Chad Kluko

:Source: Harvested from chadklukoforcongress.com/ on May 17, 2006.
===ECONOMY===
The growth and stability of our economy has unfortunately taken a back seat to the other priorities of this Republican controlled Congress. A strong economy creates good paying jobs, allows the growth of our basic infrastructure, and raises the standard of living for all Americans. A country which has a healthy economy is a country where prosperity can grow.
We need to immediately address our growing national debt. Now at over 8 trillion dollars our deficit will negatively impact generations to come. More disturbing is that 47% of this country’s debt is held by foreign investors. Chad strongly believes that reducing our deficit and a creating a balanced budget must be our priority in Congress.
Chad’s objective in Washington is to control spending; to invest your tax dollars wisely in programs and services which have true value to all Americans. He will stop the wasteful spending of your tax dollars and begin to efficiently spend those dollars on programs most important to the people of this country.
Locally, Chad has a passion to rebuild the economy of Western Pennsylvania. He feels our area has been neglected by the Federal Government. We need to aggressively build our federally funded infrastructure elements in order to attract ‘new economy’ businesses to our area. This will provide higher paying jobs and reenergize our communities.
===HEALTHCARE===
All Americans deserve access to quality health care at a reasonable cost. Unfortunately the cost of health care is out of control. Family health care premiums have gone up 45% since the Republicans and President Bush took office. This is completely unacceptable. An affordable and accessible healthcare system is of paramount importance for this nation. Chad believes every citizen should have access to this, the most fundamental of services. 
Admittedly, the restructuring of our healthcare system is a monumental task, but it must be addressed. We must look for better ways of providing healthcare, we must look to technology to make the healthcare system efficient, and we must look at how the cost to provide these services is allocated. Chad believes the government should not be in the business of providing healthcare services; instead he believes the federal government should create a fair and equitable framework which ensures quality and affordable healthcare for all Americans.
Chad believes our Medicare services must be adequately funded, and services such as the new ‘Part D’ Prescription Drug program must be made efficient and easy to use. Our seniors deserve a healthcare service which meet their needs and is affordable. The current Republican Congress has reduced Medicare funding over 300 billion dollars over the last six years; we must stop this reduction of healthcare services to our seniors.
===IRAQ===
The war in Iraq has been a misguided and mismanaged mission. The tragedy of this action lies in the loss of lives of our troops who have served with bravery and our unwavering admiration during this mission. Unfortunately we cannot turn back time; we are now engaged in a police action which may continue for years to come. 
Chad agrees with the withdraw plan offered by Congressman Murtha. We must create an exit strategy which will aggressively force the Iraqi Government to stand-up and take control of their internal security. The plan must have clearly defined benchmarks and a timeline for the Iraqis to work towards. Without a timeline and benchmarks, the Iraqis will lack a sense of urgency to fully develop their security infrastructure. 
If this President continues to delay withdraw, and allow the status quo to continue, Chad supports the use of Congressional powers to withdraw funding for this action. It is time to bring our men and women home. It is time to stop this irresponsible spending, now at over 360 billion dollars. We must focus on the real threats to our National Security and stop this action in Iraq.
===ENERGY and the ENVIRONMENT===
Chad believes energy and the protection of our environment are two issues which are closely related. The majority of damage to our environment today is caused as a result of the use of fossil fuels. Chad feels we can create synergy by combining these two issues; we can create legislation that not only allows us to be less dependent on foreign oil, it will also benefit our environment by reducing pollution to our air and water.
Our country is behind the curve on research and development of alternative sources of energy. By aggressively addressing alternative energy sources, we will not only be working toward reducing our dependency on foreign nations, we begin to provide benefits to other areas of concern today. For example, by creating an industry of alternative fuel, it is estimated that 2 million jobs will be created. As a result of this new ‘Energy Industry’ our economy will grow, employment will grow, manufacturing will increase, we will reduce pollution and ultimately be less dependent on foreign governments for the energy to run our country and economy. Chad supports providing incentives to businesses to explore and produce alternative sources of energy.
==Links==
* chadklukoforcongress.com
* VIPs
* Tim Murphy
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