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	<title>Todd Long For Congress &#187; Issues</title>
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	<link>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com</link>
	<description>Republican Candidate for Florida&#039;s 8th Congressional District</description>
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		<title>National Defense</title>
		<link>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2010/07/national-defense/</link>
		<comments>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2010/07/national-defense/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:53:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>phil</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[National Defense]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/?p=305</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the primary purposes of our federal governemnt is to provide us with a strong national defense. I believe in President Reagan&#8217;s creed: &#8220;Peace through strength&#8221;. I will always support the necessary funding to make sure that our heroic military has everything they need to keep our nation safe and fight to ensure that [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>One of the primary purposes of our federal governemnt is to provide us with a strong national defense. I believe in President Reagan&#8217;s creed: &#8220;Peace through strength&#8221;. I will always support the necessary funding to make sure that our heroic military has everything they need to keep our nation safe and fight to ensure that our veterans are well taken care of once they return home. That is the very least we can do for our heroes!</p>
<p>I believe that it is critical that jihadists and Muslim extremists are not allowed to gain access to nuclear weapons. THis means stopping Iran from further developing their nuclear capability using whatever means necessary. This also means ensuring that Pakistan&#8217;s government does not fall to Al Queda or the Taliban operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan.</p>
<p>Finally, we must secure our borders and keep our homeland safe. I would use all necessary personnel and resources to get the job done. It makes absolutely no sense to have our military spread out all over the world when our porous southern border allows criminals, drug traffickers and jihadists to continue to flood into our country doing tremendous damage to our nation and us citizens.</p>
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		<title>Balanced Budgets and States&#8217; Rights</title>
		<link>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/balanced-budgets-and-states-rights/</link>
		<comments>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/balanced-budgets-and-states-rights/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:46:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>phil</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Balanced Budgets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/?p=146</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The U.S. Constitution is a contract between the people and the government that greatly limits the federal government&#8217;s power. Tragically, a self-serving, power hungry Congress filled with career politicians, has engaged in hundreds of billions in unconstitutional spending for earmarks for local causes, bailouts of financial institutions and states, and set up numerous departments not [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The U.S. Constitution is a contract between the people and the government that greatly limits the federal government&#8217;s power. Tragically, a self-serving, power hungry Congress filled with career politicians, has engaged in hundreds of billions in unconstitutional spending for earmarks for local causes, bailouts of financial institutions and states, and set up numerous departments not authorized by our Constitution. Congress&#8217; abuse of its constitutional authority has bankrupted the nation. Morover, Congress has stolen our social security funds leaving us with a stack of IOU&#8217;s and a collapsing social security system and mismanaged and bankrupted Medicare and Medicaid.</p>
<p>I believe that we must immediately begin to honor our Constitution and states&#8217; rights, and return to a federal government that does only a very few things and does them well.  This includes funding the greatest military in the world, taking excellent care of our heroic soldiers and veterans, securing our borders, and providing an effective national energy policy.<br />
Our federal government has no authority and was not intended to create and run welfare and redistribution of wealth programs.  I believe we should tend to the poor and disabled. However, these programs and services need to be  paid for and administered by charities, churches,synagogues, non-profits and state and local governments, where they are run most efficiently and effectively without bankrupting the nation and destroying our children&#8217;s freedom and opportunity for prosperity.<br />
In The Conservative Comeback, we set forth a very specific 12-Point Plan to balance our budgets and greatly reduce the size of our federal government.</p>
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		<title>The Fair Tax</title>
		<link>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/the-fair-tax/</link>
		<comments>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/the-fair-tax/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:31:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>phil</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Fair Tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/?p=107</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
