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Welcome to my Issues Page
The following issue statements are responses to e-mails and questions asked by Voters while on the Campaign trail.
Some are relevant to the seat I am running for and some are not, but I have pledged to be open and honest with this campaign and am doing so.
As your Executive Councilor, I will always strive to do what is in the best interests of my constituents.
The analytical skills that I have developed in the armed services, as a police officer and as an engineer, have taught me to investigate and evaluate all that is set before me.
Though you may disagree with some of my stands, I have said many times, "I will not make promises I cannot keep, or say what you want to hear just to win an election".
Please keep the emails and comments coming !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Bob Bruce
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Taxes
Taking a pledge that I will not increase or create any new taxes as an Executive Counselor is unnecessary. An Executive Councilor cannot raise or create new taxes, so it is a moot issue.
One of the responsibilities as an Executive Councilor is to ensure that budgets and outlays are conservative and fiscally sound for the state.
I don't care for taxes any more than anyone else but they are necessary and they are not going away.
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Fiscal Stand.
To those who know me, I am considered a fiscal conservative.
We need to work on ways to get more bang for our buck. As an executive councilor, I will work to ensure that our budgets are fiscally sound, and that the awarding of contracts will always go to the lowest reasonable bid.
I would prefer that NH companies(that are responsible employers) get the bids as the money then stays in our state and gives jobs to our citizens.
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Education
The good jobs of the future are going to be jobs that will require our children to have a GREAT EDUCATION. This should be one of our constant priorities, as parents, as a state and as a nation.
A quality education is the true foundation of freedom and empowerment for all.
As we look at the level of education that the children in China and India receive, we see precisely what the power of an education can do for a nation.
We need to harness this power. We need to NH’s education system second to none and available to ALL.
Education prepares our children for the challenges of the future.
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Jobs
Why should New Hampshire Citizens have to travel to work in Massachusetts or Maine to get good paying Jobs?
We need to promote quality employment here in New Hampshire so we don’t need to travel to Massachusetts or Maine.
The only ones making out are Massachusetts and Maine, and the biggest losers are the citizens of our Great State of New Hampshire.
I am going to work to improve the quality of life of my fellow NH citizens by working to do the things that bring those quality jobs here, instead of forcing workers to go work in Massachusetts or Maine.
This will also Appeal to local workers with possibility of better wages, and will appeal to towns with possibilities of larger tax rolls.
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Our Freedoms and Privacy.
Even though I am a former Police officer I feel that our freedoms, our rights, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights is our greatest asset in this country and should never be infringed upon. The patriot act needs to be abolished, the illegal wiretapping by the NSA, and the government subpoena of Google, which is currently going on in our country needs to stop now.
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Fighting Inequality
Our work to bring about equality for all Americans did not end when slavery was abolished or when women obtained the right to vote. On the contrary, our fight for justice and equality continues on a daily basis.
We need leadership that will work together to lift all of our citizens not divide them.
We need to:
- Ensure that individuals receive equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.
- Ensure that our civil rights laws are rigorously enforced.
- Ensure that amendments to our Constitution only grant rights not take them away.
- Increase funding for our public schools so that all children have an opportunity for a great education not just a select few who are the beneficiaries of a conservative supported voucher program.
Many people and politicians seem to have forgotten that WE THE PEOPLE stands for all of the people. I am a fervent believer in equality in the workplace and in society. As we say the pledge of allegiance to our flag, I ponder the words, "Liberty and Justice for ALL"
Many of our forefathers came to this nation to escape persecution because of their beliefs, now many years later, persecution, because of someone’s beliefs is a battleground, right here in our State and in America.
In Concord I will work tirelessly to ensure that this is a State of Inclusion and not Exclusion.
There is a better way for the Elected Officials of this State to ensure we have “Liberty and Justice for ALL".
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The Environment
I t is imperative that we find ways to break our dependencies on fossil fuels and come up with safe, efficient, low-cost and renewable alternative forms of energy.
I will work to protect our air and groundwater from hazards and emissions such as MTBE and Mercury.
We need to start conserving open space so that our children and grand-children will have the same access to the beauty of nature as we have had.
It has become apparent that we can no longer maintain our independence while we remain dependent on forces outside of our control.
We need to develop new sources of safe, efficient, low cost, and renewable forms of energy.
As we do, we will be able to open new markets, develop new technologies, create new jobs, and revitalize our economy.
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I 93 Widening
Projects such as the widening of I-93 have become necessary because too much focus has been put on providing faster transportation for NH citizens to get higher paying jobs in MA than are available here in our state, and further the concept that the convenience to out of State drivers to come here and spend their tax dollars is more important than the needs of our own citizens.
If we instead concentrate on Quality Employment for our residents, with higher wages, by providing the resources to attract those businesses, we will lessen the need to constantly expand corridors that make it necessary to travel out of state to earn a good living.
I am a proponent of widening 93, but there has to be a lot more environmental impacts done, this is no do over type of project, so it has to be done right the first time.
I am not a proponent of park-n-rides at every exit as it is a total waste of taxpayer’s money, I can see maybe one.
