WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS

DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

“The Future Can Be Ours.”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend,

President Obama’s decision to intervene militarily in Iraq was a prudent
choice because it was the only strategically logical choice available. To
allow the ISIS forces to maintain control of the Mosul Dam and gain more
momentum towards taking Baghdad would have been a poorly considered game
plan for protecting vital interests we have in the Middle East.

Our President has rightly pointed out that we, the Americans, did not
totally leave Iraq by our own choice. We wanted to keep some troops there,
but Prime Minister Maliki wanted us out, and so we respected his wishes.

Understandably, we do not want to go back into Iraq, but the spectre of an
ISIS-controlled Baghdad, and thence an ISIS-controlled Iraq, would not be
in the best interests for the prospects for democracy in the region, nor
would it serve U.S. and other western interests vis-a-vis our oil
possessions there.

How effective has the U.S. intervention been so far? Referring to the
retaking of the Mosul Dam, one New York Times article gives this
perspective: “It was not until President Obama authorized airstrikes by
the United States military on Aug. 7 that the Sunni fighters’ advance was
halted. Two days of concerted air assaults starting Sunday around the dam
then paved the way for Iraqi and Kurdish forces to reclaim the site.” (“In
Retaking of Iraqi Dam, Evidence of American Impact,” by Azam Ahmed, New
York Times, Aug. 19, 2014, www.nytimes.com).

The fact that American lives were lost in securing, rebuilding, and
establishing democracy in Iraq cannot be ignored. It is important to
protect what is still in the hands of the Iraqi government so that the
fragile benefits of liberty that are present in Iraq today can be
preserved. Yes, the political and humanitarian side of making Iraq strong
cannot be dismissed, but without our airstrikes and military aid, Baghdad
will fall and nothing will be left to build on that will keep up a
friendly relationship with the West.

We should not, in my judgment, send American ground troops into Iraq.
Haider al-Abadi, Iraq’s new premier agrees: “Mr. Abadi … said that he
agreed with Mr. Obama that American ground combat forces should not be
sent to Iraq and added that Iraq did not want other Western nations or
Arab states to send combat troops either.” (“New Iraqi Premier Backs U.S.
Air Campaign, Within Limits,” by Michael R. Gordon, New York Times, Sept.
25, 2014, www.nytimes.com).

When elected to Congress on November 4th, I will support the airstrikes
authorized by our President so that ISIS can be defeated in the region and
Iraq, under the new leadership of Haider al-Abadi, its coalition-building
new prime minister, can once again focus on growing its fledgling
democracy in an area of the world that can benefit from it. Those of
you–and I have heard from some–who advocate for a political solution in
that area should not despair, because “The United States has insisted on a
political solution so Iraq’s leaders can present a united front against
the onslaught by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which has seized
control of large portions of northern and western Iraq.” (“Maliki Agrees
to Relinquish Power in Iraq,” by Tim Arango, New York Times, Aug. 14,
2014, www.nytimes.com). The military intervention complements the
long-term goal of achieving political stability in the region.

If you would like to contribute financially to my campaign, please check
out my website at: williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a
Donation,” and, by means of safe and secure PayPal, donate to support your
dedicated Democratic candidate. If you wish to send in a check, the
information for you to do that is also on the “Make a Donation” page. If
you would like a yard sign, please let me know by calling our campaign
headquarters number above or sending me an e-mail. You may pick a sign up,
or I, or one of our volunteers, can take one to you.

The Future Can Be Ours if we acknowledge, difficult as it may be, that we
cannot abandon our ally, Iraq, in its struggles to fend off the aggression
of the brutally inhumane ISIS forces. We created the conditions for the
new government to form and now we must remain committed to helping it,
short of sending ground troops, so that it will get stronger and be able
to survive in the Darwinian political environment where it exists. It is
not just our oil interests that hold us there; it is, more than that, our
commitment to the Iraqi people whose fragile fledgling democratic
institutions need our support and nurturing. As it is said, “If you want a
friend, you need to be a friend.” We must befriend Iraq so that they will
be friendly towards us in the future.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson

Scottsdale, Arizona

WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS

DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

“The Future Can Be Ours.”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend,

I’m very pleased and honored to let you know that DEBBIE MCCUNE DAVIS,
Democratic State Representative, LD 30, has endorsed my candidacy.

Rep. McCune Davis was instrumental in helping to create the new Arizona
Child Safety Agency, as well as advocating that U.S. Rep. David
Schweikert, my opponent, disassociate himself from the website “Consumers
for Choice” (www.consumersforchoice.org) which supports the predatory
lending industry. Consumers for Choice is the website, as I mentioned in a
previous blog, that referenced the company Western Sky Financial that
charged interest rates as high as 355% on their loans. (See my October 7
posting–“The Future Can Be Ours:: Schweikert to Loan Sharks: Let Us
Prey”–in the “What’s News” section of my campaign website at
williamsonforuscongress.com).

It gives one pause to reflect that not only does David Schweikert support
Consumers for Choice whose website references a company that charges
consumers as much as 355% on a loan, but he also does not support the
Affordable Care Act, which is now significantly helping to provide health
insurance to the 44,000,000 people in our country who, prior to Obamacare,
had no health insurance whatsoever. Indeed, in my blog posted on July 16
in the “What’s News” section on my campaign website, I cite that the
average net premium for those receiving federal subsidies–the great
majority of those signing up–under Obamacare is only $82 per month. The
commercials attacking Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick’s support of Obamacare are
filled with lies, particularly the one that states that Obamacare has
brought about higher insurance premiums. Nothing could be further from the
truth.

