Mark Pitrone for Congress in 2010
Mark is a 55 year old veteran of 23 years total Naval Service, retired from the US Navy Reserve in March 2005 as a Petty Officer 1st Class (AT1). He holds a Bachelor
degree in Theology and is the Congregational leader at Beit Ya’acov Hebraic Congregation in
Owners of America. Mark is married to the wife of his youth, the former Deborah Ann Miller, having celebrated his 29th anniversary on June 14, 2009. He and Deborah are
proud parents of Peter (28, married to the former Anne Schmidt), Hannah (27, married to Matt Cole), Daniel (22) and David (18); and even prouder grandparents of
Benjamin (1), by Peter and Anne and Ethan, who was stillborn 1 months premature on June 25th of 2009.
Mark is a staunch Constitutionalist, being a strict constructionist and originalist. The Constitution is NOT interpretable, but is the standard by which all other law is
judged in
Congress may only consider for passage bills that fall within its Constitutionally mandated powers and authority. Any bill brought before the house over which it has no Constitutional power should not even be considered, according to a plain reading of the 10th Amendment. By the same token, the Supreme and inferior courts may NOT
interpret the Constitution, but must USE the Constitution as its rule in interpreting laws passed by Congress and the executive branch may NOT rule by Executive Order
or Decision. The President is NOT a king, but a servant of the People. Only kings rule by decree.
Mark believes that ALL power resides in the People, who may, and have, delegated certain powers and authority to the States. The People and the States then further
delegated certain powers and authority to the general government in
granted to them by their respective Constitutions. Any attempt at exerting un-Constitutional power or authority is an usurpation, and should be punishable by
impeachment or recall, should the People so choose. ALL office holders should be limited to 6 years in office
Mark agrees with Albert Einstein, who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing one always has and expecting a different result. Our federal government
has borrowed and spent us into a near depression, and is telling us that the way out is to borrow and spend more. One of the worst Presidents in our time was GW Bush,
who left us with a $1.3 TRILLION deficit with the help of BH Obama’s and ‘independent, blue-dog Democrat’ Zack Space’s votes to borrow and spend $800 BILLION for
the September bailout. Now, Obama has borrowed or will borrow another $3 TRILLION for cap and trade and federal health insurance programs with Zack’s, Nancy’s and
the Republican’s help.
To paraphrase Everett Dirksen, a well known Democrat Senator and budget hawk of a prior decade, “A Trillion here, a Trillion there; pretty soon you’re talking about
some real money!” I’d say that $65 TRILLION total debt is JU-u-st about enough. Don’t you?
We need some real people in Congress to watch out for OUR interests, not the trans-national corporation’s and the career politician’s.
Send Zack to the ranks of the career lobbyist.
Elect Mark Pitrone to Congress in 2010.
Mark Pitrone, democrat
‘Just a guy’ for Congress
When a man decides to run for an office of public
trust, it is only proper that he publish his positions on issues of interest to
the public of whom he is asking that trust. The following is a position paper
written and published by Mark Pitrone, who is placing his name in consideration
for the office of Unites States Representative for the eighteenth congressional
district of the state of Ohio.
I am a Constitutionalist. In other words, I believe
that the general, or federal, government of the united States of America is and
should be limited to those powers granted to it by the several States and the
people that reside therein in the documents known as the Declaration of
Independence and the Constitution of the united States of America, as lawfully
amended.
Since the Declaration propounds rights granted by
our Creator to include “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, those
rights should never be infringed or abrogated in any way by the general
government. And the general government should in no way subsidize or in any
other way pay for any abrogation of those rights, nor should it legislate any
infringement or abrogation of them.
1) Abortion - For this
reason, there is, in my opinion no right to abortion or government funding or
subsidy of abortion in any way whatsoever. It is my opinion that abortion is
premeditated murder and that anyone involved in abortion is guilty of that
crime. Any health practitioner involved in abortion is, in effect, a ‘hit man’
and should be accountable as such. Any person helping to provide an abortion is
also an accessory before, during or after the fact, and is also guilty of
accessory to murder. Therefore, I will actively work to end federal funding of
abortion and will support legislation making abortion a criminal act.
2) Gun Rights - The 2nd
amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to both keep and bear arms.
Therefore, all gun control legislation at every level is unconstitutional on
its face and is null and void, as if it had never been passed. It is not within
the power of American government to change in any way the right to keep and
bear arms, so Congress has no right to even speak of it in session. I am 100%
pro-gun ownership.
