A Little About Me
Born in Houston and raised in the piney woods between Montgomery and Conroe, East Texas is my home. The values of the people who live here—love of God, care for you neighbors, hard work, individual responsibility—are my values. Upon graduation from high school in Montgomery, I received my appointment to the United States Naval Academy. I was commissioned as an officer in the Navy upon graduation and began a 20 year career of service built upon the foundation of those values I learned growing up.
My time in the Navy taught me more than just about being a pilot. It was there that I learned about duty, about what it means to be honorable, about leading men and women. I learned about service and dedication, first to the ship (the mission), then to the shipmate, and finally to myself. I learned about sacrifice—by leaving my wife and children for long periods of time to serve a greater good, while defending the rights of a people united by common values, a love of liberty, and a unique sense of what it means to be free found nowhere else on the planet.
The Winds of Change
I changed significantly over my 20 year career. But what didn’t change were the foundational values I learned growing up. So when my military career ended, I brought my family back to Montgomery.
Starbucks and Chipotle were now in old cow pastures. The city had made its way north.
It certainly wasn’t the same area I left. Two lane roads were now 6. The woods I used to hunt in were now neighborhoods and golf courses. Starbucks and Chipotle were now in old cow pastures. The city had made its way north. But despite all this, the people were still the same. There was still that community with a love of God, care for neighbors, and belief in hard work and personal responsibility. This is where I wanted to rear my kids.
But while these East Texas values—these truly AMERICAN values—these basic fundamentals of a moral people—are still alive here and in most parts of this Union, they seem to be daily under attack by forces that want to see them destroyed and purged from the country. These forces are not content to live and let live, not content to let Americans be Americans.
And a complicit government only aids their cause.
Our Government Gone Wrong
The American Ideal—what makes our nation unique in all the world, what makes it a beacon of hope for so many in search of a better tomorrow—is dependent on a government limited in power that does nothing to restrict its citizens’ right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A government of, by, and for the people must operate within its Constitutional limits, or the ideals that make us who we are will be stripped away, little by little, and in large chunks.
And let’s be frank here, our government, as it is operating now and has been for many years, has overstepped its boundaries that We The People have laid out for it. It has taken it upon itself to invade the many areas of American life it was never intended to occupy.
The 10th Amendment to our Constitution states the powers not granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution, or prohibited by it to the states, are reserved for the states or the people. That means the government is designed to be limited in its scope and authority. It is to leave the states and the people to themselves in all areas where it has no Constitutionally granted powers.
The powers not granted to the Federal Government…are reserved for the states or the people
The 10th Amendment to the Constitution
We should look at the states as individual experiments in democracy and government. The citizens of each state should be the ultimate deciding factor in what experiments work for them. The Federal Government should not interfere or influence that experiment.
Yet we see the government interfering in too many aspects of our lives. It educates our children. It mandates our healthcare. It manages our inner cities and urban areas. It tells us we must drive a certain type of automobile. The list goes on and on.
The Tide is Turning Back
Honestly, it’s our own fault. For years we’ve let power hungry politicians in cahoots with interest groups gobble up the states’ responsibilities and the people’s rights. Many times willingly. “Leaders” too worried about being called names or too concerned about offending donors failed to take the bold stands necessary to stop the advance of their greedy contemporaries. The states did little to defend their 10th amendment rights. And the voters continued to vote in the same weak and feckless politicians.
What are they really so afraid of by allowing us to be the free people we were founded to be?
But the tide is turning in these United States. The election of Donald Trump, for all that it was worth, showed that the average American is tired of the status quo. Tired of overreach. Tired of being manipulated by a government too concerned with power and control. We are fed up with a weak party who allegedly supports and defends the Constitution and the limited government it establishes, yet is too afraid of the mainstream media and cancel culture to say, much less do, what needs saying and doing to counter the attacks of the other side. Small victories don’t amount to much when you’re losing the war.
But the days of cowering and being on the defensive are over.
