Each and every Member of Congress is up for re-election in 2010.
When we elect a Congressman, we, in GUNNER’S VIEW, should look at certain basic criteria before getting into the issues themselves. First, no Member should serve for more than 12 consecutive years. By taking root in Washington they’re no longer really working for their constituents, but instead they’re working for themselves. Second, no Member should serve beyond age 75. They lose mental acuity, health goes downhill, and they’re no longer what we want or need. Third, Members serving due to nepotism or cronyism need to be removed. Fourth, our politicians need to be above reproach. No scandal, no criminals, no perception of misdeeds or malfeasance. Fifth, no professional politicians. Sixth, they should have served the Nation in some thankless profession first (i.e. military, Peace Corps, VISTA, Public Health Service, Assistant District Attorney or Public Defender, cop, etc.)
I do not intend to discuss the issues addressed by these man and women, only how they fit in my basic criteria. Issues are something that you and you alone, need to decide on.
Now I know that finding someone who meets all of that criteria will be tough. But you know what, you’re the employer and you get what you pay for. If you’ll settle for second or third best than you deserve what you get. And, yes, I know there are exceptions to my rules, so go find those men and women and send them to Washington.
Here are the Members of Congress and how they fit under my rules:
Florida
Bilirakis, Gus M., R- 9th: Replaced his father, Mike Bilirakis, in this seat. Nepotism. Do not re-elect this man.
Boyd, Allen, D- 2nd: Will have been in the House of Representatives for 14 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Brown, Corrine, D- 3rd: Will have been in the House of Representatives for 14 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this woman.
Brown-Waite, Virginia, R- 5th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Buchanan, Vern, R- 13th: Named one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Do not re-elect this man.
Crenshaw, Ander, R- 4th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Castor, Kathy, D- 11th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Diaz-Balart, Lincoln, R- 21st: Will have been in the House of Representatives for 14 years at the end of this term. Nephew of Fidel Castro. Brother of Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart. Do not re-elect this man.
Diaz-Balart, Mario, R-25th: Nephew of Fidel Castro. Brother of Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Do not re-elect this man.
Hastings, Alcee L., D- 23rd: Will have been in the House of Representatives for 14 years at the end of this term. Will turn 75 in next term. Impeached from Federal Bench. Do not re-elect this man.
Grayson, Alan, D- 8th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Klein, Ron , D- 22nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Kosmas, Suzanne M., D- 24th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Mack, Connie, R-14th: Son of Senator Connie Mack. Husband of Congresswoman Mary Bono. Nepotism. Do not re-elect this man.
Meek, Kendrick, D- 17th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man.
Mica, John, R-7th: Will have been in the House of Representatives for 18 years at the end of this term. Brother of Congressman Daniel A. Mica. Do not re-elect this man.
Miller, Jeff, R- 1st: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man.
Posey, Bill, R- 15th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man.
Putnam, Adam, R- 12th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man. However, he has announced he will be running for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture in 2010.
Rooney, Tom, R-16th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man.
Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana, R-18th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 22 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this woman.
Stearns, Cliff, R- 6th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 22 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Wasserman Schultz, Debbie, D-20th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Wexler, Robert, D- 19th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 14 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Young, C.W. Bill, R- 10th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 30 years at the end of this term. Is already 78 years old. Do not re-elect this man.
Georgia
Barrow, John, D- 12th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Bishop Jr., Sanford D., D- 2nd: Will have been in the House of Representatives 14 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Deal, Nathan, D- 9th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 18 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man. However, he may be running for Governor of Georgia in 2010.
Gingrey, Phil, R- 11th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" Jr., D- 4th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Kingston, Jack, R- 1st: Will have been in the House of Representatives 18 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Lewis, John, D- 5th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 24 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Linder, John, R- 7th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 18 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Marshall, Jim, D- 8th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man. 2 Bronze Star Medals, Purple Heart, “Ranger Hall of Fame”.
Broun, Paul C., R- 10th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Price, Tom, R- 6th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Scott, David, D- 13th: His business allegedly owes $150,000 in back taxes. Since 2002, his campaign has allegedly paid $500,000 in rentals and sales fees to his own company. Named one of the 22 most corrupt politicians in Washington by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Do not re-elect this man.
Westmoreland, Lynn A., R- 3rd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Guam
Bordallo, Madeleine, D-Guam (Delegate): Already age 75. Do not re-elect this woman. See American Samoa.
Hawaii
Abercrombie, Neil, D- 1st: Will have been in the House of Representatives 22 (20 consecutive) years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Hirono, Mazie K., D- 2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Iowa
Boswell, Leonard, D- 3rd: Already age 75. Do not re-elect this man.
Braley, Bruce L., D- 1st: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
King, Steve R- 5th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Loebsack, David, D- 2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Latham, Tom, R- 4th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 16 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Idaho
Minnick, Walt, D- 1st: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man.
Simpson, Mike, R- 2nd: Will have been in the House of Representatives 12 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Illinois
Bean, Melissa L., D- 8th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Biggert, Judy, R-13th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 12 years at the end of this term. Will turn 75 in her next term. Do not re-elect this woman.