If you would like to contribute to my campaign, your financial support
would be most welcome. Please check out my website at
williamsonforuscongress.com and contemplate the thought that freedom
is not free. Campaign signs, flyers, websites, installing the signs, and
so on, costs money and without your support, it is difficult to have a
campaign. I really appreciate those who have chipped in and enable us to
fight the spectre of Conservative darkness that hangs like a pall over
Congressional District 6. Those whose pocketbooks support my campaign are
those who are keeping the light of humanely focused democracy alive in the
District. Many thanks to those who have stepped up and allowed this to
happen. Moreover, if you’d like a yard sign, let me know by calling my
campaign headquarters number above or responding to this e-mail. You can
either pick it up, or I can deliver it to you.

The Future Can Be Ours if we recognize and value the great work that
leaders like DEBBIE MCCUNE DAVIS have done for our community, whether we
live in LD 30, her district, or not. The new state Child Safety Agency, as
well as her objections to Schweikert-supported predatory lenders, make her
an invaluable asset to both our Valley and our state. Thank you very much,
Debbie, for your endorsement of my candidacy. It means a lot to me.

Citizen, please cast your vote for me in your mail-in ballot or on
November 4th! Vote for enlightened leadership that will fight against
predatory lenders and for the right of all our people–including those
with pre-existing conditions–to have, under the Affordable Care Act,
quality health insurance.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson

Scottsdale, Arizona

SCOTTSDALE DEMOCRATIC LUNCHEON CLUB

“Since 1976–at least!”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend,

ROBB ASBJORNSEN, Founder and Chair of the Father Figure Foundation, will
be the featured speaker at the next meeting of the SCOTTSDALE DEMOCRATIC
LUNCHEON CLUB on Saturday, October 25, at 2:00 PM at the DENNY’S at
Scottsdale and Osborn Roads. The title of his presentation will be:
“Father Figure Foundation: Its Mission to Strengthen Families and
Obligations.” There will be a question and answer period following his
talk, which will include a power point presentation as well.

The Father Figure Foundation is an organization one of whose purposes is
to intervene on behalf of fathers who, TEMPORARILY through no fault of
their own, are unable to make their child support payments. For example, a
Navy officer with some 20 or so years of service wanted to retire so that
he could spend more time with his children. He had been a rescue officer
during Hurricane Katrina involved in airlifting stranded New Orleans
residents to safety.

When he retired, however, he took a significant pay cut. A judge,
furthermore, would not agree to decreasing his child support obligation,
even though he was now making less money. He depleted his savings and
retirement money until he had nothing left. The next step would have been
incarceration had not the Father Figure Foundation and Robb Asbjornsen
intervened.

The Foundation helped the retired Navy officer to establish more effective
communication with his ex-wife. Then his ex-wife agreed to a decreased
child support obligation more in line with the Navy officer’s current
salary. Now he and his ex-wife communicate successfully and their children
are happier and healthier because of the less stressed family situation.

Mr. Asbjornsen’s own story is equally fascinating, including a sojourn at
Sheriff Arpaio’s Tent City with the pink underwear. Mr. Asbjornsen states
that Sheriff Arpaio and the courts have a “one size fits all” approach to
child support that does not allow for special circumstances that are
beyond the control of the payor. The courts, in other words, he says, make
their judgements based on stereotypes and not individual situations. In
Mr. Asbjornsen’s case, the special circumstance was the financial crisis
of 2008, in which the mortgage industry where he is employed crashed.

Don’t miss ROBB ASBJORNSEN’S talk on Saturday, October 25. He’s a
passionate, motivated, and articulate speaker that you won’t soon forget.

Please remember that DENNY’S requires that each person attending purchase
a meal or significant dessert.

Pleae RSVP to let me know if you are going to be attending. Either call
the above number or send me an e-mail.

Thanks, and see you on the 25th! And bring a friend!!

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson
Chair
SCOTTSDALE DEMOCRATIC LUNCHEON CLUB
480-607-9726

October 8, 2014

WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S.CONGRESS

DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

“The Future Can Be Ours.”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend:

Today I drove more than 100 miles throughout Congressional District 6, the
district for which I will be the congressman after November 4th. I was
assessing the sign presence of our campaign.

What I noticed as I drove throughout the District was that, in certain
areas, I saw economically disadvantaged people. Yes, of course, I saw some
folks outrightly begging at certain locations, just as we see them
throughout the Valley. I have to tell you, though: Some of those human
beings were suffering greater apparent destitution than I have seen in
other parts of the Valley. One young man’s pants had a gaping hole in the
back; he was dressed in tatters. He was a tatterdemalion
right out of Les Miserables. I was surprised, to be honest, that,
because of his half-dressed appearance, he had not
yet been picked up by the police and maybe taken humanely to a shelter.
This scene was witnessed at the entrance to the Happy Valley
Towne Center across from the new Shops at Norterra as I
drove eastward on Happy Valley Road.

In other places, I saw residents who looked as though they were on a
minimum clothing allowance. There was that threadbare look: not bad enough
to look like destitution, but marginally adequate in
the wardrobe department. There was a bleakness in some areas that was
truly alarming. Encounters with Reality can sometimes be that way.

