I am running for Congress to restore opportunity for everyone in our great district and because many of our politicians have failed us.  That opportunity ensures that future generations of Americans - our children and their children - will have greater opportunities to achieve success.  Sadly, we cannot honestly look our children in the eyes today and tell them that they will have the same opportunities in life that we have had.

The political maneuvering of the past has not improved the lives of the people who live in our district and too many of our political leaders have not worked to address these problems.  Under the current political system, the special interests have lobbied successfully to protect the status quo while our collective quality of life deteriorates.  Today, we must turn in a different direction -- a new direction.

We need a new Representative in Washington who will fight to preserve the American dream for all of our children.  That is the leadership I will provide.  Here are the policies for which I will fight:

CREATING JOBS

Today, we all face nothing short of a crisis, while too many of our political leaders are acting without the sense of urgency the crisis deserves.  Our economy is suffering from the greatest upheaval since the Great Depression.  If we are going to remain as the world's dominant economic power, we are going to have to change the way we do business in this country.  We must work to create jobs immediately, to help put our people back to work.  Specifically, we need to:

• Cut through bureaucracy and red tape to drastically increase how quickly federal stimulus funds are spent;

• Create green jobs in our district and throughout our country by encouraging eco-friendly energy alternatives such as wind, solar and biofuels;

• Support our biggest employers, specifically, the entertainment industry and the University of Southern California with tax incentives to secure jobs with good wages; and

• Create new jobs and support small businesses by creating an employee hire incentive program.

IMPROVING OUR SCHOOLS

The most important component of the American dream is a robust public education system that provides opportunities for all children.  Today, our school system has failed, and any effort to fix it must start with the premise that we need to rethink everything about how we educate our children.  The drop out rate at Crenshaw High School is 50% and nearly 35% across the LAUSD, and this should embarrass all of us.  Education is no longer just a local issue -- it must be treated as a national security issue.  The ability of our schools to produce good workers and citizens capable of competing in the global economy is crucial to the future of our country, and public schools from California to Connecticut are falling short of the mark.

While our country faces a significant budget deficit, we are all better off increasing education funding now than spending more money in the future on prisons and social services.  The federal government must increase funding to schools across the country in exchange for requiring the following from our nation's school districts:

• Funding for early childhood education: We must increase funding for programs like Head Start to ensure that all children are prepared for kindergarten;

• Extend the school day and the school year: The current American school year, with its three-month summer break, does not give our children a chance to compete.  The average American child attends 180 days of school each year while the average South Korean child attends 220 days of school each year and the average Japanese student attends 243 days of school each year.  Similarly, American children do not spend as much time in school every day as their counterparts in other nations;

• Reward valued teachers: We must recognize excellence by providing greater pay for our best teachers and teachers who work in our most challenging schools and giving all teachers a chance to improve by providing enhanced training;

• Require greater accountability: Our nation's schools must hold teachers, principals and administrators accountable for their work.  This will be accomplished through accurate value-added testing, which will help to identify the teachers and schools that work and those that do not;

• Provide greater parental choice: The federal government should encourage greater choice by providing financial incentives to districts that encourage a range of education options to parents; and

• Streamline federal college lending program: Originate all new federal student loans from the Direct Loan Program, creating a savings of $90 billion over 10 years.  Private lenders would continue to serve an important function in servicing these loans.

In addition to improving our schools, New Solutions for a New Time will address several other problems plaguing our area and cities and towns across the country:

BUILDING A PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ALL OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

The lack of comprehensive public transportation in Southern California affects all of our lives in innumerable ways every single days.  From the lack of productivity for time lost sitting in traffic to the health effects caused by pollution, we all suffer from the lack of foresight by previous generations of Southern California leaders.  And with the population in Los Angeles County expected to increase by 20% in just 20 years, all of these problems will get worse unless we act now.  I will make creation of a comprehensive public transportation system here the cause of my public life.  In particular, i will:

• Fight for federal funding to construct comprehensive subway and rail system throughout the region, and

• Help to create a fully functioning subway and rail system for Southern California in 50 years.

