On next Friday, July 30th, ballots will begin arriving in mailboxes across the district for voting in the August 17th Primary Election. I am writing today to encourage you to join with me in casting your vote for Larry Kalb to be our next member of Congress. Let me tell you why.
I have known Larry since the 2004 election season when we stood in opposite camps of the Progressive tribe. I was supporting Gov. Howard Dean and Larry was supporting Rep. Dennis Kucinich. Neither of us has waivered in our support of either candidate or the principles they still stand for. But Larry has actually gone much further in his commitment to those principles. He has moved on to be a delegate to the Democratic national convention is support of Dennis Kucinich and has worked across the state as a tireless advocate for single payer healthcare for all Americans. He has marched with those who oppose this country’s fatal preoccupation with military interventionism and this year he has taken on the herculean task of challenging a 5 term incumbent Democratic congressman to be a much needed Progressive voice in the United States Congress.
While our incumbent wrestles with the question of whether or not healthcare is a right to be afforded to each American, Larry recognizes that basic healthcare is, in fact, a human right. And, in these economic times, Larry also recognizes that a single payer healthcare system would be a major economic stimulus; especially to small business who would no longer have to chose layoffs over expansion due to rising healthcare costs.
In perhaps the biggest difference between the Progressive agenda that Larry would pursue and the business as usual agenda followed by the incumbent, military spending stands out like the proverbial sore thumb. While Rep. Larsen; who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, treats the tax payers like an ATM when it comes to anything military – more money for nuclear powered aircraft carriers and submarines and multiple contractors to provide redundant equipment, not to mention continued support for US military bases and personnel in over 70 countries around the world – Larry realizes that we can no longer sustain trillion dollar DoD budgets at a time when we cannot afford to repair our highways, and other elements of our infrastructure. Larry would advocate for re-prioritizing our tax dollars to boost our domestic economy – create new Green Energy jobs, provide a college education to all our children so as to educate our future engineers and scientists, and to guarantee a safety net for the most vulnerable in our society. It is long past time to tame the Military/Industrial Complex. The incumbent will not do this – Larry Kalb will.
While Rep. Larsen earned the praise of the Progressive community when he voted against the original Iraq War Resolution; he has spent the remainder of his time in Congress voting time and time again for every off-budget “emergency supplemental” to keep pouring good money after bad in a tragic affirmation of wrongheaded foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Even today, when more and more Americans, as well as a growing number of his congressional colleagues are demanding an end game in those countries; Larsen is more than willing to leave thousands of US troops in Iraq while sending tens of thousands more Americans to Afghanistan. Larry understands that there can be no military “victory” for the US in a part of the world in which we are viewed as foreign invaders. Our choices are to either stay indefinitely as an occupying force or to “declare victory” and bring our troops (and the billions of dollars to provide for their support) home. Solutions in Iraq and Afghanistan must be found through diplomacy and in helping these countries to rebuild after the devastation our invasions have brought upon them. Larry has firmly committed to not vote for any additional monies for Iraq and Afghanistan except as is necessary to bring the troops home.
The power of incumbency is a fascinating illusion. There was a time when primary elections were a valuable tool for debating the issues of the day and encouraging the rank and file to choose who best represented the ideals and principles of the party as expressed in the party platform. Somewhere along the line, however, the refrain of “preserve the incumbent” became as common a party mantra as “show me the money.” But it only takes the determination of an organized and focused group who are tired of being fed the half of a loaf that is “better than none” or told that their time “will come” to realize that their time actually comes at every primary election and that they can only achieve their goal by refusing to accept the status quo and voting their collective conscious. Be assured that this is the time to stand and make your voice be heard and why we have primary elections in the first place.
No human is perfect and Larry will be the first to admit his flaws. However, if we are to begin to move the country in a more Progressive and just direction; Larry Kalb is the first step on the journey. We know we cannot accept the right-wing or even libertarian view that government is bad. In America the government is, after all, “of; by; and for the people”. But we must also realize that, after almost 10 years at the wheel, Rick Larsen’s bus is not going in our direction either. And so; to my fellow Progressives within and outside the Democratic Party, when your ballot arrives for the August 17th primary, vote your hopes and your principles. Vote for Larry Kalb for Congress.
Peace,
Chad (The Left) Shue
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