James Singer for Congress

WE ARE READY FOR A NEW KIND OF POLITICS

We are done with the shouting, the backbiting, and the one-upmanship. We are done with people in power not listening to the needs of everyday people. We are done with our interests being overlooked and our future squandered. We are done with partisan rhetoric and politicians in office serving themselves. We are done voting in that person.

We are ready for treating each other as human beings, with empathy and patience, with the realization that we are all related and we are all in this together. We are ready for our politicians to be competent servants to others and who are eager to learn when they don't know something. We are ready to put aside differences to meet the challenges most pressing of our time. We are ready for someone who stands for values. We are ready for something new and something better.

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A VISION FOR A BETTER SOCIETY

I believe that at its best, America is a caring, responsible family, one in which we are all related. In my own upbringing, I learned that Navajo philosophy is based upon the concept of knowing how you are related to one another and everything around you, fulfilling your obligations to those relationships, and walking in harmony.

My religious upbringing taught me that we are all children of a Creator and that we are to care for and love one another; "to mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort." I see it in my wife's culture from Venezuela: Todos somos familia; and in the lives of those who I come across from different backgrounds and life experiences.

What binds us together is a strong value of social connection and social responsibility -- the idea that we are all in this together. The kind of society I want to live in is one where we care about each other, not just ourselves, and that we act responsibly for ourselves and our fellow citizens and neighbors.

Democracy is the best way for this vision to be fulfilled. It means that we act on that care and responsibility and use a government to provide public resources for all, from the poorest to the average person. An inherent part of democracy is that our private lives depend on the public.

A CAMPAIGN BASED ON REAL UTAH VALUES

I have lived in Utah nearly my entire life. I know our values: We work hard. We want safe communities and to have enough to provide for our families. We want people to be treated fairly and justly. We want to be able to better our lives and have opportunities for prosperity. Our hearts ache to see suffering. We have a spirit of service and giving that is unmatched. We want to help those in need and share when we are prospering. We believe that all people, rich, poor, and everyone in between, when reminded of cooperation and our common humanity, want the best for each other.

These are the values I want to represent in the U.S. Congress with a vision of a society by the people and for the people. Together, we can move away from this current era marked by bigotry, vitriol, deceit, indecency, and greed. We can move towards a future of shared prosperity, fairness, justice, respect, equality, and cooperation.

ENDORSED BY

WHAT MAKES JAMES DIFFERENT FROM JOHN CURTIS?

It's what I'm for and who I'm for:

Protecting our public lands.

Empowering people.

Liberating the oppressed.

Defending democracy.

Fighting for fairness.

Strengthening our families.

Developing community leadership.

PLATFORM PRIORITIES

Protecting Utah's Landscapes

Photo: ⓒ Tim Peterson

I have a special tie to this land. For hundreds of years, my Navajo ancestors lived, worked, and raised families in what we call "Utah." My blood is tied to the land. It's a sacred place; one set apart by the Holy People. I have an obligation to protect the sacred. I will fight to restore and protect Bears Ears and other public lands so that all of us can continue to enjoy and use the land in a way that is responsible and respectful.

Utah's environment and biodiversity are tied to our many cultural identities. We have used the land for recreation, hunting, grazing, and to live off of. Decimating the land leaves nothing for us now nor for future generations. We need responsible development that builds on our greatest assets, not sell them away to the highest bidder. We must invest in renewable energy infrastructure to preserve our lands, provide good-paying and secure jobs, and offer an environmentally sustainable future for all. I will fight to protect these lands for all of us, because families should be able to enjoy our public lands in perpetuity.

Reigniting the American Dream

Today it’s hard for people to make ends meet. Our leaders have destroyed the middle class and punish the poor. There’s a disconnection from what our elected officials are saying and what is actually happening. That's why I'm standing up.

As a sociologist and educator, I'm learning, researching, or teaching about the many social forces and mechanisms in our society that provide opportunities for people or keeps people from grasping them. Hard work alone no longer guarantees success for most Americans.

Economic inequality is one of the most pressing issues facing our country today. We need representatives in Congress to help hard-working families get their fair share, not create the conditions where the rich get richer off the hard work and labor of everyone else. But that's exactly the model of the past 40 years. Instead, we need to create the conditions where hard work actually allows families in the working and middle classes to experience economic success and social mobility.

I will fight to restore power to workers, employees, and labor unions to re-embed the market back into the rest of society so that a parent, working a full-time job, can provide for their family, become self-reliant, and live a life of dignity. I will fight to close the wage gap for women and racial minorities and move to expand paid parental leave for new parents. I will fight to make sure that the workplace becomes safe for all workers and free from sexual harassment and assault.

Securing Healthcare

Everyone should be valued and cared for. Our healthcare system in the United States is backwards because it treats health as if it is a commodity that can be bought and sold on a market. Well, healthcare isn't a commodity; it's a right. We can learn from what other countries have done, which is create a system that is freely accessible to all and costs less than what we pay now, then make it our own.

No one should ever have to be burdened with medical debt or be bankrupted by something as basic as healthcare. A band-aid approach to fixing our healthcare system will never get to the root causes of the problems. We need to examine the cultural and systemic variables for why we have a bloated healthcare system that serves insurance companies better than it serves patients. That's why I will fight to create a universal healthcare system guaranteeing healthcare to all people.

Investing in Education

One of the main challenges facing our country is educating our children and ourselves to build a democratic, sustainable, and just future, and understand that we are all connected at the local and global levels. I believe every child deserves a public education that helps them to think critically, and give them the tools to become engaged citizens and upstanding members of our society. I will work to increase the salaries of teachers and raise the status of what it means to be an educator in our society.

When it comes to higher education, I see many of my students having to take on student loans to pay for tuition, books, fees, and basic living expenses. Our public universities continue to increase costs which puts undue financial burdens on these students. Instead of contributing to the economy, they have to pay down their debts. It makes sense for loan rates to be lowered, and loans forgiven if the student works in industries and occupations for public good: civil servants, teachers, police, nonprofit employees, and so on. If our society requires people to go to college, then we should be investing in that to see and feel the public benefits. That's why I am behind policies that reduce student debt and reduce or eliminate tuition and fees for students for at least the first two years. A fully funded higher education is something we can afford to do and is something we must to do to make our society better.

Defending Civil Rights

The foundation for our democratic society is built upon the guarantee that every person has equal rights. Respecting those rights is the best defense against the abuse of power and discrimination. We also have to balance our rights as individuals and our responsibilities to each other and the environment. We have to acknowledge that as individuals, we are also members of groups and a larger society. Diversity is a strength and an important part of what it means to be American.

It is imperative that we empower the groups who are continually oppressed in one or multiple ways and that we provide equal opportunity under the law. That means championing women's rights, and pushing for economic equality. It means ending violence and oppression and eliminating racial discrimination and systemic racism. It means we push for equality regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. It means we fight for the rights of the disabled, for veterans, and for the youth. It means we work towards value-based immigration policies that keep families intact, allow immigrants to become fully integrated into society, and grant citizenship to children who were brought to the United States and have lived their lives here. It means we end the failed "War on Drugs" and stop using prison systems to treat the myriad problems faced by poor communities and communities of color. There are things we can enact right now to make all of this possible.

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Contact: campaign@jamessinger.org
Office: 385-202-3525

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