The various governments, in
their capacities as protectors of individual rights, DO have the power to
mandate stiff penalties for the use of deadly weapons in the commission of
crimes. It is, therefore, in the power of State and local governments to
mandate minimum penalties for unlawful use of a lethal weapon in the commission
of crimes. I am in favor of liberty in gun ownership and concealed carry, as
well as minimum mandated penalties for the use of a gun or other lethal weapon
in the commission of crimes.
The police are NOT able to
protect us moment to moment – it is their job to find the perpetrator AFTER he
commits the crime against us. The best we can expect from the police is to be
the cavalry, chasing off the criminal at the last minute. Their job is NOT crime
prevention. That is OUR job. Their main job is criminal investigation, and they
are quite good at it.
3) Illegal ‘immigration’ -
Illegal Aliens are felons. The borders of the united States of America should
be closely controlled and fences built to deter aliens from illegally entering
the united States. The ports should also be closely controlled against illegal
alien entry. Build the fences Yesterday!
Legal immigration should be
made easier and quotas should be expanded.
4) Import restrictions and
tariffs - Consumer goods entering this country should be subject to random
inspection at cost to the importer or manufacturer. Any manufacturer who
displays a wanton disregard for American standards of quality and safety should
be fined and/or banned from importing any product until it proves adherence to
all American standards for quality and safety.
No consumer goods should be
imported from a foreign country whose government has espoused the destruction
of America or has threatened the united States of America with any harm
whatsoever. These countries have, by making these threats, declared themselves
to be enemies of the united States of America and nothing manufactured therein
should be sold on American markets. We ought not send American wealth to enemy
countries or they will use our own wealth against us. Let our enemies do their
own ‘heavy lifting’.
5) War on Terror - Our
military should be brought home as soon as practicable from all foreign
countries. I was opposed to the war in Iraq from before the invasion on
Constitutional grounds – there was no Congressional declaration of war. For
that reason there is no Constitutional power for the President to order the
military to invade, especially given the lack of evidence that Iraq had
ANYTHING to do with the WTC attacks. There also was/is no political will to
win, as can be seen in the way things are going there now.
Having said that, the FACT
is that our military is engaged in hostilities in Iraq. We upset the status quo
and MUST restore order before we can leave Iraq. We need to do one of two
things, a) tuck tail and run away, or b) allow the military to prosecute the
war without the infliction of politics on it – in other words, kill the enemy
and his ability to wage war until he unconditionally surrenders. Any compromise
of those extremes is to implement plan a). The compromise will just cost more
and take longer to work out. I am for plan b).
In general, it is impossible
to defeat a ‘common noun’. When we have a defined enemy to defeat, like Nazi
Germany, we never fail. But when we fight a ‘common noun’, i.e.; terror,
poverty, cancer, drugs, etc., how can we define victory. These are things that
will always be with us, and by definition cannot be defeated.
6) Foreign Aid - Aid should
be stopped to all foreign entities, especially and immediately to enemy
countries and parties. Why should we finance our enemies, or our allies’
enemies? Let them find a sheep to fleece.
7) Liberty - I am generally
in favor of all individual liberties, if they do not infringe another’s rights.
I am for the least government intrusion into personal liberties possible. I am
against the egregious potential infringements of liberty in the Patriot Acts
and the Homeland Security Acts. Ben Franklin said that if we give away our
liberty to gain security, we are unworthy of either. Our moment-to-moment
personal security is our own responsibility.
As you can probably tell, I
am a ‘blue-dog’ democrat. I am a Jackson democrat … ANDREW Jackson. I will
probably make the eventual Republican candidate look like Josip Stalin. But I
will defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, as I
did for 23 years in the Navy and Navy Reserve. That is an oath that I took, and
still take, very seriously. I promise that every vote I make will uphold the
Constitution, as lawfully amended.
I have been married to the
same woman for almost 30 years. Debbie and I have 4 children. Our eldest is
married and with his wife has given us our first grandchild. I can’t wait to
spoil him (that’s a generic ‘him’ - I’ll ‘allow’ a girl, but you know how
grandfathers are) and send him home for mom and dad to deal with. Our children
are spread out all over the world, the eldest is in Germany, the next 2 are in
Colorado and the youngest is still at home. We’ve lived in Gnadenhutten for
over 12 years.
Generally speaking, anyone can guess where I will come down on an issue
by looking into the Bible for the principles, judgments and instructions found
therein. I attempt to live my life according to the Bible’s instructions on
living, and I base my decisions on those instructions, as well. If this is NOT
to your liking, don’t vote for me. If it is, you may rest assured that I will
be the best candidate for this job.
If you have questions about
specific issues or topics, please feel free to drop an e-mail to mark@pitrone.net
Mark
Pitrone, a blue-dog, NOT a lap-dog, democrat
‘Just a guy’ for Congress.
Email –
mark@pitrone.net