Government for the People

Get Americans Paid Again

The average worker in America makes 24% more now than they did in the 1970s, while the economy has grown more than 700%. Trickle down economics has been great for billionaires and terrible for workers. It’s time to make companies pay their workers again.

We can do this with federal tax law and the minimum wage.

  • Raise the minimum wage to a living wage. Seattle, California, and Denver have done this and it did not cause a decrease in employment.

  • Cut the social security tax in half and remove the limit of $184,500 - everyone pays the same percentage of their wages into social security - this would be a raise for 95% of working people and social security would be solvent for the foreseeable future. It would also add 400-500 billion dollars a year to GDP from the calculations I’ve seen.

  • Reform federal taxes by removing all deductions other than a large standard deduction of $60,000 for single filers and $120000 for filling as a married couple. The calculations I’ve seen show this as budget neutral compared to the current tax system, but the burden of taxes is shifted to the people making more.

  • Make loans available for companies or startups who will share profits with employees. Give tax breaks for profit sharing to encourage companies to pay their workers for a job well done.

  • Make companies pay a layoff tax when they lay people off - use that money to help those workers until they find their next job.

  • Don’t allow companies to lay people off if they contract with the government.

  • Roll back stock buybacks to the pre-Reagan level of 2%. Currently most companies spend all of their profits on buybacks, to drive their stock price up. This used to be called stock manipulation. Use taxes to make it worth their while to share those profits with their workers instead.

This is about a change in how we think about companies in America - that they exist not only to make money, but to provide good jobs and important goods and services. Imagine if Tesla, that received hundreds of millions of dollars in government loans to get started, was profit sharing with their workers instead of that profit going entirely into Musk and shareholder’s bank accounts. This is not socialism or communism, but a new way to make capitalism work for the people, not just the rich.

We used to have a piece of the cake - a small piece to be sure, but a piece. Now we’ve been manipulated into fighting against our neighbors for crumbs. It shouldn’t be Democrats vs Republicans. It’s us vs billionaires, and we have the numbers to do it. Fighting each other for crumbs is their plan, and it’s working.

The purpose of government is to do what the people want. Let’s get you paid again.

Meet Dr John

Dr John Fardal, DO

I’m Dr John Fardal. I’m a family practice physician and I am running for Congress as an Independent in the Texas 11th District. I grew up in San Antonio and went to public school there. I earned degrees from UTSA and UT Austin, and then went to medical school in Fort Worth. I grew up with Texas values and I haven’t seen our representatives from either party live up to those values very well.

Government exists to do what the people want. Period. That could be building roads, making sure our water is clean, or providing for the common defense. It’s not to make rich people richer. Money in politics has corrupted our government and made our lives worse.

I believe that representatives should do what their constituents want them to do, so that’s my entire platform - to do what the people want me to. I will ask you how I should vote on every significant issue and I will vote the way the majority wants. This means I will not just ask you to vote for me once every two years, I’ll ask you how you want me to vote on every issue throughout my term

Why Independent? In my lifetime, both parties have been in power but they have almost never done what the people want them to do. As an Independent, I don’t have to answer to a party or their donors.

Why no donations? Money is the root of all evil and is the reason government is corrupt. I won’t open that Pandora’s box. If you want to help me win, tell people about me. Hearing about me from someone they trust is worth more than any donation. Since I won’t be fundraising all the time, I’ll have time to actually listen to you and do what you tell me.

I pledge to represent the people, in accordance with the guidelines on http://www.represent-the-people.org

I stand by the policy ideas at http://www.represent-the-people.org/policy But as always, I will always vote for what the majority of my constituents want. That’s the job of a Representative.

Done Being Pflugered?

Pflugering health care:

Pfluger’s budget gives the richest people in America a 1.8 trillion dollar tax break. That budget cuts 880 billion in medicaid and implements 80hr work weeks to qualify. It causes 500 billion to be taken from medicare because the deficit is so large. It cuts SNAP aid to feed kids by 290 billion. At least the rich get the biggest tax break in history. Who donates to Pfluger? Who is he really working for?

Pflugering your trust:

Pfluger obstructed the vote to release the Epstein files. Then when he was forced to vote on it, he voted to release them. Why didn’t he want a vote? Why did he vote to release once it was forced on him? What would Jesus say about someone who obstructs justice in order to protect pedophiles?

Pflugering veterans benefits:

The VA had 66,000 jobs cut. The VA already needed more people to take care of veterans. A lot of those 66,000 were veterans themselves. It’s shameful to Pfluger people who honorably served our country.

Pflugering your right to vote:

Pfluger voted for the SAVE act, which will require every married woman who changed their last name to show a passport or updated birth certificate in order to vote. Why doesn’t he want married women to vote?

