6/30/2010 -

Many voters and supporters have asked me what I’m doing now as a candidate for Congress. After the May 11th Special Election, I felt it was important for me to get off the stage so as not to confuse the voter selection between the two candidates in the Runoff for the Special Election to complete the term vacated by the resignation of Nathan Deal. That election is complete and the voters have spoken. Now we have another election for that seat in the next Congressional term beginning in 2011. My name is on the ballot and will continue to be on the ballot for the July 20th Republican Primary for Georgia’s 9th Congressional District seat. Also, as I have always stated, I would be honored to serve the people of the 9th District, if I were elected now or in the future. However, I feel like I need to explain my current situation.

I’ve had the privilege of taking care of the people of the 9th District, through my medical practice, all of my professional life and have been treating North Georgians for their heart disease for the past twenty-plus years. I’ve been in the examining room as my patients face life-threatening decisions—about their health, their families, their jobs, and I have experienced with them how all of these concerns are interrelated. The people of the 9th District are concerned about their children, their grandchildren, and their futures. These are people who take government spending seriously, who have always worked hard, and are not, by in-large, being counted in the current unemployment statistics coming out of Washington. This is because many folks in North Georgia either own their own businesses, or work with several partners to provide their living. They are not receiving “unemployment benefits” from the government; they just simply don’t have work. In addition, these small business owners can’t employ others because they don’t have enough work to make ends meet.

I also understand the concerns of small business owners because fourteen years ago, my wife and I created a business in North Georgia from scratch. We have experienced the challenges of making payroll, as well as the rewards of knowing that we helped create many jobs in our area. We realize that those jobs provide a means for our employees to provide for their families, as well as, to purchase goods and services from other local businesses. Small businesses are the backbone of strong and healthy communities and are the “engines” which will get us out of this Great Recession.

With these experiences, I thought I would be able to help lead the charge to represent the people I’ve known for so many years, and articulate their issues of deep concern to the decision-makers in Washington. That’s why I ran for the U.S. Congress. However, the voters in the May 11th Special Election didn’t think I was the best candidate to do that at that time.

I am still passionate about returning control of our lives from the federal government back to the individual. I am still passionate about allowing individuals to decide and control the course of their healthcare along with their physician, instead of being subject to the decisions and control of the federal government. I am still passionate about getting the federal government off the backs of small businesses, so businessmen and women can be successful and employ more people. This solution would get Americans back to work. I am adamantly opposed to robbing future prosperity from our grandchildren because of unsustainable government spending and unimaginable debt. I am opposed to the continued borrowing of massive amounts of money from other countries, thereby jeopardizing America’s economic and national security. I am passionate about enacting a fair and even tax system, one that directs our hard-earned tax dollars using common sense business practices. I am serious about protecting our borders and oppose illegal immigrants receiving services for which they pay no tax while taking jobs away from American citizens who fund those very services with their tax dollars.

I will continue to stand for these issues. My name will remain on the July20th ballot, though I will not actively be campaigning in this race. There has been a lot of money spent in this 9th District Congressional race and I’m not going to try to outspend the other people in order to win. I hope I’ve clearly articulated my position on the issues of concern for the citizens of the 9th District and I’ll continue to fight for them in public and in private. At some point, I’ll find a way to help and serve the people of North Georgia in the future.

Now, and in the days to come, I will always yield to the will of the voters. If I am elected to serve at any point, I will do so gladly. In the meantime, I will help our Conservative elected officials in any way I can to understand and address these problems that affect us all, as citizens of our great country. May God bless the people of North Georgia and may God bless America.