CREATING MORE "MIDDLE CLASS" HOUSING AND SERVICES IN UNDERSERVED PARTS OF THE DISTRICT

While other parts of Los Angeles have seen a rebirth, too many great development opportunities in South Los Angeles and other parts of the district have been squandered.  I will support:

• Redevelopment of Leimert Park and Marlton Square;

• Support development efforts that will create more "middle class" housing options for first time home owners; and

• Support development efforts that will provide new services.

SUPPORTING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

The entertainment industry is one of the biggest employers in Southern California and has given our region a distinct identity on the world stage for nearly a century.  However, in the last 8 years, we have seen a collapse of the music industry and a dramatic reduction of film and television show productions in our community.  I will fight to reverse these trends by doing the following:

• Fight for an expansion of federal funds to preserve and expand domestic movie production;

• Seek greater international enforcement of entertainment copyrights;

• Push for the creation of a Presidential Cabinet level Secretary of the Arts to ensure that arts are given the role they deserve; and

• Support funding for arts education in the schools.

FIGHTING FOR COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM

We need to develop a comprehensive solution to the immigration issue that treats people fairly but recognizes the contributions of people who have made productive contributions to our country for years.  Specifically, I will:

• Create a path to citizenship for non-citizens who can prove that they have been in this country for a specific length of time, and

• Increase funding for border patrol efforts

PROTECTING OUR PRECIOUS ENVIRONMENT

After eight years of neglect, we now have an opportunity to address climate change and environmental pollution again.  Specifically, we need to:

• Adopt a comprehensive energy audit program to help reduce energy consumption in America's homes;

• Promote state and federal strategies that will result in carbon emission reductions and provide cleaner air and water sources for everyone;

• Advocate for vulnerable populations, both in our district and beyond, that are affected by environmental injustices such as illegal dumping and toxic chemical exposure;

• Support federal automobile emissions that match the standard set by California; and

• Work to reverse global warming, including imposing restrictions on carbon emissions.

SUPPORTING WORKING PARENTS

Many families are headed by working women, many of whom are single parents.  We need to develop policies that address the realities mothers face in these families.  We must reward work and encourage mothers to stay in the workforce instead of turning to welfare.  Specifically, we need to:

• Provide tax incentives to make it easier for parents to provide quality affordable childcare, and

• Give parents paid sick leave.

STRENGTHENING OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

The greatest threat to the economic well being of our families and small businesses is the health crisis we face.  Too many Americans are suffering because health crises have ruined their finances.  All Americans, young and old, deserve to have access to quality and affordable health care.  Specifically, we need to:

• Treat health care as a right and not a privilege, ensuring that everyone has coverage;

• Reduce health costs for those that currently have coverage;

• Ensure that individuals who work for small businesses and other employers have affordable health insurance options; and

• Emphasize the importance of health promotion and disease prevention and provide information to families about nutrition and the importance of living healthy lives.

STRENGTHENING OUR DEMOCRACY

Special interests dominate the current political system, making it difficult for the will of the people to prevail in policy debates.  I will fight to:

• Create a publicly financed Congressional campaign system that will reduce the role of special interests (embodied in H.R. 1826, the Fair Elections Now Act), and

• Support limits on individual contributions to $100 per person per candidate.

MAKING OUR STREETS SAFER

A free society is not truly free unless we can live without fear of violence in our neighborhoods and workplaces.  Government must work to protect us from those who would seek to prey on our young and the vulnerable among is.  Specifically, we need to:

• Promote gang intervention that builds and sustains violence-reduction and promotes peace;

• Seek financial support for a community vision for public safety that will incorporate youth and community development and move post suppression, incarceration and deportation; and

• Develop a new vision of the role of intervention in terms of supporting a holistic community violence reduction strategy, not just crime and prison statistics. We understand what the problem is: the question is do we want to solve it using the same, out-date ways of thinking about the issues of gang and gang violence.

SUPPORTING TROOP WITHDRAWAL IN AFGHANISTAN

• Oppose any increase of American troop presence;

• Support immediate commencement of phased withdrawal of American troops; and

• Support redoubled focus on Al Qaeda leadership targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan