Issues
"It's a fact: For the last thirty years, America's economic, energy, and foreign policies
have been systematically rigged to benefit big corporations and other monied interests, at
the expense of working people. And the disastrous results of the anti-government, anti-
regulation, trickle-down economics, military domination, and 'free trade' ideas have
wrecked our economy and involved us in endless, politically mismanaged wars.
Our economic system is in a historic crisis. Millions of Americans are out of work. Our
outdated, short-sighted energy policies only benefit OPEC and the big oil companies. We spend more on health care than any industrial country, yet millions remain uninsured.
Higher education grows increasingly more expensive and increasingly less effective. And
we continue to lose American lives and squander our resources by engaging in foreign
wars and maintaining military forces around the world.
As a working person and military veteran, I understand first hand the challenges we are facing, but I'm optimistic about the future of America simply because things don't have to remain the way they are. We can have a more secure and more prosperous future.
Together, we can do better for America, our region, and our people. We can change our government's policies and correct the mistakes of the past political generation. We can begin to benefit working Americans and the middle class, and to provide real upward mobility for those fighting to get out and stay out of poverty.
Southeast Kentucky must have better representation in Congress if we want to bring
about true progress. In Congress I will use my experience as a military veteran and
working person to bring about common sense solutions and a true alternative to
the 'business-as-usual' politics and mistaken ideas that have run us into the ditch.
I ask the people of Kentucky's 5th District for your trust, your support, and your votes. Thank you." --Jim Holbert
Click one of the following links to jump to an issue:
Defending America - Economy - Education - Election Reform - Energy - Health Care - Illegal Immigration - Interstate 66 - Labor Policy & Jobs - Mountaintop Removal - Second Amendment
Defending America
As a twenty-year veteran military officer, Jim Holbert knows we must defendAmerica wisely and well. In Congress, Jim will work to:
* Bring the troops home from the politically mismanaged, endless wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and from other long-term occupation areas around the world.
* Serve America's interests through better foreign policies, not endless foreign wars.
* Eliminate American aid which props up corrupt and repressive foreign governments.
* Use the money now spent on endless foreign wars for the things we need to do for our own Country and our own people.
* Jim Holbert recently completed the latest VetPac candidate questionnaire. Click here to view his responses.
Economy
* Jim opposes the financial industry Bailout that Hal Rogers voted for. In Congress, Jim will work to put the burden of cleaning up our economic crisis onto Wall Street and the corporations, not the taxpayers.* Jim knows that the most important economic issue to 95% of Americans is the
availability of good-paying, stable jobs. In Congress, Jim will work to bring jobs back to America and to make American products more competitive.
Education
* Jim Holbert wants to help America re-design our public education system to give our kids better mastery of fundamental skills. Jim will work for education reform that restores the quality, value, and importance of a high school diploma through multi-track programs meeting the needs of all students.* In Congress, Jim will stand strong for more and better non-college post-secondary
education and training programs, with nation-wide certification standards, to produce the skilled tradespersons and technical workers America needs.
Election Reform
* Americans must be active in our political process.* Our democracy must earn and maintain the people's trust.
* Jim Holbert supports reform issues such as opening up primary elections to
independent voters, non-partisan Congressional redistricting, restoration of voting rights after felons have paid their debt to society, initiative and referendum in all the states, and requiring a "paper trail" for ballots in all Federal elections.
Energy
Jim Holbert stands for an American energy policy that serves us, and not OPEC. In Congress, Jim will work for:* Renewable bio-fuels and electric vehicles to free us from Middle East oil and the
Middle East political involvement that goes with it.
* Laws to enable a vigorous partnership of government and the U.S. auto industry
for rapid design and production of new electric cars, hybrids, and other fuel-efficient
vehicles.
* Tax credits for purchasers of American fuel-efficient vehicles, subsidies for American
bio-fuels production and sales points, and tax credits for converting vehicles to run on domestically-produced natural gas.
* A comprehensive national public works construction program of wind and solar electric
generating plants, nuclear plants, and coal gasification power plants.
Health Care
* America has an excellent system of health care facilities and providers, but millions of American citizens lack access to health care because they are uninsured or under-insured.* The time has come to enact a national, single-payer government funded health care system such as the proposed United States National Health Insurance Act (HR 676).
* Jim recently participated in a health care reform rally in Somerset. Click here to view his speech.
Illegal Immigration
Jim Holbert says loud and clear that politicians of both parties have failed toenforce our laws against illegal immigration. In Congress, Jim will take a strong
stand to:
* Stop the illegal immigration which takes jobs away from American workers and drives American wages down.
* Authorize increased use of the National Guard to secure America's borders against
illegal immigration and smuggling activity.
* Require vigorous enforcement of our laws against knowingly employing illegal
immigrants, and subject such law-breaking employers to the fines and imprisonment that our laws prescribe.
* Help the poor of other nations by bringing strong sanctions against oppressive and
corrupt foreign governments that fail to provide opportunity for their peoples.
Interstate 66
* Jim Holbert opposes the construction of I-66 and supports improvements to existing roads, bridges, and highways.Labor Policy & Jobs
Working people in Kentucky and throughout America are worse off after 30 yearsof Hal Rogers and people like him in Congress. As a working person, Jim Holbert
knows first-hand that the most important economic issue to 95% of Americans is
availability of good-paying, stable jobs. In Congress, Jim will work for:
* Laws to reward American companies which innovate and preserve American jobs,
and laws to protect and strengthen the rights of America's workers to organize for better wages and working conditions.
* Reversing disastrous "free trade" policies that cost millions of America jobs, destroy
our industries, and run up outrageous trade imbalances with foreign nations.
* Tariffs and other protective measures to reestablish American manufacturing self-
sufficiency and quality in textiles, consumer electronics and appliances, alternative
energy, automobiles, and other key industries.
* Decreasing legal immigration quotas.
Mountaintop Removal
Jim Holbert knows that coal powers America and that coal is important toKentucky. In Congress, Jim will work to balance America's need for coal energy
with our other needs: protecting mountains and streams, worker health and safety, and the availability of good jobs for coal industry workers, now and in the future. Jim stands strong for:
* Moving away from Mountaintop Removal Mining and returning to deep mining
techniques.
* Protecting valleys and stream systems from mining environmental damage.
* Using coal severance tax money to diversify job opportunities in coal fields, train coal industry workers in other trades as needed, and provide benefits to workers with mining- related disabilities.
* Research and development for coal gasification and carbon sequestration technologies.
Second Amendment
Jim Holbert strongly believes that the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms. In Congress, Jim will:* Support hunting and shooting sports.
* Stand strong against gun or ammunition bans, and against increased taxes on guns or ammunition.