All this made me think of a letter I received from the St. Mary’s Food
Bank Alliance shortly after I won the Democratic Primary at the end of
August. In the letter I received, it was stated, as I recall, that 1 out
of 8 people in Congressional District 6 has a food security–that is, food
shortage–problem. That 1 out of 8 people in CD 6 has had occasion to make
use of the St. Mary’s food bank.

I’m going by memory on this statistic right now, because I can’t, at the
moment, find that letter. But I know when I first read the letter, I read
that part more than once to see if it was really true. Apparently, it is.

Here are some shocking quotes, as of today, from the St. Mary’s Food Bank
Alliance website at www.firstfoodbank.org:

“Arizona’s hunger rates are higher than national averages: 17.8% of
Arizonans are food insecure, compared to 15.9% nationally, and 28.2% of
Arizonan children face hunger, compared to 21.6% nationally.”

“Arizona ranks third in the country for high child food insecurity rates,
behind only New Mexico and Mississippi, with 456,760 children facing
hunger on a daily basis.”

“2 million Arizonans are considered working poor, living at or below the
Federal Poverty Guideline. This is the majority of those served by the
Food Bank’s emergency food box program.”

“Currently nearly 1 in 3 children, 1 in 5 Arizonans, and 1 in 7 seniors in
Arizona live in poverty.” (This last statistic from the website is based
on Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study of 2012.)

Within the first month after I take office in January, I will call to my
office–whether locally or in Washington–a consultant, Lisa Goin, Chief
Development and Communications Officer from the St. Mary’s Food Bank
Alliance based in Phoenix, to advise me on the food insecurity situation
in Congressional District 6. Moreover, I will ask for proposals from Ms.
Goin on what can be done to eliminate hunger in our District.

Furthermore, when I am your congressman, I will locate my District office
in a more centralized spot than Rep. Schweikert presently has his. I will
locate my office near 7th Street and Thunderbird Road, more equidistant
from the eastern and western boundaries of CD6, as likewise more
centralized on a north/south basis as well. This location will be more
representative of the income levels in the District, whereas now Rep.
Schweikert has his office ensconced in an upscale office complex on the
northeast corner of Hayden Road and Shea Boulevard in north Scottsdale, a
more affluent area, not representative of the average income in the
District. Maybe the office park in which Rep. Schweikert currently has his
District headquarters is owned by one of his real estate buddies; who
knows, maybe Rep. Schweikert himself owns that office complex. I will take
a more egalitarian approach to be fair to all of my constituents as a
whole, staying away from and not indulging in David Schweikert’s
plutocratic inclinations.

If you would like to contribute financially to my campaign, please check
out my website at: williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a
Donation” and, by means of safe and secure PayPal, contribute in support
of your dedicated Democratic candidate. You may donate even if you do not
live in Congressional District 6. You may donate even if you live
out-of-state. If you wish to send in a check, you will find the address to
send it to on the “Make a Donation” page as well on the website. The
Federal Elections Commission guidelines for contributions are that you
provide your name, your address, your employer and your occupation.

I greatly appreciate those who have donated financially, as well as those
who have donated volunteer hours–for some, that has been many–or who
have consented to put a yard sign on their property.

The Future Can Be Ours if we acknowledge that hunger is a real problem in
Congressional District 6, but that, by recognizing this, a first step can
be taken to address and solve this problem. The great English writer
George Eliot–who, actually, of course, was a woman using a pen name–once
said: “What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for
each other?” In addition, Warren Buffett said: “If you’re in the luckiest
1pc of humanity, you owe it to the rest of humanity to think about the
other 99pc.” (“Philanthropic Quotes,” National Philanthropic Trust: Your
Partner in Giving, www.nptrust.org, as of Oct. 9, 2014).

No child and no adult in District 6 should be hungry. With your help, when
I am your congressman, we can reduce the food insecurity rate in our
District. Please vote for me on November 4th, or during the mail-in
ballot period that begins on October 10th, so that together we will
achieve this goal.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson

Scottsdale, Arizona

WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS

DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

“The Future Can Be Ours.”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend:

John Milton, in his essay AREOPAGITICA published in 1644, states: “Let her
(Truth) and Falsehood grapple; who ever knew Truth put to the worse in a
free and open encounter?” (as quoted on the website “goodreads,” October
6, 2014, www.goodreads.com). (John X. Evans, a big fan of Milton, was my
advisor when, as an undergraduate, I was an English major at ASU. I took
his Milton course, English 423.)

Rep. David Schweikert does not support regulation of the predatory lender
industry. An article in The Nation magazine points this out. There is a
website called “Consumers for Choice” at consumersforchoice.org. This
“advocacy website repeatedly references Western Sky Financial, an online
installment loan company that recently suspended lending after being sent
cease-and-desist letters from government agencies. Left unsaid on the
Consumers for Choices site are the types of loans offered by the company,
which feature interest rates of 355 percent.

A single $5,075 loan from Western Sky cost $40,872.72 to pay back—more
than eight times the original amount.

A commercial from the company featured a Native American woman exclaiming,
‘Making the six monthly payments is good for your credit profile!'”
(“Predatory Lenders Fight Regulators With Offer of $500 Visa Gift Cards,”
Lee Fang, The Nation, October 28, 2013, www.thenation.com).

Despite Consumers for Choice “repeatedly” referencing such lenders as
Western Sky Financial (see above) that offers loans which feature interest
rates of 355 percent, Rep. David Schweikert is found on the Consumers for
Choice website under the category of “Support for Consumers for Choice.”

