OUR POSITIONS:
Our Positions:

We recognize that there are those who have certain issues that are of particular importance, and while we refuse to pander to special interest groups like other parties, there are some of our positions that will be of more interest to some individuals than others. Click on the links below that apply to you and learn more.
*This page in under construction and will be available early in 2006.

Welcome to our campaign web site. In the next several weeks we will be rebuilding kenhowlandforcongress.com to be my online headquarters. In the meantime, you can get involved in the campaign right away by contributing and volunteering.
Your support will be critical in this race!
*Democrat
It is Time for a Change!
Ken Howland - A Veteran, An Educator
Contact Us:
215 East Lake Road
Port Byron, NY 13140
Phone: 315-776-8664
Cell: 315-430-4439
info@kenhowland.com


Click here to view recent press and letters to the editor
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM—SO NECESSARY          
Instead of waiting for Congress to enact meaningful and necessary reform, the citizens,  the people, the voters of the 25th Congressional District can bring about reform themselves by voting for that candidate who is capable, qualified, and experienced. Also, The candidate who is bold, daring and innovative. If you don’t like what is going on in government then get involved and do it now. We, you and I, can change the system just as the abolitionists and suffragettes from this area did in the 19th century. This area has a proud historical tradition to maintain and pass on to our children and grandchildren. It will not be easy but I, for one, am going to do all that I can to bring about reform. The way to do it is to be low budget, labor intensive, and cost effective; this is what the country needs now more than ever.

Let us look at what we have had---slick, usually uninformative, repetitive, often boring T.V. spot commercials of short 15, 30 second duration. Unfortunately, they are very effective.
And, they are a threat to our democracy. Not only that but they are very ,very expensive; it is also expensive to sell soap, beer or cars the same way. But a political campaign shouldn't be about selling the candidate through slick advertising campaigns. A political campaign should be about an exchange of ideas, debate, discussion and dialogue then let the best person win and all work together for improvement of an area we all love so much and are fortunate enough to live in.

Here is how you can help to bring this about—get involved—talk to your neighbors –call up your friends—invite the candidate or candidates to your home or local gathering. Note: no matter how humble your home feel free to invite me—my origins are very humble as well. If your circumstances are very plush then you are either very fortunate or worked very hard or both. I look forward to meeting as many people as possible in the months ahead.

DEFENSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY
You can rest assured that my--our campaign will always give this top priority. The primary purpose of our government from the beginning has had this as the number one goal ever since British Troops were invading our homes in search of arms and weapons. That is why we have the 4th Amendment.

I, Support Our Troops; I was one. But, when I see our troops put in the position of knocking down doors in the middle of the night and I see the terrified and humiliated men, women and children; I have to wonder; have we come full circle? The small children shuddering, shivering and shaking are absolutely terrorized. Will they not themselves become the future terrorists? This is what “Mission Accomplished” has come to; how tragic, how counterproductive! We will not win the hearts and minds of the people of Iraq, the Middle East or the world this way. And, I sincerely hope that the American People will wake up to the error and horror of this and that the voters of the 25th Congressional District will vote accordingly.

I am not naive; we all know guerrilla warfare is really very vicious. I considered the prospect
of  joining the Green Berets in bootcamp at the beginning of the Vietnam War; I was very gung-ho (enthusiastic). If there had been Russians or Chinese Communists in Vietnam,
I would have volunteered. But, we were the only foreigners and I was suspicious. We were told that we had to help the Vietnamese. But, who were we fighting? The Vietnamese. So, at least some Vietnamese know how to fight and as we were learning, they could fight very well. How else could they have stood up to our complete air dominance and supreme firepower?
I believe, that they felt that they were fighting for their Independence---What we celebrate on the 4th of July.

So now, here we are facing a somewhat similar situation in 2006. What will best serve our Defense and National Security Policy in Iraq? I believe that we must reduce our force levels, Iraq is their country-not ours. If they are going to have a civil war then it is their civil war-not ours. We can only support the most democratic elements but we should not fight their battles for them. We have secured our national interest of suppressing any potential WMD and we removed Saddam- a brutal dictator. Now, we must allow the Iraqi’s their Independence. Then, we can support in prudent manner the democratic forces there.
A degree of stability can only be established by the Iraqi’s themselves.

Next, we simply must do everything that we can to secure our borders. The current situation is absurd and dangerous. We simply cannot allow nuclear knapsacks or bacteriological baggage being smuggled into the country; that is our greatest risk since  we survived the Nuclear Balance of Terror of the Cold War.

