I grew up in poverty and know what it is like to pinch pennies and to sit around the kitchen table and worry about paying the bills. We must take our economy back and ensure that the people on Main Street, the ordinary people who are the backbone of this nation, are able to once again live in a country where the American Dream is attainable.
I believe in a health care system that puts patients before insurance company profits. I voted for health care reform that will reverse the increasingly disturbing trends in our health care system by ending the worst insurance industry practices. The health care reform law will take steps toward giving Iowans with insurance, as well as those without insurance, the peace of mind that comes with having good, quality care that can’t be taken away.
I am always working on something flood recovery-related and have been since the Floods of 2008. I am back in Iowa every weekend, and often working on flood recovery issues. In the immediate aftermath of the floods, I held over 100 flood related meetings, events, and workdays which still continue today. Before the flooding fully hit, I sandbagged not as Congressman Loebsack but as an Iowan and your neighbor. I have mucked out basements, I have served food to volunteers, and I have walked on sand bars that used to be good, productive farmland.
I grew up in poverty and know first-hand the doors that education can open. I would not be where I am today without education. I am committed to working with students, educators, parents, and administrators to improve our education system so that our students can compete in a global economy and have to tools to successfully achieve their goals.
As part of honoring our veterans’ service, sacrifice, and patriotism we must do everything in our power to provide top quality care and benefits upon their return home and throughout their lives.
We must create a foundation for a clean energy economy with millions of new jobs that cannot be shipped overseas. We have already seen the benefits in Iowa of a clean energy economy. We only need to look at biofuels, and particularly the wind energy industry, to see the benefits of investing in energy. In this Congressional District alone we have Siemens, Acciona, and Clipper Wind all making different parts of a wind-turbine.
As we continue working to recover from the largest downturn since the Great Depression, we must look for ways to get our deficit under control. I grew up in poverty and know what it's like to sit around the kitchen table and figure out the family budget. Government should work the same way and one step taken already is returning to pay-go rules.
I grew up in poverty and know what it is like to sit around the kitchen table and worry about paying the bills. In order to help Iowa families and businesses move forward, I have advocated for a number of tax cuts and incentives.
I am dedicated to working on behalf of our nation’s seniors and committed to strengthening Medicare and Social Security. Iowa is an aging state, and seniors’ issues are of the utmost importance to Iowa families.