• Healthcare-  Texas families need a Universal Health Care Plan now.  The rapidly increasing cost of health care is increasing the number of Texas families without health care.  Low and middle income families are forced to compete with each other for dwindling public healthcare resources. We are faced with a declining economy as low and middle income families are facing much higher cost and shrinking economic opportunities.

• The Economy-  An expanding national recession has been exacerbated by the Bush Administration's trade, foreign relations and national defense policies.  The movement of manufacturing offshore, the outsourcing of jobs to China and India, much higher energy and food costs combined with stagnant wages paint a dismal picture for the average Texas working family.  We can not continue to borrow money from Communist China to pay for a religious war in Iraq.

• Mortgage Crisis-  Keep Texas Families in their homes:  Deregulation in financial services and now a rapidly devalued U.S. Dollar have caused the cost of imported good to increase and the value of our homes to decrease as mortgages increase drastically for many.

• Outsourcing of Jobs-  We need to bring manufacturing jobs back to America and to hire Americans now.  Economic development that delivers good paying jobs in Texas and across the country is at an all time low.  Employment data published by the Republican Party for Texas fails to disclose the anemic growth of good paying manufacturing jobs in this state.  The unemployment rate in Texas is touted as positive when it only reflects the number of new workers making unemployment insurance claims.  As the economy becomes weaker, entry level workers are impacted first.

• State Children's Healthcare Insurance Program ( SCHIP ) Funding-  Care for all sick children in Texas is needed now.  Our representatives in Washington continue to vote against health care initiatives.   These are the same representatives who have been on a spending binge in Washington during the last seven years.  The Pay as You Go policy of the majority party must stand.

• A sane Federal plan to secure our borders-  Securing the borders post 911 has not happened.  Information technology and physical barriers and check point have not been implemented.  One can only conclude that this situation continues because of the demand by corporate America for offshore manufacturing and easy access to an unlimited supply of cheap labor. This supply of labor has also contributed to the lack of growth in real wages for American workers.

• Safe Food and Products for our Families-  Stop Importing our Food & put our farmers to work.

• School Drop Out Rate-  Vocational education for jobs that stay in America must be part of an overall national strategy. The Texas Constitution requires a public education must be made available to all school age young people.  However, equal funding and a mandate to keep student in school is not.  Public School funding and school vouchers are still very much an issue in Texas. The incumbent must be challenged regarding his performance in this area and on his position on school vouchers. Private financial resources in Texas are known to be major contributors to the school voucher interest group nationally.