Then, I support the initiative of international exchange and interaction with the Chinese such as has been developed at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. It is excellent that our military leaders are interacting with theirs. This should also occur more at
a grass roots level; some of  our high school Global Studies teachers should interact with theirs. That was why I went to Moscow and visited their Ministry of Education in an effort to promote such a program. We live in a Global Village and had better learn our way around the neighborhood.

In short, we need less emphasis on hardware and much more emphasis on human intelligence. We have the hardware and war-making capacity that is unexcelled by any other nation. But, do we have the cultural savvy to intervene in the internal affairs of other nations?
I think not. Nor should we; that is not our mission. What we need parallel to our war making capacity is a peace making capacity. That has been my mission, is my mission and will always be my mission. Ultimately, the only true National Defense must have these components; it is the only way to true National Security.  

I reject a pre-emptive strike policy, except in the most extreme and direct circumstances. Instead, I propose Pre-emptive Peace Policy. The forefront of such a policy must involve more than the purchase of goods from China; we must learn more about the conditions in China and if Chinese labor is being exploited.  Just maybe, consistent with American Ethical Behavior, we shouldn’t buy such goods.

Of course, right now it is extremely dangerous to send young Americans to the Middle East. But I am aware of a few going to Saudi Arabia; I am also aware that the Wahabi sect of  Osama Bin Laden prohibited the intrusion of any foreign troops on Saudi soil; that is why 9/11 occurred. So when and where we can it will be a good policy to send young Americans especially educators; that should provide the bulwark of the U.S. Peace Offensive. At the same time we should cutting back on the large number of American troops in other countries.

Foreign armies are rarely welcomed and then only briefly as liberators; not as occupiers .
We must ask ourselves, “How would we like it?” That is, foreign troops on our soil. Well, if we keep it up in Iraq, they will be on their way and they won’t be wearing uniforms. We must secure our borders; to do any less is foolhardy.

THE MEDICAL CARE CRISIS
We have some of the best care in the world; I’ve seen this.  Doctor’s and nurses and health care providers work hard, often long hours.  I have been a part of this at Kimbrough Army Hospital, Fort Meade, Maryland.  Unfortunately, our medical heath care system seems to be overrun with excessive amounts of paperwork, forms, bookkeeping, and accounting.  Medical insurance is increasingly expensive and often beyond the reach of many families and individuals.  The United States is unique in this regard among modern industrial nations; employers are cutting back on benefits that they can no longer afford.  But something is radically wrong when private bureaucracy controls the purse strings and profits become more important than the patient.  Although, some competition is always good, when it reaches the point where people are suffering unnecessarily then something is radically wrong.  The recent drug prescription bill caters to the strong lobbyists of the pharmaceutical insurance industry.  It appears to be a disaster; even experts admit that they can’t figure it out.  What is the ordinary citizen to do?  Send a message to Washington and elect a new congress that’s what.  We need educators, who know how to put information in a form that the ordinary person can understand.  You shouldn’t have to pay a lawyer so that you can receive what is owed from insurance many can hardly afford in the first place.

SECURE SOCIAL SECURITY
Our seniors deserve Social Security after a lifetime of work or toil; the current retirees have made payments into the system and the money went to support their parents. Now, it is their turn to collect. And so on down the line, each working generation supports the one that preceded. The Bush Reform Plan fell flat, as it should have; American citizens should not be
forced into a plan that is subject to the risks of the stock market and the possible manipulation of it as has sometimes happened in the past. Only the very wealthy, who don't need Social Security in the first place, can afford to take such risks. This plan helped to pull America out of the Great Depression and with some adjustments is a plan that can and should be saved. The Republican philosophy of everyman for himself is out of step with basic American values. Most Americans work very hard for their livelihood and those who need a safety net during their seniority should have it. Some adjustments do need to be made
because of the Post-war baby-boom. We have not only more people but more people living longer. Consequently, some adjustments do have to be made. But moderate sensible adjustments rather than radical destruction of a system that has worked so well for so
long. Those who do physically demanding labor need alternatives after a certain age. Retraining for a new type of work is one option. Raise the age when those who work at less demanding physical work can retire. Another option might be for those who don't need it to
voluntarily transfer their benefits to someone else, what a concept; looking out for those less
fortunate who may desperately need help through no fault of their own. No government hand outs, no free rides just simply helping those who desperately need it. National Security means more than simply National Defense through force of arms. It should encompass a
safety net for those who need it and are worthy of it.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
We must put the People back in Politics. The word comes from the Greek word polis ,a community where people discuss, dialogue and debate. We often have that locally but  unfortunately not enough about national issues. Recently, the Republican controlled
House of Representatives has been characterized by secrecy,exclusiveness and a last minutes rush that denies the opposition a fair chance to consider legislation in the appropriate manner. Hence, excessive earmarking of legislation leads to huge outlays of tax dollars at a time when the the National Debt is going out of sight and the next generation will have to pay it off. The super wealthy and foreigners will buy the bonds and the children of the common citizen will pay the interest and guess who collects. Wake up America! End of Class One --- Next topic, How to Become Involved. The Internet and the Cell phone technology offer an opportunity for more people to become involved. Speed of communication might help to counteract the dumbing down of America through slick commercials that sell candidates like so much soap. It has become the selling of democracy; these slick ads are unfortunately very effective and they have taken over the political landscape; we are going to make a supreme effort to change that. Stay tuned it should be very exciting. The cost of T.V.
commercials is prohibitive for many candidates who might otherwise be more qualified than some of the incumbents. A certain amount of responsibility goes with seniority; but if Congress is awash with ineptitude then it is time for a change. So get involved; we will learn and we might just teach a thing or two. It was said in Vietnam that they beat us with bicycles. Let us match our techniques against those of the opposition. Various technologies have various parameters.The Romans would match a gladiator with a sword and shield against a gladiator with a net and spear for example.
Let us see what ramifications we can develop.

