Welcome to the Website of Bronson for Congress

Will Bronson for U. S. Congress 

Democratic candidate for Florida 17^th District

Including Charlotte, Desoto, Hardee, Highlands, Okeechobee, and Glades and parts of Lee, Hillsborough, Polk, and Manatee.  

Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty  

   by Will Bronson, Democratic Candidate for US Congress  

The title of this piece came through various elder statesmen of our past as a quick Google search will prove. The problem we have today is that it is all too relevant. In particular, there are three challenges to our liberty that I would like to bring to your attention as they came to mine as I researched my political opponent’s record in Congress. For the sake of brevity, I must ask that you “fact check” my statements which, thanks to the internet, is not hard to do.  

In two of the three cases I was pleased to find an ally to my position from none other than Ron Paul, recent Republican candidate for President, whom I greatly admire. 

The first case involves HR 347 which Congressman Rooney introduced to Congress and which was quickly passed by both houses and signed by the President in time to cool off expected demonstrations from the Occupy Movement at the Nato Summit in Chicago and at the Republican Convention in Tampa. At http://www.infowars.com/h-r-347-another-step-in-the-elimination-of-the-first-amendment/ you will read:  

Michigan Rep. Justin Amash wrote on his Facebook page. “[H.R. 347] expands current law to make it a crime to enter or remain in an area where an official is visiting even if the person does not know it’s illegal to be in that area and has no reason to suspect it’s illegal.”  
Amash, Paul Broun, a Georgia Republican, and Ron Paul were the lone dissenting voices opposed to this bill, which is being called the “First Amendment Rights Eradication Act” designed specifically to counter the Occupy movement and other political groups opposed to the bankster regime in control of the Congress and the presidency.  

The second case also involved Republican Congressman Amash who offered an amendment to the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) which would have barred military detention for terror suspects captured in the U.S. and required charges to be brought in a reasonable time frame and decided in civilian courts. As the law stands, this amendment having failed, a person can be accused of aiding people with terrorist links and be shipped off to Guantanamo and held indefinitely until the military gets around to trying them. About half of Guantanamo prisoners were released without charges being brought because of flimsy evidence from thousands of dollars in bounties paid to people who would inform on their neighbors in Iraq or Afghanistan. This amendment was designed to prevent such miscarriages of justice from occurring here in the U.S.  

In the ensuing fight, Mr. Rooney sent out a press release claiming that the Amash Amendment would “coddle foreign enemy combatants” while Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty Blog shot back accusing Tom Rooney of sending this “disgracefully dishonest press release.”  

My view is that our civil rights are under severe strain because of the “war on terror” and the huge surveillance industry that has grown out of the government and the un-auditable Defense Department. Please Google those last three words.  

The third and final issue that brings me concern is what has become known as the “Monsanto Rider” in the recent Farm Bill that passed the House and is currently in the Senate. At alternet.org you can read that:  

In recent years, federal courts have ruled that several USDA GE (genetically engineered) crop approvals violated the law and required further study of their health and environmental impact. These judgments indicated that continued planting would cause harm to the environment and/or farmers and ordered interim planting restrictions pending further USDA analysis and consideration. The Monsanto rider would prevent a federal court from putting in place court-ordered restrictions, even if the approval were fraudulent or involved bribery.  

The Center for Food Safety said: 

Ceding broad and unprecedented powers to industry, the rider poses a direct threat to the authority of U.S. courts, jettisons the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) established oversight powers on key agriculture issues and puts the nation’s farmers and food supply at risk. http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/2012/06/19/farm-groups-and-public-interest-advocates-join-forces-to-oust-dangerous-%E2%80%98biotech-provision%E2%80%99-from-agriculture-spending-bill/  

You may wonder how this lack of judicial oversight might put farmers at risk. In 2006, the USDA found mutant DNA in Liberty Link rice, a Bayer CropScience product. Japan then banned the rice as did Europe and other countries. The farmers spent five years suing Bayer in an attempt to recoup their losses. One could blame this on the USDA but someone else might have found the toxins later with greater repercussions. Closing one’s eyes is not a good remedy to the problem. For the legislative branch of our three branch government trying to prevent the courts from doing their job is clearly unconstitutional.  

Mr. Rooney taught Constitutional Law at West Point. How could he, sitting on the Agricultural Committee and the Intelligence Committee allow these three cases of unconstitutionality go by, and in the case of HR 347 even introduce the legislation?  

As voters and political contenders, we must apply eternal vigilance.  