Indeed, “The only names listed on the site are Republican members of
Congress who have issued supportive blurbs.” (From the same source above.)

For example: “I applaud the efforts of Consumers for Choice to promote
free market principals and help make the general public aware of how
federal and state regulators are now working to limit consumers and small
businesses ability to access consumer credit,” reads one message from
Senator Jerry Moran (R-KS). Similar quotes are provided from
Representatives Dennis Ross (R-FL), Dave Schweikert (R-AZ) and Tom Graves
(R-GA). In August, thirty-one House Republicans signed a letter to the
government, accusing the Department of Justice of “intimidating” banks for
working with online lenders. (From the same source above; also can be
found at www.theinvestigativefund.org).

David Schweikert, on the Consumers for Choice website, says this: “While
oversight is important, this unilateral move by the FDIC will shut many
Americans out of regular commerce. Washington shouldn’t be making it even
more difficult for those who choose to use non-traditional banking
methods.” (Consumers for Choice website, as of October 5, 2014,
consumersforchoice.org). In other words, David Schweikert is not against a
Native American woman being charged an interest rate of 355 percent on a
loan! He is blatantly choosing not to protect the consumer from shysters
in the lending industry.

How is this in the best interests of the 700,000 people in Congressional
District 6?

Moreover, Rep. Schweikert, you are a Catholic. How, sir, do you reconcile
your policy of “hands off” predatory lenders with your Christian faith?
Can you point out to me where in the Bible, in the Old or the New
Testament, it states: “Thou shalt go forth and facilitate swindlers”?

And more: Debbie McCune Davis, a Democrat, who lives in Phoenix and
represents Legislative District 30, wrote: “Although payday loans are
illegal in our state and ceased in 2010, Arizona consumers are being
targeted by title lenders who are charging triple-digit interest rates,
while claiming to offer a quick financial fix. Such loans have the
potential to become a long-term financial problem, trapping people in a
cycle of debt.”

She goes on to say, and this is the kicker: “Protecting consumers from
predatory lending practices will take a united effort at the state and
national levels. I would be remiss if I did not call on U.S. Rep. David
Schweikert, who is featured on the Consumers for Choice website, to
disassociate from the organization. We should expect more from Congressman
Schweikert.” (“Predatory lenders skirting Arizona’s payday loan law,”
Debbie McCune Davis, Dec. 19, 2013, www.azcentral.com).

If you would like to contribute to my campaign, please check out my
website at williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a Donation,”
and, by means of safe and secure PayPal, make a contribution on behalf of
your dedicated Democratic candidate. Do not lose heart because I am
running in a predominantly Republican district. There are a lot of
Independents in this district who will support my candidacy, as I am
opposed, unlike David Schweikert, to predatory lenders who charge
exorbitant interest rates on our people, trapping them in an abyss of
debt. Further, if you would like a yard sign, please let me know. Call my
campaign phone number or send me an e-mail, and we will get you one.

The Future Can Be Ours if we recognize that, when it comes to protecting
consumers from predatory lenders, David Schweikert is on the wrong side of
history. His supportive quote on the Consumers for Choice website–a
website that references one company that features loans at an interest
rate of 355%–shows that he does not care if people get ripped off or not.
Perhaps he receives a significant amount of campaign donations from people
in the predatory loan industry. In any case, going back to John Milton’s
quote in AREOPAGITA about the competition between Truth and Falsehood, I’d
have to say that Rep. Schweikert is on the side of Falsehood when it comes
to predatory lenders. In short, he supports them; and that is wrong: wrong
morally, wrong legally, wrong for Arizona, and wrong for the upstanding
people that make up Congressional District 6.

He probably wouldn’t agree with my bill, The Fall-Risk Resident Protection
Act, either. He’d probably say it wouldn’t be right to regulate the elder
care industry, even if suffering could be reduced and lives saved by my
proposal. After all, his approach to business regulation is licentious;
that is, he doesn’t want any regulation at all. Going by his logic, if he
were the commissioner of the NFL, he would say: “We don’t need any
referees; let the players do whatever they want.” After a while, fans
would stop coming to the games. It would be chaos. A minimum number of
rules are needed for fair play. Teens with responsible parents learn
limits and respect them. It’s called maturity.

When elected to the U.S. Congress on November 4th, I will, unlike David
Schweikert, unite with Rep. McCune Davis and other state and national
leaders to protect consumers from predatory lending practices. I will not
follow the puerile financial philosophies of David Schweikert; I will
embark upon a more responsible path.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson

Scottsdale, Arizona

WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS

DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

“The Future Can Be Ours.”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend:

Are you getting to an age when it might not be impossible that you could
be living in an assisted living facility? Or do you have a parent or
grandparent who is living in such a facility now? In either case, I ask
you to consider the concept of caregiver to resident ratio. That is, the
number of residents per caregiver in a given facility or section of a
facility.

My mom, who is now 89, had a fall in July just a few days before her
birthday and she broke her hip. It happened around 10:30 PM. She had been
in bed but got up for some reason, then lost her balance. The bed alarm
went off, but the caregivers did not get there in time. They arrived just
in time to see my mother lose her balance and fall.

At that time on the nightshift, there were two caregivers for, as I
understand, 20 residents. I don’t think that’s enough. I think that in the
elder care industry in memory care units, there should be at night, if
some of the residents are at high risk of falling, one caregiver for every
six residents. That way, if a bed alarm goes off, there is a greater
chance someone will get to the resident before a fall occurs.

When I am in Congress, I’m going to sponsor a bill to bring this concept
into federal elder law. How this concept can influence elder care in our
society is that it will state that, unless an elder care facility has at
least one caregiver for every six residents, then that care facility
cannot receive a five-star rating from the federal
government. It’s important, in my view, for there to be a federal rating
system to create a uniform code throughout the 50 states. This code will
specify that for every six residents in, say, a memory care unit in an
assisted living facility, there must be at least one caregiver. The bill I
would bring to the House floor to create this law would be called: The
Fall-Risk Resident Protection Act. This means that in a unit where
residents live who are at high risk for falling, there must be at least
one caregiver for every six residents. Unless this law is followed, the
facility would not be able to qualify for a five-star rating on the
federal scale.

My mom has gotten back to walking with her walker, but it hasn’t been an
easy road. In a hospital like Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn, when a bed
alarm goes off, the nurses and aids rush to make sure the patient doesn’t
fall. The same attitude should prevail in assisted living facilities as
well. In today’s world, I think it is safe to say that the elder care
industry is booming; we need to make sure, however, that safety standards
are high enough to prevent unnecessary falls.

Because of the profit-making nature of the elder care industry today, we
must have laws that protect residents who have a high risk of falling. In
an article in AARP The Magazine, Tom Slear, the author, includes this
sobering quote: “Of the 300,000 Americans 65 or older who fracture a hip
each year, 20 to 30 percent will die within 12 months, and ‘many more will
experience significant functional loss,’ according to a 2009 study
published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). (“How
to Survive a Hip Fracture,” Tom Slear, AARP The Magazine, November 2011,
www.aarp.org).

If you would like to contribute to my campaign, please check out my
website at williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a Donation,”
and, by means of safe and secure PayPal, make a contribution on behalf of
your dedicated Democratic candidate. If you wish to send in a check, mail
it to:

WILLIAMSON FOR U.S. CONGRESS
7349 N. Via Paseo Del Sur, Suite 515-233
Scottsdale, AZ 85258.

When sending in a check, please include, to comply with Federal Election
Commission requirements, your name, address, employer, and occupation. You
may contribute even if you do not live in CD6. Do not lose heart because I
am running in a predominantly Republican district. There are a lot of
Independents in this district who will support my candidacy, as I am a
responsible, articulate, and thinking person with a social
conscience. Further, the YARD SIGNS ARE IN! So if you would like a yard
sign, please let me know, so I can get one to you or you can pick it up.

The Future Can Be Ours if we focus on ensuring that our elderly,
especially those who are at high risk for falling, in assisted living
facilities are protected from unnecessary falls. I speak particularly
about those in memory care units, because they are often forgotten,
ironically, as if they don’t even exist. They are put in areas separated
from the rest of the building by magnetically locked doors that can only
be opened if we know the combination. WE are the ones with the true memory
problem if we forget them; the ones we said we loved, the ones who raised
us and helped us in our struggles as we grew up. Or who befriended us as
colleagues or neighbors, but whom it is now, strangely, inconvenient for
us to visit just to say hello or I love you.

We can take responsibility as
a society for the safety of these folks if we make sure that enough
caregivers are assigned for the number of residents in question, with a
ratio of at least one caregiver for every six residents, if the facility
wants to get a five-star rating. My bill, The Fall-Risk Resident
Protection Act, would require the ratio of 1 to 6. This would create, in a
situation where they are vulnerable, a fall-free zone for our nation’s
elderly to give them a chance to live another day in joy and peace without
unnecessary fear and pain.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson

Scottsdale, Arizona

WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS

DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

“The Future Can Be Ours.”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend,

It’s a fair question to ask: Is David Schweikert really a Republican?

Take a look at this quote:

“No American will miss basic medical care by inability to pay.
I will offer a far-reaching set of proposals for improving America’s
health care and making it available more fairly to more people. I will
propose:
•A program to insure that no American family will be prevented from
obtaining basic medical care by inability to pay.”

That sounds quite a bit like something President Obama might have
said before the Affordable Care Act was finally passed in 2010,
doesn’t it?

Do you know who said that?

Richard Nixon, Republican president, in his State of the Union
message in January, 1971. (Source: Pres. Nixon’s 1971 State of the Union
message to Congress , Jan 22, 1971, as documented on the website “On the
Issues: Every Political Leader On Every Issue,” as of Sept. 22, 2014,
www.ontheissues.org)

Today, if a Republican were to say such a thing, they would probably
be asked to leave the party, especially if they lived in Fountain
Hills, where Rep. Schweikert resides.

Contrary to what Rep. Schweikert would probably tell you, the
Affordable Care Act has many capitalist characteristics in it. It is not a
program that is run by the federal government; instead, it is FACILITATED
by it. The state insurance exchanges where people buy
their health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, are hotbeds of
capitalistic activity. In these insurance exchanges, private
insurance companies offer their products in a financially competitive
environment. The consumer chooses the plan that he or she judges to be the
most economical for the level of services offered.

Throughout the United States, there are, obviously, 50 of these
modular market areas where citizens can purchase their insurance. It’s a
highly creative capitalist idea.

Another Republican from the past whom David Schweikert does not
resemble said this: “I’ve spoken of the Shining City all my political
life, but I don’t know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said
it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than
oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds
living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with
commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had
doors, and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to
get here. That’s how I saw it, and see it still.”