TAX REFORM
I am not an economist but while teaching high school economics I developed Howland's Law: If your outgo exceeds your income; your upkeep will be your downfall. This law applies to national, state and local government, as well as, individuals and families. Our current national fiscal course is simply not sustainable over the long haul. Increased deficit
spending with a ballooning National Debt bodes ill for the future. Our children and grandchildren will be burdened with an unbearable load in taxes, an increasing portion of which will go to pay interest on bonds held by the more affluent, the wealthy and
foreigners. Why should they be concerned , they are collecting the interest. And taxes paid toward those interest payments contribute nothing toward the well-being of the average American in terms of tangible goods and services for the American people. What is the remedy? Well, we might begin with everyone paying their fair share; as reported in the New York Times some of the most wealthy in this country do not pay their fair share. Significant numbers of the superwealthy don't pay at all; We desperately need tax reform. The kind of reform brought on by Teddy Roosevelt at the beginning of the last century--The Progressive Movement. Those who have the most can afford to pay their fair share. Only that seems to me to be consistent with the espoused values of our Judeo-Christian Tradition.

WORK FOR ALL
There was a time not so long ago in agrarian America when there was more than enough work for all. In fact, survival meant work in the early Jamestown colony.
So-called upperclass gentlemen came to America expecting to get rich quick. They had assumed that they would 'find'{i.e. take it} gold just as the Spanish had done a century earlier in Mexico. Not finding gold to haul back to England, they soon realized that if the colony was to survive everyone had to get to work and pull their weight if there was to be enough food for survival. Since the mechanization of agriculture along with so many other advances in agriculture, we no longer need quite so much labor in the agricultural sector. There are exceptions; for example, strawberries and other truck farm crops that do not lend themselves to mechanized harvesting, at least not yet, are picked by immigrant migrant labor who are
so desperate that they will do just about anything just to survive. And yet we hear that young
North Americans will not do such hard work for the low wages paid. It is obvious that the early American work ethic of a bygone era is in decline. It was the work ethic of early America along with the work ethic of other earlier immigrants(circa 1900+or-20 years)in
addition to the African-American contribution that made this country great. Plus, there was often land, resources , freedom and opportunity. Today, the situation is rather different; we have transitioned from a largely rural to a predominately urban/suburban society. Usually,
there are no longer the farm chores to be done that occupied the spare time of young Americans a generation or two ago. There are not even paper routes for young teenagers today. And we place so much emphasis on extremely competitive sports that those
who "don't make the team" often have too much time on their hands. And the old adage "idle hands spells trouble" seems to apply especially in the less affluent rural and urban areas. The tragedy is that sometimes High School graduation rates fall as low as 70%. And this already spells trouble; one need only read the crime report page of several village newspapers. Rochester and Syracuse have per capita murder rates that rival large cities; we simply must get our youth back to work. At a modest level, the Ken Howland Campaign for Congress has a plan to do this. The details will be forthcoming shortly. For strategic
and tactical reasons we can not reveal our plan too soon. [4/6/06] Stay tuned and contribute to this campaign if you want to play a small but significant part in putting our youth back to work. It simply amazes me that it costs about as much to incarcerate a young individual as it would to send them to a college or university. A mind is a terrible thing to waste and America simply can not afford to lose a fifth of our young people to squalor, filth, petty and not so
petty crime.
Ironically, tragically, despicably but truthfully over the Gate to Auschwitz it said "Arbeit Macht
Frei"-"Work Makes Us Free". From even such a tragic, horrific source there is a kernal of truth.---Even in early Soviet Russia under the Communists circa 1920 they realized and said: "If you don't work, you won't eat." We simply must begin to put ALL of our able bodied young people to work intellectually and physically and that begins by having books in impoverished homes at the earliest age---Age 2 or 3---and making additional efforts to simply pick up
the trash and take pride in our communities however humble they may be. I urge those who have so much too share more with those who have so little--especially, the little ones, who through absolutely no fault of their own have been born into unfortunate circumstances. All should realize that: THE GREATEST LOTTERY IN LIFE IS THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES INTO WHICH WE ARE BORN THROUGH NO GENIUS OR EFFORT ON OUR PART. Did you ever ask yourself what you would have been like if you had been born into rather different
circumstances-say Siberia or South Africa or Chicago or Nebraska? I believe that from those to whom much was given at birth-much is expected.What do you think?

