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Gary Keplinger's Positions and Views on These Issues:
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No Responses |
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Profile for Gary Keplinger |
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General: (political statement of goals, objectives, views, philosophies) |
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I believe we need to clean up the election process and get rid of the idea that the only way to get elected is to raise huge sums of money--money that often comes with strings attached. We need to admit that either major party is capable of good ideas and ideas that don't make sense for our country or its people. We need to let the both the Democratic and Republican parties that we expect more from our leaders. We expect them to give us their full efforts--not to better themselves, but to bring our country to be all it can be. We have the capabilities to make a positive difference in our lives and those around us. We must be willing to tackle the tough issues of the War, National Security, Environment, Energy and a host others. In doing so we must be open and share what's happening with the public. The Senate, House, President and other elected officials are hired by the people. They all need to serve the United States and not just their parties. Together we can make this a country that others look up to. If we choose to continue going down our separate baths then we are in for a lot of trouble. The people of the United States deserve more than they've been getting. The people of the world deserve more than we've been giving. We need to face up to our mistakes and work to make this a safer world and a better world. |
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Personal: (Gender, age, marital status, spouse's name and age, children's name and
ages, home town, current residence) |
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My wife, Ardith, and I have been married for 15 years. We each have a son and daughter. Between us we have 11 grandchildren. We live on 5 acres near Bethpage, Tennessee. I am a 62-year-old retired educator, but keep active with business interests outlined below plus hobbies of songwriting, drawing, photography, reading, writing, sports, and landscaping. We both enjoy Southern Gospel music as well as other types of music and are slowly returning to a part-time music ministry |
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Education: (times and places of schools, colleges, major, degrees, activities, sports) |
Education
Northwest Missouri State University B.S. in Secondary Education 1966
Iowa State University M.S. in Education Administration 1971
Ph.D. in Education Administration 1976
I attended a k-8 one-room country school in Southern Iowa and was a 1962 Mt. Ayr Community High School graduate. |
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Profession: (profession and work experience outside politics) |
Experience Overview
Keplinger Enterprises
Training and Development—I develop and present educational and motivational workshops
Victory Record Productions—I’m president of an independent record production company
VRP Publishing—I’m president of this off-shoot of Victory Record Productions
Creations by Ardith Anne—I assist in marketing my wife’s new craft workshops company
Past Business Experience
Insurance (3 years) —agent, trainer for 5 state region, and director of market research in market planning department
Real Estate---real estate broker and property investment (part-time) 12 years
Management Consultant (2 years + part time 10 years)—Developing and conducting training, negotiator for management, and executive searches for school districts and city government.
Editor and Publisher (2 ½ years)—Christian editor and chart research for CashBox magazine; editor and publisher of Christian Country Music Revue magazine
Education
As a retired educator, most of the following is a summary of past education positions, although I still serve on the State P-16 mathematics curricula alignment committee as well as present mathematics workshops on an as needed basis.
Teacher (16 years) —mostly secondary math, but have taught college/university math and education courses, k-12 PE, and high school physics in Iowa schools. Middle school and high school math teacher and high school track coach in Tennessee
School Administration (13 years)—jh/hs principal, superintendent of schools (7 years with 4 years as a shared superintendent between two districts), and business manager (all in Iowa)
State Mathematics Consultant (2 years)—State of Iowa; included administering federal math/science funds and directing the math/science grant process. Worked with districts on mathematics improvement.
Curriculum Development (Tennessee); committee member in developing performance indicators for various math courses and in reviewing test items for the Gateway and end-of-course tests
Assisted in development of the Technical Geometry workshop for certification of teachers and in the Vocational (career) workshops aligning math, biology, and English objectives with those of the vocational teachers; Currently serving on the committee for alignment of mathematics p-16 curricula.
