Meet the Candidates: Patrick Thompson

Patrick Thompson is the only Democrat competing for the District 11 U.S. House of Representatives seat. He'll compete against the Republican nominee after the July 31 primary. 

What made you want to run for office?

I'm running to represent District 11 in Congress because, like most of you, I don't feel represented in Washington. I'm disappointed in the way lobbyists, money, the media, and partisanship is dictating what's being worked on by this Congress.  So, I’m running for public service because I don't feel like we the people have a voice and we're not getting anything accomplished towards getting our economy back on track. 

I've personally experienced the outsourcing of American jobs in an unbalanced global market, had TARPed mega banks buy up all my credit cards/mortgage lines, credit card rates climb to ridiculous percentages, homes and neighbors in his area foreclose, developers go bankrupt leaving entire developments and shopping centers empty, huge losses in family retirement funds, managing a family without health insurance while facing the high cost of COBRA, the higher cost of higher Education and the piracy of private education loans, building codes and planning infrastructure ignored, the harmful, monopolized results of public utility/telco decisions and rates, and the economic pain of lack of infrastructure planning for necessities like transportation, food safety, gasoline and water.

What are the most important issues facing District 11 in the future?

After talking with citizens, it's clear we need to focus on four interrelated areas:

• Create an environment for sustainable job and career growth
• Restore investment in quality education at all levels
• Seed our infrastructure renewal and growth
• Plan for our energy and natural resources

When you ask people why choose to live and work in this area - this is it - jobs, education, infrastructure, resources…What do I mean by these priorities:

• Jobs - Improve the economy by ending outsourcing/offshoring of American jobs, grow the medical profession - especially preventative and primary care, increase the availability/accessibility of workforce training (pell grants, GI Bill), create a “fair” trade environment, return American manufacturing, honor our commitment to veterans and prevent banks from taking risky investments with our deposits.
• Education - As a former educator, I want to restore the budgetary priority for education, elevate the teaching profession, hire/retain top professionals, document/share best practices, require less emphasis on testing with more local control.
• Infrastructure - Conclude wars and perform nation building at home, seeding our own infrastructure repair and growth, strengthening and stabilizing our neighborhoods.
• Energy/natural resources - I want America to take leadership on the convergence of renewable electricity, energy efficiency smart grid technology, and communications spectrum towards the support of job creation, energy security and stronger natural resource management.

I want to return ethical leadership to this role - We need to accomplish these things using a responsible budgeting process that respects the needs of the taxpayer.  

What's your plan for improving District's 11 economy?

Provide a cooperative and collaborative spirit to our Federal policy-making that supports the economic priorities of the area. District 11 is an economic engine for Georgia - from the foothills and farms of Bartow and Cherokee Counties, it follows Interstate 75/575, county airports and rail lines into West Cobb, Marietta, Smyrna, Vinings, Buckhead and Sandy Springs - it includes the tremendous economic base of Lake Allatoona, Dobbins AFB, Chattahoochee Tech, Kennesaw U, Reinhardt, Georgia Highlands and Southern Poly. The plan is to keep this engine primed and working together.

Keeping our working and middle class strong is the goal. Support legislation that provides economical and consistent access to our higher education and workforce training. Join the rest of the industrialized nations in freeing our citizenry from the worries of access to and affordability of our great healthcare resources. Use the Federal funding given to Georgia towards mortgage relief for homeowners instead of corporate welfare. Collect more from those who park money and our jobs in other countries, dump foreign goods, or speculate with Wall Street transactions using our deposits; end war spending and shift those funds to small business loans, infrastructure (including communications and smart grid) and to areas where we need high quality government service - educators, police, fire, public health, social services, armed forces personnel. Design a national natural resources plan that can be implemented locally to improve our air and water quality. Follow the military's security and financial goals of shifting from subsidizing fossil fuels to energy efficiency and renewables. The consequences of not doing these things are evident - we won't remain an economic magnet and a global competitor.

What are your thoughts on District 11's transportation issues?

Transportation is the reason Atlanta and its environs exists - we are a hub for goods coming and going from all over the country. We have some of the worst traffic in the country which impacts our ability to attract business and keep workers. The recent Federal Transportation Bill has given Georgia a head start on over a third of our transportation investments and now we need to plan on the best way to build out our transportation grid. The cost of not investing in our infrastructure plan gets vastly more expensive as time progresses. We have to make certain that efforts like TSPLOST  aren't usurped by real estate developers, road construction companies and lawmakers who seek to gain economically by pushing certain projects. TSPLOST does have the advantage of citizen input and having those who use our infrastructure from outside our area helping to pay for it. Any plan should be continually reworked to make certain it truly helps reduce congestion and helps commerce.

Those who would be selfish with their small transportation tax should remember those who must make a living working outside their communities so they can bring investments back to those communities. Telecommuting options also translate into the need for communications and smart grid investments. Our current pace has garages and car part companies as winners as our vehicle maintenance costs escalate. And current lawmakers who encourage not investing should come forward with their own plans, but haven't demonstrated the leadership. Lawmakers have not provided the consistent budget or comprehensive planning needed for our long-term economy - TSPLOST isn't perfect but it is a plan to improve and build on. Just saying no to transportation spending and jobs isn't going to help our area cost of living or our attractiveness as a catalyst for careers. A comprehensive plan designed by traffic engineers with cross-regional interests in mind is the right approach. Just laying more asphalt and not providing options like a connected bus system, high-speed rail, bike, pedestrian and other options is short-sighted and wasteful. 

What sets you apart from your opponents?

I've labored as a professional educator, government employee, technology worker, business manager, and small company entrepreneur with the common theme of being a problem-solver. I'm not a professional politician but have been a long-time community servant. I've studied and practiced the efficiencies and balance of establishing and running businesses that can be put to work in government, but understand that the government is not a business. I offer integrity, transparency and civility to the congestion which has become our Congress. I'm the only candidate who wants the corrupting influence of money, earmarks and lobbying out of our planning and decision-making.  

I work to bring about effective government, fair markets and regulated capitalism and to do so with ethical and responsible budgeting leadership. Work with the Reagan White House, the H.W. Bush transition office, and the Clinton Re-Inventing Government effort have provided me with a unique insight into how political leadership and teamwork can set examples and make good things happen in support of citizens.I'm the single candidate supporting an end to Citizens United and fossil fuel subsidies, a return of Glass Steagall, an end to the carried interest loophole, establishing a financial transaction tax, and supporting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the DISCLOSE Act and Shareholders Protection Act. I'm the only candidate who believes in the starting point of the Affordable Care Act as a consumer win, a Georgia job creator and just the right thing to do. Working for the people is a tenet I want to bring back to public leadership.  No one is working or lobbying for the American citizen and worker…I am that candidate and will be that Congressman.

See Also:

• Meet the Candidates: William Llop

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