I am a strong proponent of a rail line from Manchester to Boston as this would have the least environmental impact and would get vehicles off the road.
As to the widening, I drive 93 alot, and adding at least one lane on each side would save fuel (Ie less vehicles sitting idle in traffic for longer periods of time polluting) a vehicle pollutes more and wastes fuel when they are idling.
We will still have a lot of people living in New Hampshire because of our quality of life here and traveling to another state. The I93 corridor will not get relieved enough by creating jobs here. One thing that tourists have always been impressed by is the unique character of interstates and major highways in NH. They are well maintained, they blend into the natural environment, and the unique wooded center barrier between the lanes makes driving them a very pleasant experience. The plan that the DOT came up with, and Wieczorek endorses, is to make our highways look like the wastelands that characterize MA highways (lanes butted together with steel guardrails separating them).
Widening the existing roadways by one lane has less environmental impact then relocating all the lanes through Windham.
The butterfly issue is easily resolved by just planting the seeds of the plant they want, and are readily commercially available at very low cost.
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Protecting the Homeland
“Homeland Security Begins At Home”
The task of protecting our great country is not simple.
As a former police officer and volunteer firefighter, I have stood with the men and women who are on our front lines of defense on a daily basis.
I have seen their need for better technology so that information can be made more readily available to them.
I believe that we as a state and as a nation we should be putting our tax dollars into better protecting the homeland rather than continue to invest millions of dollars into foreign entities.
We need to provide the necessary funding for our police, fire officials, coast guard and other vital emergency response personnel. There have been too many times when these defenders of freedom have been forgotten and under funded.
With our many open trade policies we have left our trade ports understaffed to handle the large volume of traffic that is imported on a daily basis. I believe that we need to develop a plan that would better inspect the commodities that we import at our seaports.
It is time to stop playing politics with our safety. It is time to put the “home” back in homeland security and with my past experience I am the most qualified one to do so.”
Having served as a Police Officer and Volunteer Firefighter, I understand the frustration of the greater demands on the limited resources of these deserving men and women as they face a lack of Staff, Training, Equipment and Technology.
While I am in Concord these members of our first line of defense will have my full support. I will fight to get the funding they need, to keep our safety a priority, while not jeopardizing our rights as citizens of our United States of America!"
Peace and safety in the United States without freedom is not an option.
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Homelessness
As you know, Homelessness in this country is a disease. As the US economy and social focus has changed, homelessness has affected people from all walks of life.
Outreach workers are overworked and underpaid, and necessary programs are not being funded to their essential levels by the State and Federal Government.
Homelessness is at a crisis state as the availability of affordable housing has diminished and in some cases not available at all.
We need to ensure that adequate affordable housing becomes a reality, not a topic for discussion or debate.
A 2 bedroom apartment in Manchester costs approximately $1,000 dollars a month. This leaves less than $300 for utilities, food, transportation, and medical expenses. The poor have to make hard choices concerning necessities, like food and shelter or the luxury of a new set of clothes.
Often it is housing, which absorbs a high proportion of their income, which must be given up in order to accommodate a more pressing need of food or medical care.
Being poor can mean that one is an illness, an accident, or a reduction in overtime, away from homelessness.
With the shift to job “off shoring”, people who once held high wage earning jobs are starting to compete with traditional low wager earners, for all available employment. Low-wage workers have been particularly hard hit by wage trends and have been left behind as the disparity between rich and poor has grown. Wages should be high enough for people to afford housing, food, clothing, medical care, and other necessities of life.
We need to work with the private sector to bring Jobs back to New Hampshire.
These Jobs can’t be just the service sector Jobs that have little or no future for our children and grandchildren, but Jobs that hold out hope for a better future for our American families.
Education prevents homelessness by helping people obtain jobs with higher wages and benefits.
Education should be one of our constant priorities, as parents, and as a nation. As the trend of shifting power to the wealthy continues, the financial focus has moved from citizen services to the “Bottom Line”.
Should this trend continue, Homelessness will continue to grow. Those citizens who have the smallest voice are often the citizens that receive the largest reductions in support.
Those citizens are the ones that need our voices. It is imperative that our State and the nation listen to your voice as they look for solutions to the homeless crises.
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Choice
I support a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices.
Although I support this I am not for arbitrary abortions.
If I were to support an appointment where this became an issue I would ensure that whomever I supported would follow the State and Federal Constitution and not their own beliefs.
Freedom and choice are the greatest rights we have and I always will fight, to see that these rights are not diminished.
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My beliefs on the right to keep and Bear Arms.
Being a gun owner myself and as a charter member of the second amendment foundation(The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is dedicated to promoting a better understanding about our Constitutional heritage to privately own and possess firearms.) I would never support any legislation to keep Law Abiding citizens from possessing firearms.
I feel that the second amendment makes it very clear that this is our right.
I support legislation that toughens penalties for Criminals that use firearms during the commitment of a crime.
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| Ballot Access for Political Parties
I am a fervent believer that ballot access should be open to all parties.
When our country was formed I do not believe that our forefathers ever considered there being only 2 parties that would make decisions for us all.
We all need to and have the right to be represented by our party of choice.
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