Workshop Presenter—part-time for 29 years; educational and success workshops
State Presenter (Tennessee)—summer presenter (2000 through 2006) to mathematics and other teachers and school administrators for the State of Tennessee (Algebra I Gateway, Technical Geometry certification, High Priority workshops for those districts identified needing additional assistance, and Vocational/Core Course Workshops). |
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Military: (branch, years of service, active duty experience, highest rank, medals,
honors, discharge date and type) |
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none |
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Civic: (past and present organizations, charities involvement) |
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Various community groups including Lions Club, Kiwanis, and school/community organizations |
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Political: (dates and titles of previously held political offices) |
I have not held any political offices, but I do want to share my stances on various issues facing the United States
National security, the environment, and alternative energy are three of the most important issues at this time in our country. However, there are also many other issues that need to be addressed. I’ve listed my feelings on many of the issues that we face in the space below.
Abortion Issues:
I am basically opposed to abortions, but I don’t want to make them illegal. I feel there are times when a legal abortion may be the best choice (rape, incest, the life of the mother). There needs to much greater use of counseling both before and after the abortion. Abortion should not be a means of birth control. If we are going to make abortion less of an option, then we must also do a better job of preventing pregnancies and in assisting young parents who opt to raise the child rather than place it up for adoption.
Budgetary, Spending, and Tax Issues:
We must return to a balanced budget. To do so may require repeal of some of the tax cuts implemented during the current administration. As a country at war we shouldn’t have expected to be able to adequately fund it as well as all our other programs without the tax base.
As part of this effort we must eliminate pork barrel projects and need to insist that all bills stand on their own merits rather than being inserted in the “fine print” of others. All members of congress owe it to America to stop playing games with the budget and work to bring back fiscal responsibility. Obviously, more must be done to eliminate waste in government projects and those with government contracts. Companies who purposely overcharge or fail to provide the quality service should be severely punished, including loss of the contracts, banning of company officials from future contracts (even under the disguise of a new company), fines in the amount of the contract, and prison terms for the officers of the companies.
Campaign Finance:
Candidates need to not accept any donations of over $5-10 from an individual and none from any organization or political group. This would require elimination of many misleading ads and a revamping of how to reach the voters. Any use of public funds, including transportation, for bringing in public officials (Presidents, etc) for campaigns needs to be eliminated—public taxes should not be underwriting political campaigns.
Crime Issues:
I support the following issues relating to crime: Eliminate the use of the death penalty for federal crimes; provide prison inmates with educational, vocational and job-related skills and job-placement assistance when released; provide prison inmates with drug and alcohol addiction treatment; impose stricter penalties for those convicted of corporate crimes; and minors accused of a violent crime should be prosecuted as adults.
Drug Issues:
There should be mandatory jail sentences for selling illegal drugs. However, we need to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana and allow doctors to recommend marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes. We do need to increase border security to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States.
Education Issues:
We need to eliminate high stakes testing while keeping testing as one component to assist schools in improvement. High stakes testing is destroying the heart of quality education—education that is meant to help students become better problem solvers and become independent thinkers.
We, as a nation, need to improve our public education, not by setting up vouchers so students can attend schools whose “image” may be better, but whose actual education may be below the needed standards, but by increasing funding for school capital improvements; by supporting federal tax incentives for families to save for college; by increasing the safety of the schools and surrounding communities; and by establishing better business/school partnerships.
Employment and Affirmative Action Issues:
We need to increase funding for national job-training programs that retrain displaced workers or teach skills needed in today’s job market and offer tax credits or grants to businesses that offer child care services to employees. Employees should be encouraged to offer flex-time scheduling, comp-time, and unpaid leave for family emergencies. And we must increase the federal minimum wage.
As much as we would like to be able to say that all people in the United States have equal access, I still believe that in some areas there are still “Good Ole’ Boy” practices going on. Because of this I believe the federal government should still consider race and gender in government contracting decisions and should continue affirmative action programs.
Environment and Energy Issues:
These are, without doubt, two of the most critical issues confronting us today. Many of the recent acts do little, if anything, to actually improve our present condition even if the name of the act would indicate otherwise. We must strengthen the regulations and enforcement of clean water and air legislation; strengthen emission controls and fuel efficiency, expand research and make alternative energy solutions an everyday affordable reality for families. We have been given a great, and beautiful country. We must protect it from abuse from companies and those in the government who are willing to sacrifice it for the almighty dollar.