We can correct the course of our nation. We can neuter the government, strip it of its illegitimately claimed authority, and reestablish a nation with a government truly of, by, and for the people. But it will take effort. It will take fearlessness. It will take bold ideas—ideas which are frightening and threatening to the ruling class and those who benefit from its un-American policies. And it will take men and women with the courage and fortitude to make those ideas reality regardless of the vitriol and hatred slung at them.
Let’s Get the Government Out of Our Lives
This is why I’m running for Congress. I’m sick and tired of watching rights stripped away. I’m sick and tired of seeing the government involved in things it should never be involved in. I’m sick and tired of an unfair tax system that manipulates and is specifically designed to pit one group of people against another.
I have no desire for power, clout, prestige, or position. I only want what I believe most Americans—and certainly the citizens of Texas—want. And that is the government out of our lives. Just leave us alone. As paradoxical as this sounds, I’m running for Congress to get the government out of my life, my family’s lives, and all Americans’ live.
How is this accomplished? Bold ideas. Fought for by bold individuals.
Your Liberty, States’ Rights, No IRS
The many departments, agencies, and bureaucracies established outside the boundaries of the 10th Amendment need to be seriously examined. If they perform a function that is necessary to the people and can be performed by the state or locality, then that department, agency, or bureaucracy is to be eliminated and its role assumed by the state or locality (ideally). Examples include the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the EPA…
From a economic standpoint, the billions spent on these entities will be returned to the taxpayers. And equally important, the strengthening of community, charity, and a return to looking out for each other will thrive at the local level. Where it belongs.
Additionally, a significant portion of the government’s manipulative authority over the people can be removed by abolishing the current income tax system (which abolishes the IRS) and repealing the 16th Amendment. Replacing this unfair and disincentivizing system with the FAIRtax, or similar income tax replacement plan, will return the power of the people’s income back to the people. They will be in charge of what they pay in taxes. Businesses will no longer have payroll or FICA tax requirements. With no income tax, businesses will flourish and new business from around the globe will flock to the US to escape repressive taxation in other nations.
Replacing this unfair…system with the FAIRtax…will return the power of the people’s income back to the people.
We can also return power back to the states by repealing the 17th Amendment, which changed election of Senators from the state legislatures to the people of the state, essentially rendering the states unrepresented and powerless in Congress. There is truly something wrong with our Republic when states and localities have to hire lobbyists in DC to represent their needs and wants.
This is an extremely bold idea, and it may be argued that it will disenfranchise the citizens of the states. But in fact, they are more accurately represented by their local state legislatures, who would choose the state’s two Senators, and their Federal representatives than by directly electing their state’s Senators. Additionally, this would remove most of the big money issues (i.e., out of state money) involved in Senatorial elections.
These are a few of the big, radical, liberating plans to restore our nation to the limited Constitutional Republic it was designed to be. They will require buy in from an educated citizenry. This is not something that can be done without the continued aggressive support from a free people.
Defend Traditional Conservative Values
While I’m fighting for these world-changing policies, I recognize the need to continue to oppose the dangerous agenda that we see threatening the nation presently.
The border must be closed, with only legal immigrants allowed, stopping the flow of drugs, slaves, crime, and disease. Our constitutional rights to speak, assemble, worship, defend ourselves from tyranny, and protect our privacy must be voraciously defended. The rampant, negligent spending must be curtailed. The attempt to transform America into a European style socialist nation must be thwarted.
America and what she represents are not yet lost.
On the Edge of a Knife
We are certainly at a tipping point in our nation’s history. Encouraged and promoted by a biased media, we are quickly approaching a point of no return as we find ourselves more divided than ever. We’re divided over how to handle a virus, how to justly and effectively enforce laws, how to ensure free and fair elections. We are even divided over issues that just a few short years ago would not have even been considered an issue. Men in women’s restrooms, playing women’s sports. Electing avowed socialists to Congress, and actually listening to them! The nation is going to hell in a handbasket.
But America and what she represents are not yet lost. Help me. Help me restore our Republic. Help me make government small again. It’s going to take every liberty loving citizen of our district, our state, and our nation to get involved and make their desire known. But together we can do it.
What are they really so afraid of by allowing us to be the free people we were founded to be?
I truly appreciate your consideration and support. Thank you.
Grace and peace,
Dan