Of particular interest is the next to the last line: “And if there
had to be city walls, the walls had doors, AND THE DOORS WERE OPEN TO
ANYONE WITH THE WILL AND THE HEART TO GET HERE.” (I added the capital
letters.)

I think that the person who said this would be rooting for those
teens from Central America–particularly from San Pedro Sula in
Honduras, a city that has the highest murder rate in the world. (“Fleeing
Gangs, Children Head to U.S. Border,” Frances Robles, New York Times, July
9, 2014, www.nytimes.com). Those kids travelled across Mexico by
themselves to reach our southern border so that they could avoid being
killed back home in Honduras. (“Migrant kids’ 2,500-mile trek leads to
Arizona schools,” Daniel Gonzalez, Sept. 2, 2014, Arizona Republic,
www.azcentral.com). They had the WILL and the HEART to believe that our
country offered something that was worth risking their lives to get here
for.

Of course the Republican president who spoke those inspiring words
about people with the WILL and the HEART to get here was Ronald
Reagan in his “Shining City on a Hill” speech that he gave not long before
he left office. (from THE CITY ON A HILL by Michael Reagan
with Jim Denney, 1997,as quoted in The New York Times,
www.nytimes.com)

Although Richard Nixon made some tragic mistakes that he paid a dear
price for, he nonetheless had some great accomplishments during his
Republican presidency. One was the breakthrough in the normalization of
relations with China spearheaded by Henry Kissinger. Another great idea he
had during his terms in office was the thought that a health insurance
program facilitated by the federal government could help provide health
insurance to those in our country who could not afford medical coverage.

Yet a health insurance program facilitated by the federal government
is a concept and program that David Schweikert absolutely rejects. He
won’t even entertain the idea of such a thing. He’s voted to repeal the
Affordable Care Act at least 41 times, each one of those repeal votes in
the House of Representatives conducted at taxpayer expense.

And as far as the kids from Central America trying to escape
murderous living conditions are concerned, and despite the fact that some
of those children might qualify for refugee status under American law,
Rep. Schweikert doesn’t seem to bat an eyelash. This somewhat surprises me
because Rep. Schweikert is of the Catholic faith which, since it is
Bible-based, inevitably encompasses the concept of the Good
Samaritan. Evidently, even with kids who could qualify for refugee status,
Rep. Schweikert does not defer to the principles of his own Christian
faith, let alone applaud, as perhaps Ronald Reagan might have done, those
children for having the WILL and the HEART to seek freedom in our fair
land.

No, I believe that David Schweikert is a RINO–a Republican In Name
Only. He does not operate in the mainline tradition of those two
Republican presidents I mentioned above in regard to the particular
issues–health care and immigration–that I cited. I believe that
David Schweikert is a Tea Partier–or, as Janet Tillotson, the
campaign Button Lady might say–a Tea Bagger. (Leave it to a
Minnesotan, much like Garrison Keillor on the Prairie Home Companion, to
put it all in perspective!) The Tea Partiers’ philosophy of
government–that is, for example, the way they approach running the
federal government–seems to be: “Let’s see if we can wreck this.” That is
to say, wreck those magnificent mechanisms of checks and
balances that Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers put together and
to which they pledged their “lives,” their “fortunes,” and their “sacred
honor.” (Jefferson, Thomas, DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 1776.)

When elected your congressman on November 4th, I pledge that I will
continue to support the Affordable Care Act, “A program” to quote
Richard Nixon, “to insure that no American family will be prevented from
obtaining basic medical care by inability to pay.” Moreover, I pledge that
I will not seek to send children who qualify for refugee status back to a
country, say, Honduras, where, because of uncontrolled gangs, they may be
at risk of being murdered. I will not turn my back on the efforts of those
kids who have shown, as Ronald Reagan said in his “Shining City on the
Hill” speech, “the will and the heart to get here.”

If you would like to contribute to my campaign, please check out my
website at williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a
Donation,” and, by means of safe and secure PayPal, donate to your worthy
Democratic candidate for Congress in CD6. If you’d like to
distribute flyers or participate in phone-banking on my behalf,
please e-mail me or call me at the above number, and I will get you
scheduled to help.

Open-minded Republicans, enlightened Independents, and loyal
Democrats, the Future Can Be Ours if we recognize that Rep. David
Schweikert is a Tea-Bagger masquerading as a Republican. He is a
government shutdown joyrider squandering taxpayer dollars on a
multitude of votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act. This is a nation that
needs problem-solvers like myself in Congress and not a
representative like David Schweikert who is tyrannical about budget
considerations. He was, and still is, insouciant to the medical needs
of the 44,000,000 of our compatriots who, prior to the Affordable Care Act,
had no opportunity to get quality health insurance. Now that they can,
they are able to secure the unalienable rights, among others,
of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Beginning on October 9th with the mail-in ballots, or on November 4th,
Election Day, please vote for me, a centrist Democrat, to be your next
congressman from Congressional District 6. You will not regret your
choice. You will be glad you made that decision.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson

Scottsdale, Arizona

SCOTTSDALE DEMOCRATIC LUNCHEON CLUB

“Since 1976–at least!”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend,

DO YOU CARE ABOUT THE WELFARE OF CHILDREN???

