Announcement of Run for Congress

By Brian Gordon    
January 31, 2009
Good afternoon.

Thank you all for coming out on this cold day.  

I especially thank my campaign staff, my advisors, my wife Julie and our daughter Emma for your support, inspiration and hard work.

My name is Brian Gordon and I am pleased to announce my candidacy for the U. S. House of Representatives for the 6th District of Pennsylvania.

I am a Democrat, a fiscal moderate, an environmentalist, and a lawyer.

I have devoted a portion of my practice to protecting the civil rights of our citizens and our Constitution and a portion of my practice to helping businesses grow and prosper.

I am also a Lower Merion Township Commissioner.  Lower Merion is one of the finest local governments in the United States, with low taxes, an AAA bond rating and a quality of life second to none.  In many ways it is a model for federal government.

I ran for office after being outraged by the first four years of the Bush Presidency.  When he won again in 2004, I decided to run for elective office, as my part of a larger movement, to take back America from those who do not share our values.

Why are we announcing here at Merion Botanical Park?
This 6 acre park is at the heart of our community and by metaphor the heart of the 6th District.  It is also a metaphor for government at its best.

Government is nothing more than the things we decide to do together.
In the mid 1940’s Merion Botanical Park was a swamp about to be developed into the next tract of houses.  Neighbors approached the Township with an idea.  They bought the land together.  Neighbors agreed to buy and plant trees and clean up the park and the Township agreed to mow the grass and do some of the heavy lifting.  60 years later, we have this beautiful pocket park with over 100 specimen trees.

This park is also on the cutting edge of environmentalism.  Recently, the Botanical Society asked the Township staff not to cut the grass along the stream and in a meadow on the far side of the stream so that a riparian buffer and natural meadow could grow.  These features slow storm water, create a habitat for birds and filter out pollutants and reduce the cost of maintenance.
Merion Botanical Park is a place where members of the community walk, picnic, and stroll with baby carriages.

It is also a place where members of our community cast bread upon the water, during the Jewish High Holy days, to cast away sins.  Individually, one may cast away the sin of bigotry, arrogance, greed, xenophobia and selfishness.
So I believe that this is a fitting place . . . where we may cast away our political sins:  sins paralyze national debate; sins that fail to solve the problems of our time, such as fixing an expensive healthcare system that burdens our family budgets to a broken financial system which dealt a blow to our economy and will again if not repaired.

These are the sins of quarrelling, grandstanding, and selfishness.
The sin of putting personal interest ahead of one’s constituents and being afraid to make tough decisions.
The sin of putting your political party before your country, your state or your community.
The sin of gerrymandering, where politicians choose their voters instead of the voters choosing their leaders, as was done in the 6th District.
And the sin of flooding campaigns with special interest money that wash-out the desire of good politicians to serve people.Last week, by equating money with free speech and corporations with human beings, the U.S. Supreme Court has damaged the fabric of democracy by giving a bull horn of persuasion to a wealthy few and big corporations while others speak with the small voice of an individual voter.
By casting away these sins, we will begin to take back our country from the special interests and the politics of gridlock and renew our democracy.

This will be a campaign of ideas and ideals.  With a constellation of policy advisors who are experts in their fields, including Republicans, Democrats and Independents, this is an opportunity to solve the major problems and challenges of our time.
Together we will:

Reduce the national debt
Save the planet from global warming, pollution, and species loss
Create jobs by investing in new technologies: wind, solar, and geothermal energy to break our reliance on foreign oil and reduce our carbon footprint.
Together, we will get our economic house in order by reconnecting the lender with the risk of loss from a defaulting loan.

We will enforce existing laws that protect free markets and prevent institutions from becoming too big to fail without taking a tenth of our economy with it.