 I am an ardent supporter of The Fair Tax (H.R.25) and have been fighting for a complete overhaul of our disastrous tax code for years. The Fair Tax proposes the elimination of all federal taxes, including income taxes, payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security, capital-gains taxes, corporate taxes, self-employment taxes, gift taxes and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/wp-content/uploads/fair-tax.jpg" alt="fair tax" title="fair tax" width="116" height="114" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-82" /></p>
<p> I am an ardent supporter of The Fair Tax (H.R.25) and have been fighting for a complete overhaul of our disastrous tax code for years. The Fair Tax proposes the elimination of all federal taxes, including income taxes, payroll taxes for Medicare and Social Security, capital-gains taxes, corporate taxes, self-employment taxes, gift taxes and estate taxes and replaces them with a 23 cents national sales tax.<br />
The advantages are obvious:<br />
Illegal immigrants and the underground economy will now be contributing to paying the nation&#8217;s bills.</p>
<p>America would once again be far and away the greatest nation in the world to start a business.  Many entrepreneurs around the world would move their businesses back to the U.S. creating millions of new jobs for americans particularly in our declining manufacturing sector.</p>
<p>With The Fair Tax, we would no longer punish wealth creation or the investment or savings critical for Americans to have plenty of good paying jobs, a high standard of living and sufficient income for retirement.</p>
<p>The Fair Tax would take the power out of Washington&#8217;s career politicians and lobbyists who use the 60,000 pages of IRS Rules and Regulations for their own power and wealth at the expense of our nation&#8217;s citizens.</p>
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		<title>Audit the Fed</title>
		<link>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/audit-the-fed/</link>
		<comments>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/audit-the-fed/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:03:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>phil</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/?p=96</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I fully support Ron Paul&#8217;s Audit the Federal Reserve Bill H.R. 1207. We must remove the blanket restrictions on GAO audits of the Fed. We have strayed so far from our Constitution and Founders&#8217; principles which were intended to keep power out of the a concentrated few and keep it disbursed among all the people [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/wp-content/uploads/fed1.jpg" alt="fed" title="fed" width="115" height="115" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-217" />I fully support Ron Paul&#8217;s Audit the Federal Reserve Bill H.R. 1207. We must remove the blanket restrictions on GAO audits of the Fed. We have strayed so far from our Constitution and Founders&#8217; principles which were intended to keep power out of the a concentrated few and keep it disbursed among all the people in the various states. The Federal Reserve now has the power to destroy our nation&#8217;s economy and all of our lives and we cannot even audit their books to find out what they are doing. We must start reigning in this unbridled power and the first step is moving ahead with H.R.1207.</p>
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		<title>Healthcare</title>
		<link>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/healthcare/</link>
		<comments>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/healthcare/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:13:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Healthcare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[house call]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obamacare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[socialized medicine]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/?p=55</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
 Before analyzing serious solutions to make health care affordable, it is critical to look at the facts:  Without any reform, health-care costs are expected to double to $4.3 trillion by 2017, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.  Moreover, tens of millions of Americans are without health insurance. We can [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/wp-content/uploads/healthcare-pic-110x120.jpg" alt="healthcare pic" title="healthcare pic" width="110" height="120" class="alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-80" /></p>
<p> Before analyzing serious solutions to make health care affordable, it is critical to look at the facts:  Without any reform, health-care costs are expected to double to $4.3 trillion by 2017, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.  Moreover, tens of millions of Americans are without health insurance. We can all agree that significant reform is necessary to bring down costs. </p>
<p>Why are health-care costs so high?  Excessive regulations have destroyed virtually all competition in the insurance industry; and, under the present system, consumers do not care about the cost of their health-care services, since the government or insurance companies absorb the costs.  These two facts guarantee out-of-control prices for health insurance. </p>
<p>We must have competitive insurance markets and consumers with incentives to care about the costs of the  health product or service they are purchasing.  Competition and private markets keep prices low and the quality of health care high. We must allow insurance companies to sell across state lines and also eliminate many of the regulations placed on insurance companies to allow new competitors into this industry.  Consider the cost of elective procedures such as plastic surgery, where prices have barely risen the last ten years while the quality of such procedures has improved tremendously because we do have private markets and competition. </p>
