This article appeared in the Nashua Telegraph on July 18
It seems to be fashionable in politics to say that next election is always the most important election in American history. And yet, I’ve reluctantly come to believe that the elections this November will be among the most important elections we have ever faced.
America is rapidly approaching the tipping point. Our government is dysfunctional, Congress is clearly broken and mired in partisan bickering, while our national financings are wholly out of control. We are fighting two wars in the Middle East which are both going badly, while our competitive economic position is very rapidly eroding away, taking with it countless American jobs, as well as our national security.
We clearly need to return back to the common sense, core values that made America great. Sadly, we have drifted away from the principals of individual responsibility, limited government, a reliance on the private sector to provide us with our needed goods and services and an emphasis on entrepreneurship in our economy.
Like most Americans, I am deeply concerned about where we are headed as a country. I think it is obvious that three issues will define our national agenda in the years ahead: the economy, energy and national security – particularly as they relate to Asia and the Middle East. They are all fiendishly complex and it is clear from even a cursory viewing of C-Span that most of the members of Congress don’t even know what questions to ask.
This is understandable. Local politics or local business cannot possibly equip one to understand the intricacies of the global economy, nuclear energy, the Byzantine foreign policy issues such as those relating to the Middle East or China, let alone how Washington operates. In these times of crisis, we can no longer rely on politics as usual. We do not have time for on the job training, even if that were possible – which it is not.
I have never wanted or sought a political career. But, by happenstance, I find that my life’s experience and my career have given me the background and the experience to, once again, be of service to my country. I cannot and will not, idly stand standby and watch our great country slide downward without at least doing my best to be of service. And so, I am running for a seat in U.S. House of Representatives. With all due respect to my competitors, I would happily step aside if I felt there was anyone better equipped to represent NH’s 1st Congressional District.
Let me be specific (in what limited space allows me to be) about what needs to be done on the three big issues we will be facing in the years ahead. On the economy we need to first get the engine of growth working again. We need to stop the reckless spending by our government(s), recognizing that such spending is creating a heightened sense of risk around our economy. Such spending is also adding to the sense that new taxes may be levied on businesses that can not bear the added load. Hence, they are not hiring new people. We should also stop the public sector from trying to compete with the business community. We can and must reemphasize our manufacturing and export capabilities once again.
On energy, we need to reverse our growing dependence on foreign oil and fossil fuels. We promised ourselves that we would do this thirty-five years ago and yet Washington has done nothing about it. We still have no national energy policy, which is leading to us borrow an additional billion dollars a day to pay for our energy needs, even though we are rich in energy resources such as shale gas. We must undertake a comprehensive short, medium and long term energy strategy which emphasizes conservation in the short term, new fuels (including nuclear) in the medium term and immediately increase our spending on new research and development projects for the long term.
On foreign policy issues we need to end the impossible demands we have asked our military to undertake in the Middle East. We can and must “reposition” Iran into an ally just as President Nixon repositioned Egypt and China and, as noted above, we need to borrow less, export more and lessen our dependence on foreign oil.
I have written extensively about these and other issues. I invite you to visit my website at BobBestani.com. At the same time, I invite you to view the websites of my competitors to see who is really talking about the issues that matter.