Posts Tagged ‘US House election’

Imagine taking a simple philosophy of 3 words and turning them into a vision for future entrepreneurs.

Simple words like Educate, Encourage, and Empowerment sounds like a philosophy that rings of something that comes out of some “self help motivational book”, but today I met 2 of Jacksonville’s real business leaders that not only believe in those words, but live them.

E3 Leaders Anthony Butler, Sr., Rich Stewart and I had the opportunity to sit over lunch at the City Kidz Ice Cream Cafe in downtown Jacksonville, and discuss the real power behind the E3 Business Group’s  plan and vision for those who desire to become small business owners and entrepreneurs right in the Jacksonville area. Without a doubt, these people involved with the E3 project are going to build the future leaders of this nation and do exactly what they have set out to accomplish:

• Educate people on all aspects of living and how education is not only important, but the way we are teaching our children today is failing them and leaving them totally unprepared for living.
• Encourage people to reach for the dreams and desires beyond what they imagine is possible and to define goals and objectives for reaching those dreams
• Empowerment of the individual by making application of these principles and running on that road to success as a lifetime journey- not a destination.

My belief is that the 3rd Congressional District is perhaps the most under-served District in the nation and by bringing small business initiatives and opportunities to the people who can benefit the most, they will succeed in enriching the communities and the neighborhoods where they work and live. All throughout this District, few are encouraged by what the future may hold and little opportunity is there to overcome that plight many talk empty talk about and do little to make a real difference in improving. The reality is, this District is ripe with potential and simply needs to change the mindset and the leadership to make that possible. Every accomplishment begins with a vision, and without a doubt Anthony Butler and Rich Stewart have that vision and desire to give back to the community more than they receive with their E3 Business Group.

We discussed changing the way we educate our children that will actually leave them with knowledge and skills they can apply in real world situations. Our discussion led to a belief that entrepreneurship is a trade/skill that can be learned and applied to impact the lives of countless numbers of people and that a belief in a dream and having the resources available to reach that quest can and will be possible through an entire network of small and medium business initiatives in this District.

Bringing real technological manufacturing to Florida can not only create jobs, but further enhance the success of new and dynamic start-up companies throughout this area. It is possible to bring real prosperity to this District that has the reputation of “poverty, crime, and low educational expectations” by working through the E3 Business Group and initiatives I will bring to this District as the Congressman representing the PEOPLE and not the big money, special interest groups now in charge of Washington. Unless there is someone in Washington that understands Small Business and the need to bring more and more success to this District, nothing will ever change. I believe that the E3 Business Group in conjunction with real Congressional leadership, we can revive this entire region and bring real growth and opportunity for all.

I am looking forward to meeting again with these men and women of the E3 Business Group and further unfolding my vision for real economic development for the 3rd District. It starts with real education reform so the next generation of entrepreneurs are armed with the tools needed to succeed and ends the cycle of drop-outs that has plagued this District for decades. When we empower the our children and grandchildren with the motivation of successful living, we have left them ready to lead our country into the future only America offers.

I believe that real leadership and a real return to the community comes from making sure the E3 Business Group not only succeeds, but becomes the model for the next leaders of business and the communities they serve- a model this country will want to follow. Their model is the self-sustaining method for real prosperity for our children and our future as a nation.

3 simple words that can transform an entire nation and ones I believe is the solution for the survival of the American dream, the American family, and the American way of life. It is time that the real measure of success becomes how easy it is to find a job and how easy it is to start a business and it begins with working with the leaders and visionaries of the E3 Business Group.

This Monday, May the 17th, Rep. Corrine Brown is going to be holding her “Job Fair to Make Corrine Brown Look Good” event in Jacksonville.

Little does Rep. Brown understand is that there are no jobs to be found and what few there are, are low paying, part-time, and not sustainable for economic growth in this District.

In today’s Jacksonville Times-Union feature section, the article explains the situation completely from the words of the writer:

Jocelyn Gaffney, 29, has an engineering degree and an MBA, but lives with her mother and tutors on the side, because she can’t even get a job as a cashier at a grocery.

Cindy Glass, with a master’s degree and 22 years of teaching experience, works in a coffee shop for minimum wage and is grateful for that.

And Curran, who once made about $160,000 at Blue Cross, has a temporary job with the Census. But he recently passed his certification test to be an elementary school teacher – if he can find a job in the schools.

So let’s examine just how out of touch Rep. Brown is with a look at her most recently introduced Bills in Congress:

1. Introduced: H.R. 5287: To amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
2. Introduced: H.R. 5266: To extend the final report deadline and otherwise reauthorize the National Commission on Children and Disasters.
3. Passed House: H.Res. 1301: Supporting the goals and ideals of National Train Day.