Pflugering the Constitution:

Pfluger is allowing ICE to violate the 5th and 14th amendments for due process. Members of congress vow to defend and uphold the constitution. He has failed his most important promise.

Pflugering your bank account:

Congress has the power to tariff, not the president. Tariffs are driving up prices on the things we all buy - I’ve read that it cost every American family $1000 in 2025. Why isn’t Pfluger doing the job you voted for?

What I Think

These are things I think would be good for the people. As always, I will do what the majority of my constituents want me to do, regardless of my ideas. I get one vote, just like you.

Education

Good public education is essential for a working country. We need more teachers and we need to pay them far more than we currently do. Why are we one of the worst countries at education? Because we aren’t spending the money needed.

Safety

We need to be safe in our homes, schools, and out in public. We need better trained police officers and need to pay them more. Since we have the second amendment, we need significantly improved school security so that tragedies like Uvalde never happen. This goes back to better trained police officers as well. If a policeman won’t go after an active shooter in a school, they need to be fired and face charges for dereliction of duty.

We need automatic flood gauges on rivers where floods will cause significant loss of life, especially for those canyons that don’t get cell coverage, like the Guadelupe near Hunt.

This is what government is for. We deserve no less, and we run the government.

The Border and Immigration

We need a secure border. Having people come into the country illegally is a problem for numerous reasons. It’s a long border, so we need more agents and the electronic means to secure it.

However, we also have industries that need workers and Americans don’t want some of those jobs. We should provide a way for people who want to work to come into the country legally to do those jobs. Not just because companies don’t want to pay Americans, but for jobs where we actually have a lack of workers. When their visa runs out, they have to leave. They can re-apply and get preference the more they show that they follow the law. After an amount of time (years) of following the law, there should be a way for them to stay here legally. If they break laws, then they should not be allowed to stay or come back. It’s good for us and them. It’s how America was built.

There should be a way for people who have been in the country unlawfully for a period of time (years), but who have acted lawfully, to get permanent legal status. They have lived here, worked here, respecting the law. These are the people we want in our country.

Corruption

Money is not the same as speech, despite what the Supreme Court decided in Citizens United. Try paying for groceries with speech. Corporations are not people. They do not get to vote, so they should not be able to spend limitless amounts of money through PACs to impact elections. At best they should get to donate the same amount of money that a person does. Money leads to corruption of our representatives, against the people and for the corporations. We all know this. People make the laws, through voting, so let’s change it.

The Military

The people who volunteer to serve our country are a blessing to us all. We need to support them in every way we can. They should be paid better and have good healthcare when they leave the service. However, we do not need to spend as much as we do on other areas of the military. Defense contracts that run 500% over budget are draining money from all of us. Do we need two full carrier task forces to defend ourselves when we have the threat of nuclear weapons to deter aggression? No, we do not. We have had the role of policeman for the world for 70 years, and we cannot afford to continue to do that, as our deficit shows. The rest of the world needs to pick up their part of that duty. We can save a substantial amount of money here, to provide for active duty members and veterans, to reduce taxes, and to fund programs that help Americans at home. This is what America First should mean.

Housing

Every person who is working full time should be able to save up and buy a home. We need both more homes and for workers to be paid more. With private equity firms and big investors buying 30% of homes to turn into rentals, driving prices up and supply down, it’s just getting harder. We need government to stand for the people and stop these companies from using technologies that limit competition and skew the free market. We need to end tax breaks that allow these companies to purchase many homes at once to be used as rentals. We need to provide funds for building low cost homes as well as to repair existing homes that are aging or rundown for low and moderate income owners. We need to provide funding for local governments to build affordable housing for workers like firefighters and teachers, who serve the public good but just aren’t paid enough. There are a number of interesting ideas to address the cost of housing, including modular/3D printed housing and a new version of public housing that is not for profit.

The Constitution

I can’t believe I have to say this, but the constitution is the law of the land until it is amended. There is a separation of powers with checks and balances. When one branch doesn’t check another, usually for partisan reasons, our country stops working the way it was designed. This is why we never have impeachments, because parties run the show, not the will of the people. We need our representatives to do the will of the people, period.

Due process is a right given to all people on our soil, not just citizens. Voting is not to be denied citizens. Freedom of speech cannot be abridged, most especially political speech. The right to bear arms is guaranteed. The right to privacy until a search warrant is obtained. The right to not be discriminated against based on race, religion, national origin, age, sex, pregnancy, familial status, disability, veteran status, or genetic information. And more. If we don’t like what the constitution says, we can amend it, but until then, we uphold it as the most important law of the land - it is the bedrock of our country.

Reminder

As always, these are ideas only, and I not only respect the will of the people, I will fight to my last breath to defend it. Vote for me if you want me to vote for you.

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