<p>Secondly, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 25% of health-care costs are related to obesity and physical inactivity which trigger heart disease, hypertension and diabetes.  Tragically, the government has taken physical fitness out of our schools, while feeding our children unhealthy food, causing much of this crisis.  With a senior population about to double to 77 million by 2040, we’d better start producing healthy citizens and return to physical fitness and nutritious foods in our schools or there will be no money to care for our seniors. </p>
<p>Thirdly, the federal government is already heavily involved in health care through Medicare and Medicaid.  Both of these programs are going bankrupt.  Each year taxpayers are victimized by $100 billion of Medicare and Medicaid fraud.  I strongly suggest that Mr. Grayson and the liberals in Congress fix Medicare and Medicaid before implementing more federal control over health care. </p>
<p>As someone who strongly believe that we need to return to our Constitution which greatly limits federal government interference in its citizens affairs, I believe each state should have its own healthcare strategy. Some states have already begun this process, and I believe tort reform should be a component of each state&#8217;s strategy. Florida instituted significant tort reform and while it did not lower healthcare costs, it did lower doctors malpractice premiums and allowed many good doctors to continue to practice medicine. The only reason people want federal involvement is so that we can continue to have our children and future generations picking up the tab, not because Reid, Pelosi and our Congress run efficient or creative programs. </p>
<p>The Democrats’ health-care bill will destroy what is great about our current system.  America has the best doctors, hospitals and nurses in the world.  Adding 30 million citizens and no new doctors into a broken system will clearly harm the quality of our care,  result in rationing of services and further increase the tax and debt burden on the nation&#8217;s citizens.</p>
<p>Mr. Grayson wants more federal involvement which allows politicians to pay for unaffordable programs by bankrupting our children.  Our Constitution dictates that each state decide for itself how to run its health-care program.  This unconstitutional bill will give a corrupt Congress more control over our lives.  The result is that Americans will be forced to transition from a free, prosperous, God-dependent nation to a corrupt, poor, government-dependent nation. I promise to fight for conservative, free market solutions to our health care cost crisis,  and for solutions to create a healthy nation of citizens while retaining the very best doctors and hospitals in the world.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Pro-Life, Pro-Family, and School Choice</title>
		<link>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/faith-family-limited-government/</link>
		<comments>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/faith-family-limited-government/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:17:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pro-Life, Pro-Family]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/?p=49</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I support protecting the traditional family as the fabric of our great nation. We cannot have a strong nation without strong families. We now have 40% of our children being born to unwed mothers, many of whom are teenagers. The decline of the traditional family is primarily responsible for the problems we have with abortion, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/wp-content/uploads/prolife.jpg" alt="prolife" title="prolife" width="130" height="95" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-170" />I support protecting the traditional family as the fabric of our great nation. We cannot have a strong nation without strong families. We now have 40% of our children being born to unwed mothers, many of whom are teenagers. The decline of the traditional family is primarily responsible for the problems we have with abortion, crime, lack of education, and excessive spending as we create a welfare, government society instead of the free, self reliant, God dependent, prosperous nation given to us by our Founders.</p>
<p><strong>Limited Government</strong></p>
<p>I support:</p>
<li>The Pro-Life movement, and believe that <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Roe v. Wade</span> was an incorrect decision not based on the Constitution.  I also strongly oppose federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.</li>
<li>Conservative Supreme Court judges who only interpret the Constitution, not make laws.</li>
<li>State Senator Dan Webster&#8217;s sonogram bill allowing women to view the ultrasound before aborting their  unborn babies. </li>
<li>Parental notice of a minor daughter seeking abortion.</li>
<li>Voluntary student-led prayer at school events.</li>
<p>I strongly support school choice, including charter schools, private schools and home- schooling. I believe in tax credits for parents choosing to opt for such schools. The fact is our government schools are producing far too few motivated, well rounded young adults of good character, who understand the principles that made America so prosperous, basic economics and are ready to compete globally for high paying jobs despite tremendous increases in federal spending on  education. We should not force or encourage children to enter into a failing system.</p>
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		<title>Energy Independence</title>
