WHERE I STAND

• I stand with my returning fellow veterans as they struggle to get the financial help and medical care that they and their families need to return to productive civilian employment and a normal life.
• I stand with the members of our armed forces -- Regulars, Reserves (where I once served) and National Guard -- who are doing everything we have asked of them. They only ask that we keep faith with their families while they are away on duty.
• I stand with the law enforcement personnel and firefighters who put their lives on the line daily to protect us from lawlessness and danger.
• I stand with those of both parties who strive for an honorable and responsible end to a war that threatens our fiscal solvency, our status in the world community and the integrity of our armed forces.
• I stand with those who neither dismiss the threat of Islamic fundamentalism nor hysterically equate it with the threat this country has faced earlier in our nation’s history.
• I stand with doctors, nurses and all those in the healing profession who just want to practice their profession with a minimum of outside interference.
• I stand with all those teachers who only want to be the transmitters of knowledge, wisdom and the heritage of freedom to the younger generation and not test monitors.
• I stand with workers who have seen their good-paying jobs shipped overseas and cheap imports sent back and find that cheap prices do not make up for low wages.
• I stand with every woman who is struggle with or has struggled with an unwanted pregnancy.
• I stand with the small investor and Mom-and-Pop businessman who only want to be treated fairly on April 15^th and respected for their contribution to our economy.
• I stand with those seeking a Middle East peace that includes Israel secure within internationally accepted borders and a permanent and peaceful settlement of the Palestinian refugee problem.
• I stand with those who cannot stand and speak for those who cannot speak and all the rest of ordinary folks who cannot afford a lobbyist.
• I stand with those who believe that taxes are the price we pay for the privilege of living in America and consider it a privilege not a burden to be able to pay their way.
• I stand with people of good will in both parties who believe that where we agree is more important than where we differ and that bridges are more important than walls.
• I stand with all those who believe that freedom is taking responsibility for the future of our community not license to self-indulge.
• I stand with those who strive to affirm and defend all life: the creatures and plants of the earth and the earth herself.
• I stand with the working poor who are trapped in a paycheck-to-paycheck, hand-to-mouth existence.
• I stand with cancer patients and victims of other preventable diseases in their quest for a cure and the right to die in dignity.
• I stand with sportsmen and other responsible person who use their firearms in productive and responsible ways.
• I stand with persons of faith of every denomination and religion who yearn for a day of dignity, justice and peace for all the world’s people.
• I stand with the millions of persons who contribute to the safety net that sustains this generation of seniors in their retirement years and think it only fair they get to enjoy the same benefits.
• I stand with all members of the Gay, Lesbian and Transgender community in their quest for the same civil rights every other member of society is afforded.