T.J. Templeton

Background:

Relatively new to Northwest Iowa, I am a 4 year resident of Le Mars and was born in Guthrie Center. Bringing my self-started grass-roots activist network to Plymouth county, I've been able to tap into the needs of my community while being bolstered by the national support-base of my organization.

The grass-roots activist organization I have founded and currently direct is the Project for the Old American Century. The Project serves as an internet-based independent media outlet and online community that focuses on corporate and government corruption and other issues important to Americans across the political spectrum.

Previous to my work with the Project for the Old American Century, my resume includes being the operator of a small business, a retail store manager, a health insurance underwriter, and a factory laborer. This work history has given me the perspective and values of the common working person and I'm someone who knows what it's like to live from paycheck to paycheck while trying to afford healthcare and education.

At a relatively young 37 years of age, I feel my time has come to apply what I've learned thus far to bettering my community and becoming the catalyst for change that we so desperately need in district 3.

Goals:

I'm running for a few reasons. The first reason is that there hasn't been a democrat on the House ticket for 12 years. That seems to me to be terribly undemocratic. The voters have to have a way to show their disapproval of their legislators and not have their representative chosen for them by one political party. I can promise you that as long as I'm around, there will always be a choice on the ballot.

The second reason that I'm running has to do with our current representative, Chuck Soderberg. Mr. Soderberg has gone on the record as stating that he wouldn't vote for any legislation intended to address global warming. The reason he gave for taking that stance was "because it would hurt our economy". Now it doesn't matter if you believe in global warming or not. It doesn't matter if you think Al Gore is a nutcase. One thing is for certain: The green movement is here and the push for clean renewable energy provides Iowa with an incredible economic opportunity. Anywhere there has been investment in green-collar jobs, investment in renewable energy, anywhere where an ethanol plant has gone up, we've seen an increase in jobs and a boost to our economy. Last year was the first year in the history of Iowa that we were actually able to create a surplus of energy and export it to another state. Now we're either going to wind up buying energy or selling energy. I'd prefer to see us continue selling energy. If we capitalize on this opportunity on a grand scale, we could fund our roads and bridges, fund our schools, fulfill the Democratic initiative of getting every child in Iowa health insurance, and possibly even create a fund for healthcare and education.

But here's the thing... This is going to force innovation on the part of the utility companies. And that's where our current representative Chuck Soderberg comes in. He's the Vice President of Legislative Planning for a utility company. He's looking out for their bottom line. He wants to hold us back from this progress to protect his employer and I want to take us forward for the benefit of all of Iowa. I'm completely confident that I can be the catalyst for this progress and at the same time eliminate or substantially reduce any financial pinch that the utility companies will feel. Governor Culver and the Iowa State Legislature have already created an apparatus to offset the costs to the utility companies by creating the Office of Energy Independence and the Iowa Power Fund. Our current representative voted against that creation (last paragraph), yet ironically, now occupies a seat on the board. I'll not only work to introduce power companies to these programs, but I will also work to create incentives and expand these programs so that we can have a win/win for all parties involved in this issue.

Issues:

Jobs and Wages
For too long the party of Wall Street and K Street have held the only slot on our ballot. Isn’t it time that the party of Main Street had a voice? As a resident of LeMars, I’m watching our major employers lay off workers or close down entirely. I want to reverse this trend
by reenergizing our locally owned business and ending tax benefits for out of town mega-retailers that import
goods from China and export profits to Arkansas.

Agriculture
The development of ethanol and other renewable fuels provide an enormous economic opportunity for our district and the state of Iowa. This progress must be wisely managed for the best possible long-term outcome.
Also, I feel that we can increase the success of our local farms with programs such as Value Added
Agriculture and labeling farm products with country/state of origin labeling at the retail level.

Roads, Bridges, and Infrastructure
Republicans have a long history of neglecting infrastructure and leaving the democrats to have to pay for
the neglect. Thus affording them the opportunity to paint us as “tax-and-spend”. Not only will I maintain our infrastructure, but I will fight that label and show
the community what it means to invest in our roads
and bridges.
Environment and Renewable Fuels
The impact of global climate change is already being
felt across the nation. I highly encourage the use and
exploration of all renewable fuels and alternative energies.
Furthermore, I support making all gas pumps in Iowa contain 10% ethanol and putting pressure on utility companies to accommodate the changes necessary for wind and solar development on a consumer level.

Healthcare
It’s embarrassing that we are the only industrialized nation without universal healthcare for our legal citizens. Steps must be made to reduce costs, therefore I support a single-payer healthcare program that includes administrative simplicity for patients
and providers, that will result in significant savings in overhead costs.

Education
Our schools are struggling to operate and are stifled by the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act.
I support an increase in school funding and a reintroduction of arts and literature studies to assist our
children in developing critical thinking skills to compliment their math and science skills. There is no reason that the birthplace of the Iowa Test of Basic
Skills should have their education style dictated to them by a failed program from Texas.

Grassroots Support:

T.J. Templeton is the founder and director of The Project for the Old American Century. http://www.oldamericancentury.org

The Project for the OLD American Century is a grass-roots organization that strives to protect and strengthen democracy primarily by disseminating unreported and underreported news stories from a perspective untainted by political or corporate sponsorship.

The Project was founded in 2002 in response to a rigged election, reduced civil liberties, a hijacking of our domestic and foreign policies by the energy/defense industries, and a compliant corporate media that refused to make these problems prominent in our national consciousness. We felt it our duty as patriots to create a web-based independent media outlet where we can not only debunk the myth of the liberal media but expose the corruption and cronyism taking place at the highest levels of government and corporate power.

The Project for the Old American Century conducts its own research and compiles dossiers made available to the public both via the web or in print free of charge. Topics include conflicts of interest inside government agencies, specific profiles of top public officials, data acquired through the Freedom of Information Act, and much more.

TJ's campaign will hinge on grassroots organizations, individual donors, and the citizens of District 3.

DFA Values:

I'm social progressive because I supports civil unions and the right to choose. I'm fiscally responsible because I support balancing the budget and reducing deficit spending.