Friday, Sept. 26

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Jonathan Wright declares
candidacy for the people    
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[SEPT. 26, 2003]  On Friday, Sept. 12, local resident Jonathan Wright announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate 2004. Wright is running for the office that is being vacated by Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. [Lincoln Daily News announcement Sept. 13, 2003]

Standing before a large crowd of friends and supporters in the Logan County Courthouse rotunda, Wright touched on some the issues that have brought him to this decision. With his family by his side he delivered the following speech detailing his intentions.

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Jonathan Wright

Looking at the state of our country today, as it stands, I've come to a decision. I see where we're at today in our society and our country and our government. I supported President Bush when he ran for president. I'm proud to have done that and I'll support him again and he's done some good things, but without question we have a long way to go.

Life

When I look at the state of our society today, what I hold near and dear to my heart is the sanctity of life. We have a long way to go in that battle. And I stand very clearly on the side of life. That begins at conception without any exception.

I believe that if we're going to carry on that task we need to have people in Washington, D.C., who will not only say that on the courthouse steps in Lincoln, but who will say that in the well of the Senate floor in Washington, D.C.

I'm proud that, when I was in the General Assembly, to have carried Senator O'Malley's bill in the House -- that Born Alive Infant Protection Act. It failed, but it was a privilege for me to carry that as best I could.

Economy

We also have a country whose economy is still lingering in the shallows, when we would all like to see it take off. As a Republican I know we stand as a party for free trade. I support free trade, but we have to understand that free trade has certain assumptions with it. Free trade assumes that other countries allow for open, free labor to negotiate their labor costs in an open and free environment to allow them to be able to compete and allow us to be able to compete.

Unfortunately many of the countries that we have that with do not have that working in their country. And it operates against us. We now have a $40 billion trade deficit in this country.

One of the leading countries that we have a trade deficit with is China. They don't have a free labor market that we can negotiate free labor and their costs. We really need to revisit this issue because in this country I think we're transitioning from cyclical changes in our economy to structural changes in our economy.

Cyclical change oftentimes encompasses a reduction in jobs that is reversible. You see a downswing in economy, and then those jobs are picked back up again.

We are now going through structural changes, where we are losing jobs permanently to other countries. Manufacturing jobs have reduced significantly. We are losing manufacturing jobs on a permanent basis in this country.

We are now beginning to lose professional jobs, white-collar jobs traditionally, to countries such as India and other countries.

Trade policies

We need to take a look at our trade policies to make sure that we are not only protecting our economy, we're protecting our workers, and finally we're protecting our security.

I grow concerned for a country that cannot produce for itself and has to rely on other countries for that production.

National deficit

I think we also need to take a look at the deficit in this country. As of Sept 30, the CBO is projecting that we will have a $401 billion deficit in this country and by next year we'll have a $480 billion deficit.

Financial security

Of course it is not only the economy of it but the security of it. Because you also have to look at who is buying the notes and the bonds that this country is putting out to support that debt. We are having countries that are not very favorable to us in many respects buying up our treasury notes and treasury bonds that we are floating to finance our debt.

My answer to the deficit problem is not simply to repeal the tax code that President Bush invoked. I supported them. We need to make spending cuts. We need to get this country back in place where it is manageable.

I dare say most in Washington, D.C., don't have any grasp of the budget, the size of it and what money is being spent. That's a good sign that we have a government that has grown far beyond its boundaries.

We need to do what most people do when they run a deficit in their own home. Certainly they can try to pick up an extra job, find extra income, but primarily they have to cut expenses. And we should be no different.

 

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Judges

I want to take that message to Washington, D.C. I want to take a message of having judicial appointments to the federal judiciary, quite frankly, of judges who wish to be judges and not people who wish to be legislators sitting behind the bench.

I believe it is an open shame in this country for Mr. Estrada and others to have been treated the way that they've been treated in the United States Senate. Honorable people who are very well-qualified for those positions who have frankly been attacked for their personal religious beliefs. I think we need to make a change to that.

I do not support judicial interpretation. I believe if someone wants to change the constitution, there are methods, and you take it to the people and you see if you have the votes. But we ought not let men run around the constitution.

Education

I want to take a message to Washington, D.C., as it relates to education. I do not support standardized testing. The best anecdotal evidence that I have for that is the current controversy over the ACT and SAT. Both of them are well-known standardized testing boards. But according to the SAT our high school graduates are graduating well-prepared and are well-qualified in areas of math and science for college-level courses. According to the ACT high school graduates are lagging behind in the areas of math and science and are not prepared for college entrance and college-level math and science courses.

I don't believe that standardized testing is the model that we ought to follow. I don't believe in the notion of mainstreaming every student. There is a reality that some students have special needs. We are not helping those students, nor the general population of the student body, nor the teachers, to try to mainstream every student who may have physical or learning disabilities that will preclude them from being able from being able to do well in the mainstream classroom.

Local education control and accountability

Frankly, I think we need to begin a phaseout of the federal government's role in education. Education is not a federal issue. Education is primarily a local issue and to a lesser degree a state issue.

We have 20 years -- more than that, but certainly in the last 20-30 years -- the federal government spending billions and billions of dollars, more and more each year, and really seeing nothing in return for it from our public schools. I don't suggest that we abandon the state and local governments that that rely on federal funding, but we do need to phase it out, and we need to get federal government out of education.

We need to make education more accountable at the local level. Because I would dare say it is easier to run for the school board than it is for the U.S. Senate. The more authority and control there is in Washington, D.C., the less accountability there is. Because fewer people are going to maybe step out and make that run for U.S. Senate seat as I intend to do.

Focused purpose

So there are a number of messages that I hold dear to my heart and I want to take to Washington, D.C.

I know this is easy for me to say it. Every election cycle we hear candidates, particularly in the Republican Party -- they run to the right, as some people say. Yet when they get to Springfield or Washington, D.C., nothing seems to happen.

I want to take a message to the people that I'm willing to stand for that which I believe in. Even if it costs me an election, even if it costs me being politically correct, the only way things are accomplished is for people to stand up for what they believe in, to fight that good fight they believe in, and let the chips fall where they may.

With that in mind, I am excited and pleased to announce my candidacy for the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate for 2004. It is a candidacy built upon the people standing here and all across this state.

Campaign

I'm not a millionaire and I don't fault anyone who's running for being a millionaire. That's the beauty of this country. But I'm not a millionaire. I don't bring personal wealth. But I hope to bring a message that people will respond to and that we can work an effective grass-roots campaign and try to take back some of that which we have lost in this country.

I will remain in my employment as assistant state's attorney, and I remain committed to following those duties and obligations to the best of my ability and performing those functions.

My campaign will be on evenings and weekends, and it will be unconventional. People raise their eyebrows and say, "How you gonna do it?" I'm going to do it as best I can. That's the best I can tell you, and that's the best anybody can offer.

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Wright can be reached by e-mail at jonathanwright2004@yahoo.com. He is currently putting together a website at www.wright2004.com to outline his policy positions.

[LDN]

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