I’m very pleased to let you know that REP. DEBBIE MCCUNE DAVIS, Democrat,
Legislative District 30, will be our featured speaker this coming
Saturday, September 27, at 2:00 PM at the DENNY’S at Scottsdale and Osborn
Roads. She will be speaking on the topic of: “The New Child Safety Agency
Created Through a Bipartisan Effort.” There will, after her presentation,
be a question and answer period.

As you may know, the new state of Arizona Child Safety Agency was created
in response to the Child Protective Services scandal earlier this year.
That was when it was discovered that upwards of 2,000 to 3,000 cases
reported to CPS had not been investigated.

Rep. Debbie McCune Davis was first elected to the House of Representatives
in 1978 when she was 27. She served as Minority Whip from 1982-1994. After
an eight year absence from the legislature, she was elected to the House
of Representatives in 2002. In year 2006 she was elected to serve in the
Senate. In 2010 the voters returned her to the House of Representatives.

Debbie’s key legislative priorities include Education, Health Care,
Neighborhood Issues and Consumer Issues. She works closely with
neighborhood groups to keep Arizona communities resilient and safe.
Ensuring schools and universities have the ability to provide education
opportunities for all Arizonans is also important to Debbie.

Today, working as Program Director of The Arizona Partnership for
Immunization (TAPI) Debbie has been influential in promoting immunization
and preventive health services for all Arizonans. She has been on the
ground floor of creating a statewide registry for tracking immunizations
of children and adults. Her effective championing of The Arizona State
Immunization Information System (ASIIS) and immunization registries on a
national level was recognized during a celebration of Every Child By Two
(ECBT) in 2012. ECBT was established during the Clinton Administration in
1991 to protect the health of children.

In 2010, Children’s Action Alliance honored Debbie with the Jacque Steiner
Public Leadership Award for Children. Her dedication and courageous
leadership to improve the lives and life chances of Arizona’s residents is
a large part of her work. The League of Arizona Cities and Towns also
recognized Debbie as one of their “Legislative Heroes.” These “Legislative
Heroes” demonstrated their support for local control through their voting
records, and have earned the appreciation of the League.

The William E. Morris Institute for Justice recognized Debbie’s fight
against payday lenders in 2011. As a state legislator, she is consistently
a strong voice for consumers and responsive to the needs of low-income
Arizonans. The Arizona Bioindustry Association presented Debbie with the
‘Trailblazer Award’ in 2012.

Debbie and her husband, Glenn Davis, have a blended family of five
children and three grandchildren. They continue to live in Central/West
Phoenix.

Next Saturday, we have a truly special opportunity to hear, ask
questions of, and interact with a legislator who has been on the forefront of ensuring our
children’s safety, health and well-being for many years. Not only
educators and those involved professionally with helping children each
day, but parents, grandparents and others concerned about the progress of
our children will be interested in listening to what DEBBIE has to say.
Many people would say that our children are our future.

I hope that you will attend our luncheon this coming Saturday, Sept. 27,
to be a part of what promises to be an enlightening afternoon. Please RSVP
to the above number or send me an e-mail so that I can get an idea of how
many will be in attendance.

See you there, and bring a friend!!

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson
Chair
SCOTTSDALE DEMOCRATIC LUNCHEON CLUB
480-607-9726

WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS

DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

“The Future Can Be Ours.”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend,

What does David Schweikert mean when he says, repeatedly, that he wants
“to save the Republic?” Certainly he could not be referring to the results
of his behavior during the government shutdowns in the fall of 2011 and in
the fall of 2013.

In the fall of 2011, Rep. Schweikert, as part of the notorious Gang of 40
in the House, supported the government shutdown and protest against
raising the debt ceiling. One end result of this protest? Standard and
Poor’s downgraded the U.S. debt rating from a AAA to a AA+.
(“S & P Downgrades the U.S. debt rating,” HOUSINGWIRE,
Aug. 5, 2011, www.housingwire.com). How is that “saving the Republic?”
It certainly didn’t save our Republic’s financial reputation, for one thing;
nor did it inspire confidence in investors around the
world in our country’s ability to make responsible
financial decisions.

In the fall of 2013, Rep. Schweikert, again as a “gang” member of the Gang
of 40 House Republicans who are specialists in the politics of spite,
perpetrated, along with his nihilistic colleagues, a government shutdown
that resulted in about 800,000 federal employees being furloughed for
approximately two weeks. (“Shutdown to Cost U.S. Billions, Analysts Say,
Eroding Confidence,” Annie Lowrey and Michael D. Shear, New York Times,
October 18, 2013, www.nytimes.com). That’s a heck of a loss of income
for those employees who have families
and loved ones dependent upon them. How does that achieve his goal of
“saving the Republic?” It certainly didn’t save our Republic
economically, that’s for sure. When our federal employees–about 800,000 of them
in this case–can’t pick up their paychecks, it not only hurts them and
their families, but also, with their decreased economic consumption, puts
a dent in our economy as a whole.

My mother’s father’s father–one of my great-grandfathers–held the
crucial position of Fire-Watcher in the centuries-old city of Steyr,
Austria. He and his wife and their 15 children lived in The Tabor–The
Tower–which, on a high ridge, looked, and still looks, down spectacularly
on the Steyr River Valley. I know, because I was there in 1971–when I was
20–and had a beer at what is now The Tabor Restaurant, the one-time home
years and years ago of one of my ancestors and his family.

My great-grandfather Steininger’s job was to watch for fires in the town
of Steyr below. Presumably, it didn’t hurt to have 15 kids who could help
out with this! When he saw a wisp or curl of smoke somewhere in the valley
beneath him, he sent a message by horseback rider, or maybe telegraph, to
the authorities in the city who then took the water-wagons to the place of
the smoke’s origin.

