Donn Janes for Congress

I am running for Congress because I want our children and grandchildren to have a future, a future where they can prosper; a future where they can have a better job, a better life and still have the freedoms that we have today.

Our country is over 200 years old. This nation began by declaring independence from tyranny and established a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Throughout our nation's history we have faced and overcome many difficult problems to become the nation we are today. That, in itself, should give us hope, hope for the future.

I am worried about the future for our children. We face a monstrous debt, now over 12 trillion dollars. Our representatives continue to vote on more and more spending, many not even bothering to read what it is they are voting on.

That is an unimaginable amount of money, 12 trillion dollars. Politicians throw amounts like billions and trillions around like we think of hundreds and thousands of dollars. But if you are like me, you have a hard time visualizing what a trillion dollars would be. Think of these examples.

First example, imagine if you were given one million dollars to spend a day. Now imagine you started spending one million dollars a day starting at the birth of Jesus Christ. You would have spent one million dollars a day for over two thousand years and you still wouldn't have spent one trillion dollars. You would have gotten close, about ¾ of a trillion dollars. Now, try and imagine how long ago you would have needed to start to have spent 12 trillion dollars; probably over 24,000 years ago.

If that example doesn't work for you, imagine stacking a single dollar bill, one on top of the other. If we did that with one trillion dollars, that stack would reach about a third of the way to the moon or approximately 68,000 miles; and that was just one trillion dollars.

So what is the first thing that we do when we need to tighten our belts? The first thing we do is cut our spending. Right? Stop going out to eat, no more HBO, but we cut back on our expenses. Why is it that the government does things differently?

Unemployment is another serious problem we face today. Our national unemployment is at 10 percent, but many counties in West Tennessee have unemployment approaching 20 percent. Many of these jobs are leaving the U.S. to be outsourced overseas.

How many of us know someone who lost their job during the recession or is out of work?

We need to create jobs, period. We need to do that by focusing on growing small businesses, not by passing small business killing legislation like Cap and Trade and the latest health care reform bill. Both of these penalize small businesses and make it even harder for them to stay afloat. And why focus on small businesses, because small businesses hire 80 percent of America's work force. We need to get businesses to reinvest in America again.

We have several problems that have gone unresolved for several years, like Social Security, Medicare, Immigration, and our dependency on foreign oil. There are solutions to these problems, but our leaders today lack the moral courage to face them. They prefer quick and easy solutions. But a quick and easy solution in today's Congress means throwing money at the problem, your money.

This is why I am running for Congress, because we need to change. Change the way we elect our representatives; change the way that Washington works; and change our government so that it represents our interests, not special interests.

We need to change the way we elect our representatives by getting more involved. We need to elect our representatives based on their qualifications, ethics and stance on the issues, versus how much money they have raised. This is money that comes from special interest groups with strings attached.

We need to change the way Washington works by establishing term limits. The old adage, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, applies to representatives who remain in power for decades. One of my favorite quotes is from Mark Twain where he said, "Politicians are like diapers. They need to be changed frequently and for the same reason."

We need to change our government, so that it represents our interests and not special interests, by limiting the size and scope of our federal government.

We need to return the power to the states, local government and the people instead of being ruled by those in Washington. The founders knew two things in this regard: First, proximity is power. Governments and political leaders are best held accountable to the will of the people when government is local. Second, the people of a state know what is best for them. They do not need bureaucrats, miles away in Washington, D.C. governing their lives.

So where do we start.........? We start by sending a loud and clear message with our vote this November……We start by taking back this district and giving the people true representation again…..We start by saying goodbye to career politicians who care more about getting re-elected than getting results.

I challenge you to make a choice for yourselves and for future generations to have representation again…..I ask for your support and your vote in November 2010.