		<link>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/energy-independence/</link>
		<comments>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/energy-independence/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:07:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drill]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nuclear]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[oil]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[power]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wind]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/?p=44</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ It is no great surprise that America has a 10% unemployment rate and a $12 trillion dollar and rapidly growing national debt when you consider that each year about $500 billion a year of hard earned taxpayer dollars leaves our nation for foreign countries (many run by hostile governments) because we have no effective [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/wp-content/uploads/energy-85x120.jpg" alt="energy" title="energy" width="85" height="120" class="alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-92" /> It is no great surprise that America has a 10% unemployment rate and a $12 trillion dollar and rapidly growing national debt when you consider that each year about $500 billion a year of hard earned taxpayer dollars leaves our nation for foreign countries (many run by hostile governments) because we have no effective energy policy. We continue to be the only nation in the world that refuses to fully use our own resources, including nuclear energy to provide its own energy.</p>
<p>I believe that we should be immediately investing in nuclear energy instead of watching France, Sweden, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Korea and other nations greatly utilize this clean energy while our Congress<br />
continues to refuse to build any nuclear facilities for the last 30 years.</p>
<p>While I do believe that renewable energy such as solar and wind should be pursued aggressively, it is misleading to suggest that this energy, which constitutes 7% of our energy source right now, can become the entire solution over the next 20 or 30 years. A comprehensive approach utilizing all of our energy sources is clearly needed as the transition to cleaner, cheaper sources of energy takes place.  </p>
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		<item>
		<title>Border Security and Ending Illegal Immigration</title>
		<link>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/border-security-and-ending-illegal-immigration/</link>
		<comments>http://www.toddlongforcongress.com/2009/12/border-security-and-ending-illegal-immigration/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:25:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>admin</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Illegal Immigration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Issues]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[alien]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[amnesty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[border security]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/?p=35</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ 
&#8220;The execution of the laws is more important than the making of them.&#8221; Thomas Jefferson
This truth is nowhere more evident than in our broken immigration system. One of the fundamental responsibilities of our federal government is to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws to protect our citizens, secure their economic well being [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://d10528574.u144.provisionithost.com/wp-content/uploads/border-97x120.jpg" alt="border" title="border" width="97" height="120" class="alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-94" /> </p>
<p>&#8220;The execution of the laws is more important than the making of them.&#8221; Thomas Jefferson</p>
<p>This truth is nowhere more evident than in our broken immigration system. One of the fundamental responsibilities of our federal government is to secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws to protect our citizens, secure their economic well being and make sure we are a nation that respects the rule of law. Sadly 12 to 20 or more illegal immigrants reside in the nation many delivering &#8220;anchor babies&#8221; destroying the fabric of the nation and creating an unaffordable economic burden on us citizens, while greatly increasing gang, drug and criminal activity. The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates the cost to the U.S. taxpayers of the illegal population is $36 billion annually for just primary and secondary education, medical care in emergency rooms and incarceration. </p>
<p>We must swiftly complete the 863 mile wall on our southern border and invest in the necessary resources to secure our borders. Most importantly, we must require all employers to utilize the Department of Homeland Security E-Verify system, which allows employers to check the validity of their workers&#8217; social security numbers. This measure combined with severe fines and penalties for employers not in compliance would dry up the jobs for illegals, thus helping the millions of Americans out of work find jobs and greatly reduce the numbers of people here illegally. </p>
<p>Two last points:</p>
<p> We are a nation of immigrants and must improve and streamline the immigration process to aid those who want to come here legally<br />
I believe we should make English  the official language of the nation. Every nation needs borders, language and a culture ( in our case traditional Judeo-Christian values with freedom of religion for all) to be prosperous. </p>
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