The first bill will permanently kill all prospects of Florida ever developing any industry that creates top-paying, permanent jobs that don’t depend on what has been historically, Florida’s largest employment areas- Tourism and Agriculture and more recently, Construction.

The second Bill simply does nothing to create jobs, but DOES recognize that government can do a far better job in meeting the needs of children of a disaster than can the PARENTS of those children. This is NOTHING more than “nanny-state”, big government interfering with the roles of parents once again.

The third bill, that actually passed, is more of Rep. Brown’s massive government subsidized (at taxpayers expense) statement that rail is the way to go!! Yet, she FAILS to mention that Amtrak, Tri Rail, and the “new” Sun Rail projects are nothing but TAXPAYER provided rail systems that have failed to meet ridership or profitability objectives since their inception. America would have PRIVATE SECTOR rail service for passengers if it was in demand, profitable, and meeting the transportation needs of this nation. It doesn’t and never will. The simple reason is that there in only ONE “corridor” that can meet the population requirements to have “High Speed Rail” at even a break-even point and that is in the N.E. corridor from New York to Washington, D.C. We, the taxpayers of this nation have provided far too long for far too many FAILURES of government and passenger rail is but ONE example from countless others.

Mike offers REAL solutions to bringing permanent and high paying jobs to this District;

1. Reform our tax system and pass the FairTax. Elimination of all income taxes and payroll taxes will create a business climate that promotes investment in American initiatives. Eliminating the Corporate income taxes will make the U.S. prime targets for relocation for those industries that left our shores for more tax favorable countries. Congress can no longer manipulate the tax code to pick and choose the “winners and losers” for campaign donations for re-election bids made by the Special Interest groups and Lobbyists.
2. Expansion of “Small business incubators” with a Regional approach instead of isolating it in one building as the “Beaver Street Incubator” has done in Jacksonville. Create “Enterprise Zones” throughout this District to attract small businesses, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics companies. Far too many buildings sit empty in this District and incorporating them into this model will work to bring stable and top paying jobs. Far too many people would start their OWN Small Business given the opportunity to do so and have their chances of success multiplied.
3. Make education a priority and end the failure of our school system by requiring real teacher accountability and ending tenure. Putting education back in the hands of local communities will end the “Federal Mandates” that have left over 40% of all students entering High School in this District NEVER graduating. Allow parents to place their children in schools by promoting success in education and allowing the funding of that education to follow the STUDENT, not the failed school. This would allow parents to place their children in Private, Parochial, or Charter schools that succeed in graduation rates and provide an education that allows our children to have a real future of opportunity.

Mike believes that the role of government is providing the TOOLS for the individual to succeed, not provide “success” by government handouts, bailouts, or funding. Big government failures are easy to spot and the RESULTS of these “programs” have left this District in economic shambles. Leadership and bold ideas are needed to bring real change to this District. Rep. Brown only has offered “lip service” to this District and has failed her constituents, her community, and those who thought “hope and change” meant real opportunity.

You can be a part of bringing real, bold, Conservative leadership to this District by supporting Mike Yost for Congress. It is time to “Stamp out Brown” once and for all.

Today, Rep. Corrine Brown introduced legislation that would ban all off-shore drilling and exploration for oil. Her ban would:

“permanently prohibit the conduct of offshore drilling on the outer Continental Shelf of the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico.”

Mike would like to remind Rep. Brown that the Department of Energy was created for the sole purpose of “Eliminating the Dependence of Foreign Oil” in the United States. In spite of the fact that is its purpose, it has obviously FAILED miserably in its objective.

Yes, we have a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but to have this type of knee-jerk reaction to this disaster is far from what is needed to achieve the goals of the Department of Energy.

Mike believes in 3 basic goals that must be achieved and drilling resumed:

1. Determine the cause of this disaster and make sure that proper safeguards and controls are in place to assure that it will not happen again.
2. Clean up this disaster using all available private and public resources to do so.
3. Open other areas of this nation like the Bakken Reserves in N. Dakota and Montana for drilling.

Rep. Brown seems to forget that until there is available alternative energy sources that can fully meet the demands of this nations energy needs, oil will remain a needed resource for our nations survival. Even her “precious” rail transportation system she wishes to spend even MORE of taxpayers dollars on and continue to subsidize with even MORE taxpayers dollars, requires DIESEL FUEL to operate. Rep. Brown, THAT is an “oil based” product and to restrict the supply of DOMESTIC oil is going to be even MORE costly for Americans.

Instead of more legislation that will cost the people of this District even more in energy dollars, Rep. Brown would be better off working to create JOBS for the people and bring OPPORTUNITY to this District. Taking train rides to Miami to bring even more “high speed rail” to areas OUTSIDE this District is not making “Corrine Delivers” a truthful statement.