Mark Pitrone, democrat: ‘Just a guy’ for Congress

Mark Pitrone,

Position Paper

 When a man decides to run for an office of public trust, it is only proper that he publish his positions on issues of interest to the public of whom he is asking that trust. The following is a position paper written and published by Mark Pitrone, who is placing his name in consideration for the office of Unites States Representative for the eighteenth congressional district of the state of Ohio.

I am a Constitutionalist. In other words, I believe that the federal government of the united States of America is and should be limited to those powers granted to it by the several States and the people that reside therein in the documents known as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the united States of America, as lawfully amended.

Since the Declaration propounds rights granted by our Creator to include “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, those rights should never be infringed or abrogated in any way by the federal government. And the federal government should in no way subsidize or in any other way pay for any abrogation of those rights, nor should it legislate any infringement or abrogation of them.

 1) Abortion – For this reason, there is, in my opinion no right to abortion or government funding or subsidy of abortion in any way whatsoever. It is my opinion that abortion is premeditated murder and that anyone involved in abortion is guilty of that crime. Any health practitioner involved in abortion is, in effect, a ‘hit man’ and should be accountable as such. Any person helping to provide an abortion is also an accessory before, during or after the fact, and is also guilty of accessory to murder. Therefore, I will actively work to end federal funding of abortion and will introduce/support legislation making abortion a criminal act.

2) Gun Rights – The 2^nd amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to both keep and bear arms. Therefore, all gun control legislation at every level is unconstitutional on its face and is null and void, as if it had never been passed. It is not within the power of American government to change in any way the right to keep and bear arms except by Constitutional amendment, so Congress has no right to even speak of it in session. I am 100% pro-gun ownership.

The various governments, in their capacities as protectors of individual rights, DO have the power to mandate stiff penalties for the use of deadly weapons in the commission of crimes. It is, therefore, in the power of State and local governments to mandate minimum penalties for unlawful use of a lethal weapon in the commission of crimes. I am in favor of liberty in gun ownership and concealed carry, as well as minimum mandated penalties for the use of a gun or other lethal weapon in the commission of crimes.

The police are NOT able to protect us moment to moment – it is their job to find the perpetrator AFTER he commits the crime against us. The best we can expect from the police is to be the cavalry, chasing off the criminal at the last minute. Their job is NOT crime prevention. That is OUR job. Their main job is criminal investigation, and they are quite good at it.

3) Illegal ‘immigration’ – Illegal Aliens are felons. The borders of the united States of America should be closely controlled and fences built to deter aliens from illegally entering the united States. The ports should also be closely controlled against illegal alien entry. Build the fences – Yesterday!

Legal immigration should be made easier and quotas should be expanded.

4) Import restrictions and tariffs – Consumer goods entering this country should be subject to random inspection at cost to the importer or manufacturer. Any manufacturer who displays a wanton disregard for American standards of quality and safety should be fined and/or banned from importing any product until it proves adherence to all American standards for quality and safety.

No consumer goods should be imported from a foreign country whose government has espoused the destruction of America or has threatened the united States of America with any harm whatsoever. These countries have, by making these threats, declared themselves to be enemies of the united States of America and nothing manufactured therein should be sold on American markets. We ought not send American wealth to enemy countries or they will use our own wealth against us. Let our enemies do their own ‘heavy lifting’.

5) War on Terror – Our military should be brought home as soon as practicable from all foreign countries. I was opposed to the war in Iraq from before the invasion on Constitutional grounds – there was no Congressional declaration of war and the reasons President Bush gave for the invasion proved groundless. For that reason there was no Constitutional power for the President to order the military to invade, especially given the lack of evidence that Iraq had ANYTHING to do with the WTC attacks. There also was/is no political will to win, as can be seen in the way things are going there now. It is looking the same in Afghanistan in the last few months.

Having said that, the FACT is that our military is engaged in hostilities in Iraq. We upset the status quo and MUST restore order before we can leave Iraq. We need to do one of two things, a) tuck tail and run away, or b) allow the military to prosecute the war without the infliction of politics on it – in other words, allow it to kill the enemy and ruin his ability to wage war until he unconditionally surrenders. Any compromise of those extremes is to implement plan a). The compromise will just cost more and take longer to work out. I am for plan b). After that, we need to set up a workable political system for Iraq and oversee its implementation. That may or may not look like our republic. It may be one country or a few independent nations. It needs to be done in a manner that ensures the peace and stability of the Iraqi people. Then we need to get out and let Iraqis govern Iraq.

In general, it is impossible to defeat a ‘common noun’. When we have a defined enemy to defeat, like Nazi Germany, our military never fails. But when we fight a ‘common noun’, i.e.; terror, poverty, cancer, drugs, etc., how can we define victory? These are things that will always be with us, and by definition cannot be defeated.

6) Foreign Aid – Aid should be stopped to all foreign entities, especially and immediately to enemy countries and parties. Why should we finance our enemies, or our allies’ enemies? Let them find a sheep to fleece.

7) Liberty – I am generally in favor of all individual liberties, if they do not infringe another’s rights. I am for the least government intrusion into personal liberties possible. I am against the egregious potential infringements of liberty in the Patriot Acts, the Homeland Security Acts and the hidden dangers of the Cap and Trade and the Health Care bills. Ben Franklin said that if we give away our liberty to gain security, we are unworthy of either. Our moment-to-moment personal security and our personal health are our own responsibilities.

Bailouts – There are two general reasons that the economy tanked in 2008/2009. A). Banks made horrendously stupid loans to people who had no means to repay them. These loans were made by and large against the banks’ better judgment due to mandates placed upon them by unConstitutional legislations of Congress. B). Manufacturers were forced by other unConstitutional legislations from Congress to add egregious costs to their products’ manufacture and by the demands of the labor unions for ever greater benefit and retirement packages that made it impossible to fairly compete with their foreign competitors. Then Congress refused to allow the auto manufacturers to file for chapter 11 reorganization and instead virtually forced them to accept government bailout money. This effectively made GM and Chrysler ‘wards of the State’. This is not the American way. Failing banks and businesses should be allowed to fail, and the blame placed where it deserves to be placed – unConstitutional acts of Congress.

As you can probably tell, I am a ‘blue-dog’ democrat. I am a Jackson democrat … ANDREW Jackson. I will probably make the eventual Republican candidate look like Josip Stalin. But I will defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, as I did for 23 years in the Navy and Navy Reserve. That is an oath that I took, and still take, very seriously. I promise that every vote I make will uphold the Constitution, as lawfully amended.

I have been married to the same woman for almost 30 years. Deborah and I have 4 children. Our eldest is married and with his wife has given us our first grandchild. I can’t wait to spoil him and send him home for mom and dad to deal with. Our children are spread out all over the world, the eldest is in Germany, the next 2 are in Colorado and the youngest is still at home. We’ve lived in Gnadenhutten for over 12 years.

Generally speaking, anyone can guess where I will come down on an issue by looking into the Bible for the principles, judgments and instructions found therein. I attempt to live my life according to the Bible’s instructions on living, and I base my decisions on those instructions, as well. If this is NOT to your liking, don’t vote for me. If it is, you may rest assured that I will be the best candidate for this job.

If you have questions about specific issues or topics, please feel free to drop an email to the address below.

Mark Pitrone, a blue-dog, NOT a lap-dog, democrat

‘Just a guy’ for Congress.

Email – mark@markpitrone2010.com