Where I Stand

ON ISSUES FACING MIDDLE-CLASS TENNESSEANS

It is painfully clear: Republican priorities are strangling America's middle class. I fear this nation is spiraling down a path of fast becoming a place where there are a few "haves" and the rest are "have-nots."

Today, too many Americans are forced to pay more for everyday services and necessary items. I know we can do better. I believe we should use the taxpayer's dollar to solve our front-porch problems. Stand with me, and I'll work to save our middle-class way of life and give working Tennesseans a fighting chance.

RECLAIMING OUR HONOR IN THE WORLD
Along with all Tennesseans, I stand proud of the men and women from our state who have served tirelessly, some more than once, in Iraq. Most of us know one or more of these heroes personally. For our family, one of them is a close friend, like a son to Patty and me. For other Tennessee families, they are husbands and dads, wives and moms, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors. Today, it is time for them to come home, with the honor they deserve for the bravery they have shown...
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ENERGY 2.0
As I visit the counties and cities across Tennessee, the pain being inflicted on families at the gas pump is obvious. As Americans hurt, the oil industry enjoys billions in tax breaks that have been jealously protected by Senator Alexander and other Republicans. That is not just cynical - it is obscene. We use too much electric power, and we have inflicted critical damage on the fragile atmosphere that surrounds our planet. I am not promising Tennesseans a silver-bullet cure to our energy crisis....
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HOW DO WE MAKE GASOLINE AFFORDABLE?
We've all felt the pain of high gasoline prices - some of us worse than others. Consider a young mother with $10 in her purse, standing at the pump, trying to decide if she can get by on $5 worth of gas so she can buy a gallon of milk for her kids. In 2008, the average Tennessee family will spend...
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HOW DO WE EASE THE PAIN OF HEALTH CARE COSTS?
In a nation as blessed as this one, quality health care ought to be accessible and affordable for all of us, but you know as well as I do that it isn't. The Republican approach of waiting on the private sector and the open market to bring costs down is a crashing failure....
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WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
As I watch Tennessee families work harder and longer every day, I know they aren't earning but a few dollars more than when President Bush took office. In 2000, the median annual income for Tennesseans was $39,920, and it has grown just 2 percent since then. Why the economic stagnation?...
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$9 TRILLION IN DEBT. SERIOUSLY?
Tennesseans pay dearly for the debt run up during the Bush/Alexander era. As tough as your checkbook may be to balance, consider the federal balance sheet: Even though President Clinton handed him a $236 billion budget surplus...
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HOW DO WE TURN IMMIGRATION TO OUR ADVANTAGE?
Tennesseans are fed up with the flood of illegal immigrants into our state and our workforce. It's costing us jobs, and it's costing us taxes. But who is listening? Under President Bush, enforcement of immigration laws is down by 25 percent. You're as likely to be eaten by an alligator ...
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I Want to Hear from You!