Given my family’s military history (my Dad served 20+ years in the Army and my brother serves in a special forces national guard unit) it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that

I’m a strong supporter of the armed forces.

The budgets should be fully funded.  The troops should be adequately trained for their missions and supplied appropriately

(meaning that their families should not have to be sending socks or binoculars or whatever because the supply chain isn’t adequately being managed).  Under the Carter Administration, my Dad had funds to build something new, but no funds to maintain what he had. 

That’s just wrong and does a disservice to our young men and women who have left their families and their homes to serve abroad protecting us and advocating for our priorities.

Our family observes RED shirt Friday which stands for Remember Everyone Deployed while we have troops serving abroad sacrificially. 

We’re thrilled that President Trump has made it a priority to rebuild our troop levels, fully fund their budgets and is working aggressively to bring them home where feasible.

Our country is one of the most generous when responding to humanitarian needs outside and inside our borders.  Unfortunately, I believe some of these priorities have become skewed against the benefit of our citizens in favor of others.  

There’s no doubt that we are a “wealthy” nation compared to most others, and that lots of people need lots of support.  However, my family was always required to live on a budget, and so must we as a nation. 

We MUST provide for our own citizens first. We MUST take care of our veterans first who have sacrificed and fought for the protection and interests of our country at home and abroad.