For more information contact Will Bronson 239 940 6080 or willbronson7@gmail.com 

If elected, these will be my priorities: 

1. Support provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and insure that it is fully implemented and if necessary, strengthened. Save Main Street from Wall Street. 

2. Support legislation to remove the excessive influence of the super-rich on electioneering. Get big money out of politics. 

3. Resist Republican attempts to “privatize” social security, and Medicare/Medicaid. Support universal single payer health insurance that encourages preventative health measures and alternative medicine. 

4. Insure that our country does not engage in undeclared so-called “nation building” wars that have impoverished our resources and jeopardized our defense. Resist the burgeoning military/industrial/surveillance industry. 

5. Protect our environment by promoting green alternative power, organic farming, and life styles that are healthy to our bodies and our planet. 

LEGISLATION I WILL INTRODUCE THAT WOULD BE OF ENORMOUS BENEFIT TO THE COUNTRY IF ENACTED  

To stop the foreclosure process for most homeowners facing foreclosure, I will introduce legislation requiring banks to write down principal to current market value and give them a share in the capital gain when the house is sold. Tax incentives allowing favorable treatment of losses if incurred as part of a restructuring now, and less favorable treatment of losses that result from foreclosure would provide an incentive to stop foreclosures. but forcing a restructuring may be necessary. 

TO END THE RECESSION: I will introduce legislation to raise the tax rate on the top 1% from the very low average value that is currently levied of 23% to 46%. The low 23% rate currently paid is due to the fact that so many of the top 1% have been gaming the system to apply the 15% capital gains tax rather than the 35% highest rate for labor. This legislation would include taxing capital gains as regular income. This will raise $450 Billion/ year. The $450 Billion can be used to hire 11.3 million people at $40,000/year. There is much work that needs to be done and there are many able and willing to do it. These people would then spend money that they currently do not have causing further employment to satisfy the increased demand and higher tax revenues, reducing the deficit. This one action would therefore almost eliminate the unemployment and underemployment problem while having a stimulating effect on the general economy and a significantly positive impact on the budget problem nationally and locally. 

I will introduce legislation supporting vigorous enforcement of anti-union laws that have often been violated by corporations because enforcement has been lax or nonexistent.

I will introduce legislation that would institute a TV and radio broadcast license requirement for generous allotments of airtime for qualified candidates for public office so that there would be no reasonable need for the purchase of airtime, which could therefore be banned. This would eliminate the need for most campaign funding and therefore greatly reduce the influence of money in the political process. These are public airwaves. They should best serve the public interest.
I will introduce legislation to break up the media conglomerates and increase support for public media and think tanks.

I will introduce legislation prohibiting Wall Street regulators and legislators from working for Wall Street firms for at least 7 years after leaving government office.

I will introduce legislation requiring shareholders to approve of corporate campaign contributions.

I will introduce legislation giving shareholders some say in the pay of their CEO.

I will introduce legislation to withdraw student loan eligibility for schools with poor completion and student satisfaction rates.

I will introduce legislation for a .5% Financial transactions tax which will raise between $200 and 350 Billion per year

I will introduce legislation to prohibit government insured banks from writing derivatives.

I will develop legislation for introduction within 1 year of taking office that will change the FED governor selection process so that policies better reflect the interests of the general public.

I will develop legislation to accomplish the following within 1 year of taking office:
(a) Curb excessive risk taking and the too-big-to-fail and too interconnected-to-fail financial institutions; they're a lethal combination that has led to the repeated bailouts that have marked the last thirty years. Restrictions on leverage and liquidity are key, for the banks somehow believe that they can create resources out of thin air by the magic of leverage. It can't be done. What they create is risk and volatility
(b) Make the banks and credit card companies more competitive and ensure that they act competitively. We have the technology to create an efficient electronics payment mechanism for the twenty-first century, but we have a banking system that is determined to maintain a credit and debit card system that not only exploits consumers but imposes large fees on merchants for every transaction.
(c) Make it more difficult for banks to engage in predatory lending and abusive credit card practices, including by putting stricter limits on usury (excessively high interest rates).
(d) Curb the bonuses that encourage excessive risk taking and shortsighted behavior.
(e) Close down the offshore banking centers (and their onshore counterparts) that have been so successful' both at circumventing regulations and at promoting tax evasion and avoidance. There is no good reason that so much finance goes on in the Cayman Islands; there is nothing about it or its climate that makes it so conducive to banking. It exists for one reason only: circumvention.