Name: Samm Simpspon

Campaign Website: Samm Simpson for US Congress

Donate to Campaign: Click here.

Campaign Blog: Click here.

Current Office/Occupation:
Thirty years experience in broadcast TV and Radio as writer/producer/director/host. Seventeen years (nine as VP of Marketing) at Raymond James & Assoc., Inc. premier regional investment and financial firm, 18 years as single parent, have interviewed thousands of educators, financial professionals and entreprenuers.

Born:
I was born in the “Breadbasket of the World”—the Iowa Midwest—near the Mississippi River, nearly 53 years ago, to a father and mother who instilled equal doses of analytical thinking, and the mystery of faith. I grew up in the Iowa countryside with a love for the land and a sincere respect for the hard-working entrepreneur farmers, and the bounty they brought forth.

Education:
Eckerd College with a Degree in Creative Writing and minor in Human Developement.

Family: Single

Goals:
As a grandmother, I am deeply concerned about the direction of our country. It's clear that Congress caters to the interests of giant industries at the expense of real people with ordinary needs: health care, education, living wage jobs, clean air, clean water and national security. Congress refuses to demand accountability. So "We the People," must. We need a national dialogue on the failed policy in Iraq and how best to bring our troops home and face the tragic errors that have been made. We must work on restoring our moral leadership in this world. We can renew diplomatic efforts and work with other nations to face global warming and terrorism on a multilateral basis.

Issues:
First and foremost, my agenda calls for truth and accountability. That may include a bill to introduce public financing of elections, or one to curtail lobbying and the "money for law" modus operandi that has proved disasterous. The American people deserve the truth about the manipulations leading up to the War in Iraq, the unanswered questions about 911, NSA wiretapping, the scientific evidence of global warming and a clear understanding of our Federal Deficit and what that means for our grandchildren.

We must reprioritize our budget, placing our dollars first and foremost to a plan for national health care and a rebuilding of our public education system. Nationwide 30 % of our youth drop out of high school. We need national leadership with a vision and commitment to teacher led (not corporate testing) education, and to recognize the imperative of transforming our energy and economy away from fossil fuels and toward alternative, sustainable fuels.

So , in a nutshell.
Truth and Accountability,
Bring the Troops home and reprioritizing our dollars for Health Care and Education.

A national commitment to transforming our energy policy away from fossil fuels.

Read more here.

Grassroots Support:
We are on the ballot because we had 74 volunteers help get us over 4500 signed petitions.
We must depend on grass roots. We have determined that if we can get 2000 volunteers to contact 20 voters and get a commitment to vote ( preferably on a paper absentee ballot) we will have the numbers to win. My opponent has 300,000 dollars. I cannot compete with his money, but I can offer a forward thinking and transforming platform.

Values:
As a single parent for 18 years, I had no choice but to be fiscally responsible. We must cut down our national debt and we can by eliminating the Bush tax cuts, cutting back on defense spending and bringing our troops - and our corporations who haven't fulfilled their goals - home from Iraq.

I oppose a Constitutional marriage amendment. I am for national, single payer health care. The medicare D prescription program needs to be adjusted and the "donut hole" must be removed. I believe felons who have paid their dues must have their voting rights restored easily and quickly. I believe our so called "free trade" efforts have proven devastating to the cultures and environments they have been initiated in, and we need a completely new approach.
I believe it is imcumbent upon the Congress to protect and preserve the environment and demand polluting corporations pay the price. We should not be selling out national forests to drilling and mining rights.

The minimum wage hasn't been raised since 1997. I support a minimum wage increase to $7.25.

Immigration policy needs comprehensive study and continual adjustment. There are laws already on the books that, if they had been followed, could have assisted greatly in stemming the problem. We must look at our trade policies, our xenophobia, and made sound, reasonable policies moving forward, with an upmost efforts to keep the immigrant family intact. There will be those who must be deported. There will be those who are doing the work to become an American. The process is arduous. This will require increased staff for ICE and the input of mayors and business owners and hospital managers in the states most affected. We must look upon this as a long term issue, not something that works as an election ruse.

The working poor need assistance with housing and job training. This administration has cut back funding on Head Start and other essential helps. With reprioritizing our budget, and an eye for the next 200 years, instead of the next election, we can introduce programs and policies that are fair, balanced and will help lift thousands out of poverty here in our own country.

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