FAIR WAGES
Recently, I heard on the radio that the day a CEO cleans out his desk on the last day of his working career, he will make way more money than a janitor will in his entire life! Something to think about in the land of opportunity for all (or is it just some)?
Of course, since the earliest days there has been great disparity between the landed gentry and the serfs, slaves or indentured servants who worked for the master. Many came to America to escape such conditions; African-Americans found their lot usually but not always diminished in crossing the Atlantic (let us not forget that there was some slavery in Africa prior to European arrival), just as there was serfdom or slavery in Europe until a century or so
ago. Most of us have origins that were impoverished, desperate or both. And America initially or eventually provided opportunities that were unheard of in an earlier day. But, where are we headed as a society? Are we going forward or backward? Undoubtedly, most Americans, but certainly not all, have experienced material prosperity unlike the world has ever seen. Will we
sustain such prosperity? It is very clear that there are new challenges ahead. Will we meet those challenges? And what will it take to meet the challenges ahead?
I submit that there must be equal educational opportunity for all, if we are to do so. It is a
reality that one never knows were the genious or collective wisdom will come from. But we do know that we must educate all of our children to the utmost if we are to continue to lead in the century ahead. And we must ask ourselves can there really be equal educational opportunity when such disparity of income exists.How can it be that Congress has had pay
increases when the minimum wage has increased minimally--not at all. This must be changed if we are ultimately to succeed as a civilized society. Otherwise, disparity and inequality will lead to the despair and decadence that will result in perteual social and political turmoil and upheaval. Is that the kind of world we want? I think not. True democracy
depends on a degree of social and economic equilibrium. Capitalism is a successful system but it needs finetuning. It has been said that power corrupts, this is true when there is too much concentration of political or economic power--political or economic. The minimum wage needs to be increased and the graduated income tax made more just.

INVESTIGATING WAR PROFITEERING
It was said in Vietnam,"This war is just a business".  It appears that such suspicians are more than justified again unfortunately. Haliburton and Brown and Root have made exorbitant profits at the expense of the American Taxpayer. And yet we couldn't seem to
armor plate those pretentious puffed up Humvees in almost two years! Amazing and so tragic with so many dedicated young Americans losing their lives and limbs.Concern for profits seems to have superceded concern for the grunt. In World War II, unless I am mistaken we could build a battleship in 30 days!  Apparently there wasn't enough profit in armor plate
on doors and floors. Have we fallen that far that fast in productive capacity. If so we are in real
trouble; I want to know why we could not adapt more rapidly.This is so serious. Speed of adaptability is the essence of survival. And Iraqi's couldn't get a job driving truck after
liberation that soon turned to occupation. American truck drivers and mercenaries from S. Africa and Central America rushed in as private security to make lavish salaries and share in the gravy train. While hungry Iraqi's saw our well-meaning young troops giving candy to their kids. They didn't understand the frivolous handouts of an occupying army are not always
well received. How tragic! The dignity of an impoverished father who may not be able to provide for his family can so easily be offended a such a delicate moment by innocent young well-meaning Americans. But more important from the point of our national security; how could we spend so much of our national income with such dire consequences. The cost/benefit ratio is vital to our long run national security; such losses with so little to show truly calls for a Harry Truman style investigation of war profiteering. Other wise we are
all dupes.

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