Gary St. Lawrence GA9 Congressional Exploratory Committee
What Am I Exploring?
The Georgia 9th District is a wonderful, beautiful and thriving group of communities - all seeking a comfortable, successful and peaceful life. But we have needs, and problems, that need to be fulfilled and addressed. I want to learn about those needs and what we, together, can do. Most importantly, I want to help and serve my neighbors and help the counties of District 9 be the best in all of Georgia.
I believe the role of a Congressman is to negotiate and compromise for the good of the entire population of their district, state, and country - not just those of their party, a president, or any minority element of any kind.
About Me
I am a 61-year-old, decorated Veteran Army Sergeant, husband, dad, grandfather, dog dad, IT manager and technical writer, teacher, and published author. My wife, Colette, and I moved permanently from Phoenix AZ to Blairsville in 2022 because we found our lifelong dream property and built our permanent home here.
I've been employed for 28 years with the same company, and my wife is a Human Resources professional. Our son-in-law is an active duty Navy NCO, stationed in San Diego with our daughter and two grandchildren. I have a Masters' degree in Communications, a Bachelors' in Journalism, An Associates in English, and was a print/radio journalist and investigative reporter before moving into technology.
I drive a truck; own several guns; am involved in my community; and attend church. I'm in my third year as the Adjutant of the Blairsville American Legion Post 121. I read detective novels, political non-fiction, and mythology. I have written two books (one fiction, one non-fiction) and I'm a trivia nerd and novice woodworker. I'm a lifelong baseball and football fan, amateur woodworker and home handyman.
Issues & Ideas
- Social Security and Veterans' benefits should be entirely immune to budget cuts and political maneuvering, permanently.
- Currently, no income above $176,100 has Social Security tax taken out of it. Democrats are discussing raising the cap to $250,000, and I would support that. But raising that cap to $400,001 would directly infuse $2.6 Trillion into the Social Security trust each year and eliminate any need to cut or reduce benefits.
- Every American citizen should have the exact same single-payer healthcare system - at the same cost - that any member of Congress has.
- When members of Congress start working more than 112 days per year (but are paid for 365 plus benefits), then they can talk to us about minimum "work requirements" to get our benefits.
- All Congressional candidates must score 100% on the exact same eligibility exam that immigrants seeking citizenship are required to pass. That exam, and the results, should be completed publicly, without concealment of any kind.
- Let's cut spending on the things we KNOW are wasteful - like the Pentagon's $10,000 toilet seats, $6 Billion in government subsidies for Big Oil, and "home office" tax deductions for billionaires' private jets and yachts - before we even think about cutting Veterans benefits, Medicaid and Social Security.
- Public schools have been increasingly starved of funding and resources for decades. Our property and school taxes keep going up while our students' math, science and critical thinking scores keep going down.
- If an immigrant is here legally, leave them alone. If they're here illegally or have committed a violent crime, deport them legally and humanely.
Republicans are MAGA. Democrats are the ANSR!
One of the challenges Democrats have is messaging. As a party, we don't have that simple, concise and memorable snappy language that resonates quickly and effectively. I think I have a solution. Republicans demand that we "make America great again," but they never say how they're going to do that. So I suggest that Democrats should give America the Serious Representation it needs. Republicans are MAGA. Democrats should be the ANSR!