Government Reform Issues:
I do not believe there needs to be any constitutional changes at this time including no need to define marriage. I do think the issue of gay marriage in many cases has evolved into “gay-bashing” under the disguise of the “sanctity of marriage.” We, as a people, would be better off supporting people who love each other and giving them the governmental rights that other unions have, rather than continually spreading hate.
Gun Issues:
We need to reauthorize the ban on the sale or transfer of semi-automatic guns, except those used for hunting as well as maintain and strengthen the current level of enforcement of existing federal restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns including background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows. Gun regulations should not put an undue restriction on the true sportsman. However, I believe true sportsmen don’t need certain weapons and are willing to accept regulations to help insure the safety of our people.
Health Issues:
National health care has been talked about for decades. A country as great as we are should not have millions of people unable to get quality health care. We do need to implement a universal health care program to guarantee coverage to all Americans regardless of income—a heath care program that will make needed prescription drugs affordable.
In addition, with the discoveries being made because of stem-cell research, we need to remove some of the restrictions on the use and/or development of stem cells.
Immigration Issues:
It is easy to understand why a person from another country would want to come into the United States to better the lives of his/her family. And, it is easy to understand why they would even enter illegally if their lives were as desperate at they seem to be in many instances. However, at the same time we have laws that need to be enforced to keep order in our country and to keep out the criminal element. I do think individuals and companies who hire illegal immigrants must be held accountable and that will help in the future. But we need a viable solution for those illegal immigrants presently in the country. I would propose for illegal immigrants to remain in the country they would need to have a full-time job, not have a criminal record here or from their home country and that they be required to perform a set number of community service hours. Failure to maintain the job or perform the community service would result in deportation. There may be extenuating circumstances that might limit the full-time job requirement, but the community service component would be consistent with many sentences that are given in other crimes.
International Aid, International Policy, and Trade Issues:
International Aid should be granted to countries when extraordinary circumstances cause disaster and threaten civilian lives and when it is in the security interests of the United States. However, unless it is part of a United Nations Peace-keeping mission we should not employ troupes to an area. This is evident in the Iraq War.) We should never of gone into Iraq. It has created an even more unstable area. Now, just as in Viet Nam, we need to admit we can’t solve the problem and withdraw immediately
In North Korea we need to, along with other nations and through continued support of the United Nations, use diplomatic and economic pressure to encourage them to abandon their nuclear weapons program . At this time, we should not be contemplating any type of military force. In Africa we need to expand our fight against AIDS and, through the United Nations, attempt to make some of the countries safer for their citizens. We should work to improve relations with other nations including Cuba. We have not been consistent with using human rights abuse as a basis for no trade agreements (i.e. China). So, trade relations should be reestablished with Cuba.
Lobbyist
All people have a right to be heard. Senators and other leaders need to listen, but not be bought. Anyone with a desire to present information they feel should be addressed needs to do so in writing (summarized in 2-3 pages) with contact information for obtaining a deeper understanding. This should all be available to the public on the Senator’s web-site so the public can see what is being proposed or suggested. Any meetings with individuals should be at the office of the Senator and with the knowledge that the meeting and discussions will be public. No lunches, dinners, free gifts, etc. should ever be part of the proposal. Congress People need to learn how to “Just Say No”.
National Security Issues:
Obviously, National security is of prime importance. Part of any plan needs to be the winning back our Allies. Because of the Iraq War we have made the world and our country an even more unsafe place. We are, understandably, disliked as a nation by many in the world. We must stand up and admit our faults and work to repair the bridges that once existed. This along with standing up for human rights and eliminating our own practices that sometime conflict with those rights can help us regain the friends we once had.
Social Security Issues:
We need to maintain social security as a reward for living and working in the United States, even if it means increasing the payroll tax to better finance Social Security in its current form.
Welfare and Poverty Issues:
A great country should not have millions homeless or in poverty. We need to review our welfare programs and implement programs that will help people have the basics of food and shelter in safe environments. Training programs and funded child-care programs can be a start. Relocation to areas where workers are needed should be an included alternative. Poverty is an issue that must be addressed. |
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Religion: (current and past religious affiliations, beliefs) |
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methodist |
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Accomplishments: (significant accomplishments, awards, achievements) |
International Country Gospel Music Association top public relations and top publication awards
Numerous grants for schools |