Craig Bowden an Independent candidate for the 1st Congressional District seat held a “Meet the Candidate” meeting at the Brigham City Library on 25 January. During that meeting he fielded questions from the audience and expressed his views about what was wrong in Washington DC and how he could contribute to changing the current political climate there. He explained that he decided to run because he was tired of the bickering in Washington DC between the two main political parties for control of the federal government instead of concentrating on the needs of Americans.
Being a disabled Army veteran he feels gives him a unique perspective on veteran affairs and military concerns, which would enable him to address the needs of our military in and out of service. He feels that the Veterans Administration needs to be streamlined and that there are better ways to connect the VA with those coming out of service and helping them transition with disabilities into civilian life again. “I feel that certain injuries such as brain injuries caused by explosions should immediately get a 0% rating,” said the young man, “so veterans when discharged can have immediate access to health care instead of waiting years to have access to the care they need.” He went on to explain that many veteran’s conditions are deteriorating while waiting for the help they need due to inefficient bureaucracy. Craig feels his ideas would most likely save the VA money in the long run and help veterans transition back to civilian life quickly and smoothly.
Term limits is something the veteran wants to address. “I feel five terms (10 years) in the House of Representatives and two terms (12 years) in the Senate is sufficient time,” reasoned Mr. Bowden, “Knowing this then folks would know they would go back into the private sector and have to face the decisions they made and live under the same conditions as everyone else.”
He feels that immigration is a simple issue to solve by enforcing current laws on the books and finish building the wall (that was passed into law in 2006) on the southern border that is only just over 20% completed. “They need to come here legally and the government needs to be accountable that this is being done” said Mr. Bowden.
His main reason to appeal the Patriot act is, “it gives the federal government to much power,” he said, “I understand we have to have a secure nation, but it cannot come at the cost of our individual liberties.”
He also feels there needs to be an improved and expanded oversight committee to keep government agencies in check and hold leaders of those agencies accountable for their spending decisions. He feels this will get rid of the current mentality that if there is money left over at the end of the year it has to be spent in order to get the same budget next year.
The Federal Reserve has almost no oversight as well according to the candidate he feels the FR needs to be eliminated and he pointed out it is not the role of the FR to decide to print money that it should be in congress’s hands to decide that.
Mr. Bowden feels a “Fair Tax” needs to be initiated. “I think an end user tax should be instituted,” he claimed, “If you buy more then you’ll pay more in taxes.” His idea is that this tax would fluctuate year after year based on the spending habits of Americans causing congress to run off a working business model that requires spending control in order to meet the expected budget. With a “Fair Tax” all other taxes would be eliminated and there would be no need for the Internal Revenue Service.
Mr. Bowden served nearly eight years in the U.S. Marine Corps as an infantryman. He completed two combat tours in Iraq, served advisement missions in Morocco, trained over 2,000 marines and several hundred multi-national allies. The young man worked three years in the business division of IRS giving him insight into what needs to be done to fix problems with the IRS. He is the author of “Common Sense: How to Restore America” and is a self-employed business owner. Craig is a father of two daughters and engaged to be married and be a step-father for 2 boys. If you would like more information about Mr. Bowden or contact him you can go to his web page www.craig4congress.org.
