Stepp for Congress

I am Kenneth Stepp, a candidate for U.S. House of Representatives, Fifth District, Kentucky, and a Democrat.
As far as my background, I am married to the former Wilma Smith, who was born at Red Bird in Clay County, Kentucky. We have two children together, Carson Stepp and Conrad Stepp. I have one son, Brian Stepp by a previous (deceased) wife, and he lives with his wife Janean in South Carolina.
I am a Baptist, and am a member of Macedonia Baptist Church in Burning Springs, Kentucky. I also attend regularly the Indian Graves Branch United Baptist Church of Bright Shade, Kentucky. Denomination is not important to me, as I have been a Methodist, and I have been a Presbyterian.
Professionally, I am a lawyer in Manchester, Kentucky, where I have worked since June 2004.
Why do I wish to serve the 5th Congressional District?
Traditionally, the Democratic Party has been the party of poor people and the working poor, while the Republican Party has been the champion of
the wealthy. The 5th District has some of the poorest counties in the country; yet the 5th District has a Republican Congressman. As a Democratic Congressman for the 5th District, I would vote for expanding programs such as SSI and Medicaid which benefit poor people. Wars are often termed “Rich man’s fight, poor man’s war” meaning that rich people get all the benefits from war, but poor people do more than their share of suffering and dying when America goes off to war; I would not vote for a “war powers resolution” and if a nation is unworthy of a declaration of war, we should not invade it. We should use the American tax dollars for rebuilding the American economic infrastructure, and not in military adventures abroad.
What are my priorities in the federal budget?
I favor reducing subsidies to corporations or “corporate welfare” and reducing sending money overseas. We should bring most of our troops home. People in the Fifth District of Kentucky are not threatened by dissidents in Iraq, and we should bring home any Kentucky soldiers fighting in Iraq. We have too many troops stationed overseas. The Soviet Union has collapsed and NATO now includes most of the Central European former Warsaw Pact Nations and Central European former parts of the Soviet Union. We need to spend a higher portion of our federal budget on education, and roads, and revenue sharing grants to the State governments.
What is my vision for the 5th District? For Kentucky?
I would like to see improved education qualify the people of the 5th District and Kentucky for the high-paying jobs of the future. Coal extraction has been our chief occupation, but it is dangerous work that ruins people’s lungs. Increased automation in coal mining has resulted in a massive outflow of people from Eastern Kentucky. Other Southern states have been able to attract high-paying factories and industries, and Kentucky should do the same. The Federal Government can help with educational revenue sharing grants and Pell grants to upgrade the educational systems in Kentucky and the 5th District so that people here can get a good education here, and remain in their home towns with high-paying, healthy jobs.
Would I call “partisan politics” a problem in Washington, DC?
Yes.
If so, how can I change it?
Although a Democrat, I know personally one Congressman, Republican Cliff Stearns. As a Congressman, I will try to make friends with Congressmen on both sides of the political aisle. I will study each bill and base my vote on my independent opinion of whether the bill is best for the 5th District and for America. I will try to be kind to everyone in Congress, and to be unfriendly to no one. Name-calling and petty bickering are unnecessary in Congress and should be avoided. I will be the Congressman of all of the people of the 5th District, and not just of a particular faction or group.
What are my views on education?
The key to prosperity, individual or national, is through education. Education improves the national defense, and as such is a proper area for federal funding through increased Pell grants, and revenue sharing. The federal government should give special tax credits to classroom teachers, and help Americans get better educations.
What are my views on health care?
Americans already spend approx. fifteen per cent of our Gross Domestic Product on health care, which is almost twice as much as Britain or Japan spend on health care. I favor more generosity in the Federal health care programs for children, veterans, Medicaid beneficiaries, and senior citizens, but I do not favor increasing governmental mandatory spending requirements on independent businessmen.
What are my views on The War on Terror?
The War on Terror began on 9/11 and has resulted in American armed forces militarily occupying Afghanistan and Iraq and searching the hamlets of
Central Asia for Osama bin Laden, who seems to be hiding in a cave somewhere. I would like to see Osama bin Laden captured, and brought to the crime scene at New York City for a jury trial. I am sure a New York City jury would see that he gets what he deserves. The effort to bring democracy to Iraq seems doomed. We have shown the people of the Middle East that they should not mess with the United States, and we should withdraw our troops from that area, now that our point has been made.
KENNETH STEPP
CANDIDATE FOR U.S.HOUSE, KY FIFTH DIST.

Email: kenneth_stepp@yahoo.com
web site: http://www.steppforcongress.blogspot.com