Costello, Jerry, D-12th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 23 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Davis, Danny K., D- 7th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 14 years at the end of this term. As a Chicago politician there is no doubt in my military mind that he is beholden to Mayor Richard Daley. Do not re-elect this man.
Gutierrez, Luis, D- 4th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 18 years at the end of this term. As a Chicago politician, there is no doubt in my military mind that, he is beholden to Mayor Richard Daley. I have worked against this man regarding the proposed closure of the North Chicago VAMC. I also worked with him when he was a member of the House Committee on Veteran Affairs, when he bothered to attend a committee meeting. He helped cause the closure of the Navy bombing range at Vieques, which resulted in the closure of the Naval Air Station at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, which resulted in over 500 Puerto Ricans losing their jobs and the Puerto Rican economy taking a major hit. Do not re-elect this man.
Foster, Bill, D-14th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Hare, Phil, D- 17th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man.
Halvorson, Deborah "Debbie", D- 11th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Jackson Jr., Jesse L., D- 2nd: Will have been in the House of Representatives 16 years at the end of this term. As a Chicago politician, there is no doubt in my military mind that, he is beholden to Mayor Richard Daley. Do not re-elect this man.
Johnson, Timothy V., R- 15th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Kirk, Mark, R-10th: Meets all of my criteria. I worked with Mark in the fight to keep North Chicago VAMC open, when he was John Porter’s Chief of Staff and when he was a freshman Congressman. He’s good for Illinois. Re-elect this man.
Lipinski, Daniel, D- 3rd: Nepotism. Replaced his father in Congress. As a Chicago politician there is no doubt in my military mind that he is beholden to Mayor Richard Daley. Do not re-elect this man.
Manzullo, Donald, R- 16th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 18 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man. That being said, I’ve worked with Don on a number of projects; the North Chicago VA Medical Center; a veteran’s nursing home project in Boone County; increased funding for veteran’s projects. Don is most definitely an exception to my criteria.
Quigley, Mike, D- 5th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Mr. Quigley may be the exception to the rule of Mayor Daley owning all Chicago Democrats. Re-elect this man.
Roskam, Peter J., R- 6th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Rush, Bobby L., D- 1st: Will have been in the House of Representatives 18 years at the end of this term. As a Chicago politician there is a doubt in my military mind that he is beholden to Mayor Richard Daley, mostly because he attempted to defeat Daley as Mayor of Chicago. Convicted Felon. Founder of the Black Panther Party. Do not re-elect this man. Rush said, in 2000: "Barack Obama went to Harvard and became an educated fool. Barack is a person who read about the civil-rights protests and thinks he knows all about it."
Schakowsky, Jan, D- 9th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 12 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this woman.
Schock, Aaron, R- 18th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Shimkus, John, R- 19th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 12 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man. That being said, I’ve worked with Mr. Shimkus on a couple of projects, and he MAY prove to be an exception to my criteria.
Indiana
Burton, Dan, R- 5th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 18 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Buyer, Steve, R- 4th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 18 years at the end of this term. I worked with Mr. Buyer when he was ranking member and Chairman of the House Committee on Veteran Affairs. He needs to be replaced. Do not re-elect this man.
Carson, André, D- 7th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man.
Donnelly, Joe, D- 2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Ellsworth, Brad, D- 8th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man.
Hill, Baron, D- 9th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. I worked with Mr. Hill’s staff, via e-mail and telephone, on a piece of veteran’s legislation in the early part of this century. Although he’ll be in office for 10 years at the completion of this term, he has a two year gap in service. Re-elect this man.
Pence, Mike, R- 6th: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Souder, Mark E., R-3rd: Will have been in the House of Representatives 16 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Visclosky, Peter, D- 1st: Will have been in the House of Representatives 26 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Kansas
Jenkins, Lynn, R- 2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this woman.
Moore, Dennis, D-3rd: Will have been in the House of Representatives 19 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Moran, Jerry, R- 1st: Will have been in the House of Representatives 19 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man. However, he has indicated that he will be running for the US Senate in 2010.
Tiahrt, Todd, R- 4th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 16 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Kentucky
Chandler, Ben, D- 6th: Nepotism. Father was US Senator. Do not re-elect this man.
Davis, Geoff, R- 4th: Meets all of my criteria. Re-elect this man.
Guthrie, S. Brett, R- 2nd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
Rogers, Harold, R- 5th: Will have been in the House of Representatives 20 years at the end of this term. Will turn 75 in his next term. Do not re-elect this man.
Whitfield, Ed, R- 1st: Will have been in the House of Representatives 16 years at the end of this term. Do not re-elect this man.
Yarmuth, John A., D- 3rd: Meets all of my criteria except item 6. Re-elect this man.
I think that some people may want to take me to task for this Congressional breakdown. But that's fine. People are allowed their own opinions. Howevere, I intend to keep harping on the point that if we want term limits, and Congress won't pass the bill (including at least two men on this page that were elected o0n a promise to serve only 3 terms and have now served 5), than it's up to us to impose the limits on them ourselves.
I don't know how you feel, but I want my country back. Right now I almost feel like an unwanted visitor in a Nation to which I've dedicated over 30 years of my adult life.
God Bless America.
Gunner Sends
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