Analogously, I feel I’m in a position similar to that of my Austrian
great-grandfather. I see fiscal smoke–evidence of fiscal fires that
should never have started except that Rep. David Schweikert, along with
his buddies in the Gang of 40, couldn’t resist the opportunity to try to
make our President and then-Secretary of Treasury, Timothy Geithner, look
bad. The consequence of these fiscal fires was that, in Shutdown #1,
our country’s debt rating was downgraded; then, for Shutdown
#2, about 800,000 federal employees, plus our economy as whole, got burned when
those workers couldn’t, as a result of Rep. Schweikert’s actions as a
member of the Gang of 40, be gainfully employed for approximately two weeks.

When elected your congressman, I will douse such unnecessary fiscal fires
before they have a chance to spread and cause damage to our country’s
debt rating or to the thousands of hard-working federal employees who
deserve to be paid in a timely manner. I will not engage, as has David
Schweikert, in shutdown joyrides at the expense of taxpayer dollars and to
the detriment of the financial reputation of the United States. My goal
will not be to disparage the thoughtful efforts of my President and his
Secretary of the Treasury, but to support them.

If you wish to contribute to my campaign, please check out my website at
williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a Donation” and, by means
of safe and secure PayPal, donate to say yes to your Democratic candidate
in CD6 who has your best interests–and not those of obstinate
idealogues–at heart. If you would prefer to send a check, the address to
which you can mail your donation is available on that same page on my
website. Please be sure to include your name, address, and the name of
your employer and occupation.

The Future Can Be Ours if we reject the politics of spite as practiced by
David Schweikert and his gang of 40 spoilsports in the House of
Representives. My objective, as your congressman, will be, reasonably, to
play considerately with others in the congressional sandbox and not to
throw sand in the face of the American people by insisting, unrationally,
on having my own way. I’m a graduate of Saguaro High School in Scottsdale;
and when I was a student there, I was a member of the Humanities Club. (If
you check out the Saguaro Sentinel yearbook from 1969, or perhaps earlier,
you will see me in the club photo.) One goal of that club, as I remember,
was to understand and appreciate the viewpoints of other cultures and
peoples and not to have a closed mind about things. I respect the right of
extreme Republicans–some might call them Teabaggers–such as David
Schweikert to hold their particular ideology; but I do not respect their
efforts to disrupt and make
dysfuntional the responsible operations of government.

That is why I ask, beginning on October 9th with the mail-in ballots, for
your vote so that the fiscally hazardous fires started by the shutdown
shenanigans of Rep. Schweikert and his Gang of 40 friends, can be doused
before they have a chance to spread and damage our nation’s debt rating
and the lives of our federal employees. In that sense, I see that I am
operating with consanguinity in the tradition of my Great-grandfather
Steininger, who, as the fire-lookout in The Tabor, gazed eagle-eyed over the
beautiful Steyr River Valley and kept the city of Steyr, Austria safe
from threatening conflagrations for many years.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson

Scottsdale, Arizona

WILLIAMSON
FOR
U.S. CONGRESS

DEMOCRAT

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6

“The Future Can Be Ours.”

480-607-9726

Dear Friend,

I’m very pleased to share with you that Dennis DeConcini, United States
Senator, Retired, and Lela Alston, State Representative, LD24, have
endorsed my candidacy.

The endorsements are as follows:

“John Williamson is a dedicated Democrat, a long-time Arizona
resident, who supports fair-minded immigration policies, public
education for a strong economy and a strong defense, and the
Affordable Care Act. As Chair of the Scottsdale Democratic Luncheon Club,
he has promoted political dialog with civility. As a thoughtful listener
and able advocate, he will serve Congressional District 6 in Washington
with commitment and levelheadedness.”

Dennis DeConcini
United States Senator, Retired

“John Williamson is supportive of the Affordable Care Act because it
benefits young adults, those with pre-existing conditions and those who
otherwise would not qualify for health insurance. His experience as a
teacher in the public schools shows his commitment to public
education as a mainstay of American society. As a graduate of Saguaro High
School in Scottsdale and of ASU, John is a leader who listens, works hard,
and will represent the best interests of Congressional District 6 in
Washington.”

Lela Alston,
State Representative, LD24

Many thanks to Dennis and to Lela for their confidence in me. They are two
great leaders in our state who have been, and continue to be, an
inspiration to me.

If you would like to make a contribution to my campaign, please check out
my website at williamsonforuscongress.com. Click on “Make a Donation,”
and, by means of safe and secure PayPal, make a donation to your
Democratic candidate in CD6 who stands for civil political dialog, for
human needs laws such as the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Social
Security, and for fair-minded immigration policies. Your contribution is
needed to provide funding for critical advertising efforts, flyers, and
for refreshments for volunteers. You can contribute even if you live
outside of CD6 or in another state. Persons of any political party may
contribute. Many thanks to those who have already generously
contributed! Please help out to whatever extent you can so that we can
have a chance at victory on November 4th.

The Future Can Be Ours if we appreciate and respect the great Democratic
leaders of our state, both past and present. They have stood for the
values we revere; they have served with distinction and courage; and they
have shown, and continue to show, the path on which we should travel to
keep up with and face successfully the challenges of the present-day.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
John

W. John Williamson

Scottsdale, Arizona