“I’d go through Hell with a gasoline can . . . There is not a person in this room I would not sacrifice my life for.”
-Colonel Allen West
If you haven’t yet heard about the congressional candidate from Florida’s 22nd district, this video will give you a glimpse of what Col. West is all about.
Honors:
-Bronze Star
-3 Meritorious Service Medals
-3 Army Commendation Medals (one with Valor)
-Valorous Unit Award
-US Army ROTC Instructor of the Year
-Distinguished Honor Graduate III Corps Assault School
-Army Master parachutist badge
-Air Assault badge
-Italian parachutist wings
-German proficiency badge (Bronze award).
He’s an outspoken critic of the DC tax-and-spend model:
To stimulate our economy we must realize that Keynesian tax and spend economic theory does not work. The public sector shall never grow the economy, that comes from the private sector. When I hear our new President speak of building an economy from the bottom up, well, you just have to cringe.
If we are serious about restoring the American economy then suspend payroll taxes until the situation improves. I would begin with a 3 month suspension and willingly extend that to 6 months if necessary. In order to inspire investment, innovation, ingenuity, and real growth we must end capital gains, dividend, and death taxes, just abolish immediately.
He understands that our healthcare system is not perfect; but doesn’t believe in the single-payer overhaul that is currently being considered. Instead, Col. West believes that tort reform, buying across state lines, and HSA’s would fix many of the problems we are encountering.
In regards to our 2nd Ammendment rights, Col. West says:
An armed and informed law-abiding citizenry is the best defense against an unjust government and the criminal element created by irresponsible societal benevolence and activist judges
He was named Front Page Magazine’s “Man of the Year” for the valor he showed in Iraq in dealing with a thug Iraqi police officer who sought to harm his troops. Forced to use some degree of physicality, Col. West was able to get vital information from the cop–information that saved the lives of the 700 sodiers in his care. Col. West admitted to using aggressive tactics to attain this information and was stripped of his command and threatened with jail time. He escaped court martial and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine but was able to return home to his wife, Angela, a cancer victim.
Col. West’s life has been marked by many challenging experiences that have, undoubtedly, helped shape his views on policy.
Who better to make decisions about the war in Afghanistan than a man who served as an advisor to the Afghan army? Who better to vote on education funding than a man who holds two masters degrees and whose wife has both an MBA and PHD? Who better to discuss our health care system than a man who saw the impact of cancer on a family member firsthand?
Col. West would bring the combination of common sense conservatism and real world experience to a Congress that is desperately lacking both.