The national debt is currently 12 trillion 300 billion dollars. In a nation of 308 million people, that is 39,000 for every man woman and child.One of the fallacies of modern politics is that Democrats don’t care about taxes or balanced budgets:  we do.  It did not take the loss in Massachusetts or New Jersey for me to figure that out.  I have been disciplined in spending as a local government representative and I will exercise the same discipline at the national level.  I am not alone.  Most Democratic Presidents have reduced deficits over the past 30 years where most Republican Presidents have increased them.  That may be an inconvenient truth, but nevertheless, it is true.

Together, we will reduce the cost of war in Iraq and Afghanistan by narrowing the conflict to what is in our national interest and focuses our efforts on Al Queda.

At great cost of lives and money, we have propped up corrupt regimes in countries engaged in religiously based civil wars that our troops are, for the most part, powerless to stop.

The time has come to return to the Powell Doctrine, where military might comes last, after diplomacy and sanctions.  Where military force is used to achieve limited objectives which are clear and supported by the American people.
The time has also come for a renewed foreign policy based on pursuing peace.

For two centuries, people across the globe have followed our lead when they have seen the best of America’s values.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was based on our Bill of Rights.  How many countries today are democracies with written constitutions that embrace freedom and democracy?  If Viet Nam and Tiananmen Square and the emerging democracies on every continent have taught us anything, it is that our ideas and ideals bring democracy, not our military might.  Our military might is essential for defense and that is all.

These ideals include the right to pray or not pray to the divine entity of your choice without interference from the state.

There is power in the idea of a country where diverse peoples live side by side and never would consider hurting one another because of their faith.  We are not unique in the world, but that idea must be at the heart of our foreign policy.
There is power in the idea of equality of opportunity, not just for every race, creed, color and national origin but also a place where our country offers equality of opportunity for women.

The standard operating procedure of the Taliban is to close the school for girls in every village they invade.  Girls must remain at home, never to learn to become a doctor, an engineer, a business person, or a political leader. Until 1920, women in the US did not have the right to vote.  Afghanistan will get there, with us or without us, but it must be an indigenous movement.

Together, we will reduce the cost of health care and improve quality and outcomes by looking at other nations and developing regional solutions that work for our communities.
The solutions to reducing costs and improving health are within our reach.

We must be willing to listen primarily to doctors and hospitals that produce healthcare as well as citizens who consume healthcare and NOT merely well heeled special interests who profit from the status quo!
Together, we will reduce the cost of Social Security and Medicare.  We cannot wait until the Soc Sec System is flat broke again.  It is cheaper for all of us if we are realistic about the system and fix it today.

Together, we will reduce the cost of government and fight global warming by protecting the environment.
When we recycle, use less paper, use less energy to heat and cool our public buildings, create natural features areas we reduce costs of government and save taxes.

Government becomes a model for citizens as well.

Together, we will create jobs for a new economy.  Nationally, one in 10 Americans are out of work and want a job.  Many are in this community and will be forced to leave it.After consulting with experts, we can create new jobs by:

Investing in cities and towns to make them desirable places to live which attract entrepreneurs and skilled workers.
Investing in schools to ensure a workforce which can compete globally in math, science and critical thinking.
Investing in products where increased demand is on the horizon like environmental building products, healthcare, and local organic farming which will keep jobs here at home.
Requiring our trading partners, as a condition of entering our common market, to harmonize their environmental and labor laws with ours so new industries will not flee our shores to countries where companies are free to exploit workers and pollute our world.
This campaign will be a place to solve problems big and small and a place of learning for those interested in getting involved.  It is my hope that the campaign itself improves the lives of everyone who comes in contact with it.

A few weeks ago I heard Emma humming a civil right song she learned in honor of the Martin Luther King Day of Service. The song asks:

What can one little person do?
What can one little you or me do?
What can one little person do...
to make this world go round?
The song answers that “one can help another one and together we can get the job done.”
Together, we can repair our country and the world and make it a better place for ourselves and our children.

Now the hard work begins.  To win, we must have coffees and fundraisers, volunteer, and organize in every community through-out this district.
Thank you for coming out on this cold day and for your support.