive, extreme politics that he practices.

Republican or Democrat – we are a sensible group of people, who believe that most answers to most problems lie somewhere in the middle. We reject finger-pointing. We reject extreme partisanship. And we reject false choices offered to us by politicians who want only to divide us – false choices between business and labor, between the environment and the economy, and between science and faith.

We just want answers. We just want a government that is responsive to our needs and government officials who are responsible for their actions.

It is in that spirit that I have launched this campaign for the United States Congress and with it a fresh, new approach to politics.

Our campaign embodies a more compassionate, more common-sense approach to politics – one that is people-focused and results-oriented. It is a campaign rooted in the American tradition of public service, motivated by the American promise of a bright, prosperous future, and guided by mainstream American values of responsibility, opportunity, and community.

Our campaign is forward looking and premised on the notion that public service should be about serving the tax-paying public. It should be about making a positive difference in people’s lives. And it should be about addressing real issues that affect real people.

NATIONAL SECURITY

The most basic, most fundamental responsibility of government is to provide for the physical security of its citizens. To that end, our primary focus must – by necessity – be on making and keeping our country safe and secure.

Our approach to security must be vigilant, decisive, and effective.

Overseas, we must be prepared to act unilaterally when necessary, particularly in defense of vital U.S. national interests. We should also work to strengthen and protect key international relationships, particularly with countries like Israel with whom we share such close strategic, political, economic and cultural ties.

At home, we need to focus on the security of the homeland, including the security of our communities. This means an emphasis on counterterrorism, preparedness, emergency response, and community policing. To this end, we need to provide the necessary resources to all involved, including our brave first responders.

ECONOMIC SECURITY

A strong economy is the linchpin to a strong future. Without it, we would not have the resources necessary to provide for a strong national defense and for a strong system of quality healthcare.

To that end, we need to get back to basics and put this country back on solid economic ground.

To begin, we need a sound economic policy – one rooted firmly in fiscal responsibility. We need to stop spending money that we don’t have.

And we need a fair tax policy that doesn’t reward some at the expense of others. We shouldn’t punish people for being rich; we shouldn’t punish people for being poor; and we should stop punishing the hardworking middle class, who too often gets stuck footing the bill for everyone else.

We need a sound education policy – one that recognizes that a genuine commitment to the future requires a genuine investment in public education. Today’s students are tomorrow’s business owners, labor leaders, defense analysts, and elected officials. We need to prepare them well for an increasingly complex, increasingly challenging world. But like any good investment, this one requires greater resources and greater accountability.

We need a sound trade policy – one that is based on what’s best for American workers, best for American businesses, and best for American communities. This is a tall order, but one worth striving for. Shipping American jobs and American companies oversees makes absolutely no sense. At the same time, we need to maintain an environment that is conducive to our market-based economy and that recognizes the vital role played by the private sector, particularly small businesses. We must adhere to the notion that “you can’t love jobs, but hate the people who create them.”

We need a sound energy policy – one that decreases our dependence on foreign oil and allows us to put more in the bank and less in the tank. We need to recognize there is a national security imperative, an economic imperative, and an environmental imperative to develop alternative sources of energy. Enough is enough.

HEALTH SECURITY

On a personal level, there is nothing more important than our health. Yet, for too many Americans, there is nothing more elusive than good, affordable healthcare. We need to change that. We need to make our healthcare system user-friendly and more responsive to all who need it.

Simply stated, a person’s wealth shouldn’t determine a person’s health. All Americans – regardless of their economic status – should have access to quality healthcare.

To this end, we need to strike a balance between maintaining all that is good with our present system – high quality physicians, medicines, and hospital care – while making it more accessible to those who currently lack access to it. We need to recognize the important and complimentary roles played by both the public and private sectors – by government, academia, private business, and patient advocacy organizations – and bring everyone to the table to find real, meaningful solutions.

Comprehensive reform can and should lead to better patient outcomes (better care) as well as better fiscal management (cost savings). It can be done. It should be done. And I want to lead this worthy fight to make sure it does get done.

THE CIVIL RIGHTS CHALLENGE OF OUR ERA: THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY

All people should be treated equal under the law, and all people should be given the opportunity to reach their God-given potential. On this, there should be no question.

We have made great progress to protect and promote the rights of people regardless of race, gender, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. But we need to do more, particularly with respect to those in the disability community. In fact, while we work to protect women’s reproductive rights and to extend key provisions of the voting rights act, we must rise to the great civil rights challenge of our era: to enhance the quality of life for the 50 million Americans who live with disabilities and who are too often left behind.

We have the resources; we just need the resolve.