A Different Campaign, to Make a Difference

My name is Jim Holbert, and I'm running for Congress because better representation for southeast Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives is long overdue.

Everyone running for office talks about "making a difference," but talk is cheap. We need action on things that matter.

Let me introduce myself to you briefly, and then tell you why I believe that, working together, we can truly make a difference not only for southeast Kentucky, but for our Country, our People, and our Future.

My wife Cindy and I live in Laurel County, and we've been married for 34 years. We have three grown children and one granddaughter.

After graduating from the University of Tennessee in 1975 with certifications as a high school science and math teacher, I entered the military and served honorably for 21 years as an officer in the Army and Coast Guard. Since leaving active duty in 1996, I've worked as a professional pilot in many locations throughout the U.S. and overseas. For the last four years, I've served the people of southeast Kentucky as an Emergency Medical Service helicopter pilot.

I'm a working person with training and experience in education, military service, and business--not a professional politician. I understand first-hand the challenges facing working people today.

It's a fact that for over a generation now, things have been rigged in America to benefit the big-money corporations--what President Eisenhower called "the Military-Industrial Complex." For far too long, the interests of working people and the common good of our Nation have been ignored.

Our political leaders bought into a crazy notion that business doesn't need to be watched, and as a result greedy and crooked interests drove our economy off a cliff. We're all paying the price for this foolishness as our Nation suffers through the worst financial and economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Internationally, we've enslaved ourselves to imported oil and become enmeshed in Middle Eastern political struggles as a result. This needless involvement planted seeds of trouble which, over the years, promised a bitter crop. And the harvest came in on 9/11.

As a People and as a Nation, we have got to do better. I believe we can.

I ran as an Independent for Congress in 2008. I'm running now for Congress as a Democrat. But what I believe hasn't changed. I'm not a slave to the platform of any political party, nor am I "sold out" to any special interest.

My campaign for Congress has always been about common sense, plain talk, and a real alternative to the "business-as-usual," corrupt, money-driven political game that has run our Country into the ditch.

I stand strong for what I believe in, and I'll state it plainly.

First, we must move to defend American wisely and well. And the way to do this now is to immediately end the no-win, no-objective wars that are dragging on and on in Iraq and Afghanistan.

These wars are killing our troops, destroying our military's effectiveness, and helping to bankrupt America. And they are playing into the strategy of America's enemies by sowing more and more hatred toward us.

We've already accomplished every military objective that serves American interests in these wars, including deposing two brutal dictatorships and helping establish two democratically-framed governments, verifying the absence of Weapons of Mass Destruction, and disrupting terrorist networks.

Now it's time to bring our troops home, and continue fighting against our enemies with economic action, by reducing our Middle Eastern oil imports and de-funding those nations who sponsor terrorism throughout the world.

Second, we must have a comprehensive national energy policy that puts the interests of our Nation ahead of those of the big oil companies and the foreign oil-producing nations.

Reducing and then ending the import of Middle Eastern oil is only the beginning. We must do what other nations have done, and use our own national energy resources, while developing new alternative and renewable energy capabilities that will power our Nation, reduce pollution, and provide jobs.

Third, we must turn from the foolish economic and trade policies that have lost millions of American jobs, destroyed much of our industrial manufacturing base, and subjected American consumers to low-quality and dangerous goods from overseas.

We urgently need a top-priority national program which will return good-paying, stable, secure jobs to America and revitalize the American middle class.

Please visit my campaign website, www.holbertforcongress.com, to learn more about where I stand on the issues which are vital to our Future. And please contact me any time to discuss the issues, by email (contact@holbertforcongress.com) or phone (606-682-9337).

If what I've said here makes sense to you, please support my campaign by contributing financially* and volunteering to help.

It's way past time to stop the money-driven, corrupt political game that has wrecked us here at home, and overseas.

I'm not bought, and I won't be bought. And if the people of southeast Kentucky send me to Congress in 2010, I will stand strong for the things that matter to our Country, our People, and our Future.

Thank you. --Jim Holbert

* Please make a contribution to Jim's campaign on-line or by mail at: https://www.holbertforcongress.com/contribute.html