Roland Straten for Congress

In the tradition of great newspapers of the past, the Belle of Liberty/Letting Freedom Ring blog endorses Roland Straten for New Jersey’s 8^th Congressional District.

Straten is the man for the job.  An economist with an MBA from Darthmouth University’s School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Duke University, he is not a career politician, but an economist, engineer, and entrepreneur with firm roots in the 8^th District.

He then served as an officer in the Navy aboard the USS PYRO stationed off the Vietnamese coast.  He was a deck officer aboard the Pyro, which was an ammunition ship.  He says that all the ammunition ships were given either fiery names or named after volcanos.

“It was a busy and responsible position,” he says.  “But we still weren’t being shot at like the poor boys out in the jungle.  We weren’t in that much danger, although if we had taken a hit, you’d have seen some impressive fireworks.”

After being honorably discharged from the Navy, heworked for the Foxboro Corporation in New York as a sales engineer and for the Union Camp Corporation in Wayne as a financial associate. He went on to earn an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and joined the family business, Associated Fire Protection in Paterson.

He is a licensed professional engineer, a licensed electrical contractor, and a certified fire protection contractor.  He was an officer of the New Jersey Chapter of Fire Protection Engineers, served as President of the New Jersey Association of Fire Equipment Distributors, and served as a Commissioner on the New Jersey Fire Commission.  During that time, he was instrumental in drafting and passing the New Jersey law that governed the licensing of fire protection contractors.

In Paterson, he was an active member of the Paterson Rotary Club as well as the Paterson Education Fund.  He also served as Chairman of the Paterson Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the Paterson Economic Development Corporation, and chairman of Memorial Day Nursery. He served on the Board of Directors of St Josephs Hospital in Paterson.

Straten has lived in Montclair with his wife, Susan, since 1969.  They raised three children and now has four grandchildren. Always actively involved in the community, he served as Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 13 and as Vice-Chairman of the Montclair Redevelopment Agency. During the very difficult times of the early nineties, his skills were key in getting the Montclair affordable housing projects completed.

In his last debate with his opponent, Bill Pascrell, Pascrell violated the rules of the debate by engaging a member of the audience, an Iraqi war veteran.  Straten, meaning no disrespect to the veteran, objected to Pascrell’s violation.  After the debate, Pascrell physically threatened Straten and the police had to intervene and physically restrain Pascrell.

At a Rally for Freedom in West Orange, Straten reminded the assembled crowd that the state’s motto is “liberty and prosperity.”  He pledged that a vote for him will be a vote to preserve political and economic freedoms: freedoms that are slipping away because of massive debt, deficits and government controls imposed by Bill Pascrell and his fellow Democrats in the 111th Congress.

The values page on Straten’s website says a good deal about him:

Core Values

Core values are an individual’s set of standards and beliefs. My core values guide me through tough times and influence every decision I make.  Anyone running for public office has an obligation to let the voters know what there core values are.  These values are the core of my ethical and moral character:

·               Give more than your receive.

·               Be honest — to yourself as well as others.

·               Honor commitments.

·               Do what is right regardless of consequences.

·               Respect others. Act in a manner so that others will respect you.

·               Be a team player.

Beliefs

Based on my experience in the Navy, in business, and in community service, I have developed a set of general beliefs. These beliefs will guide me when making decisions in Washington.  I believe that:

·               Government should be as small as possible.

·               Government action should be taken at as low a level of government as possible where people have more control.

·               Each individual should be given the right and the responsibility to live life as he or she sees fit. Government regulations and mandates should be reduced to a minimum.

·               People, as opposed to government, should make decisions for themselves. I believe that the people know better than bureaucrats about how to live their lives.

·               Liberty should prevail over government control.

·               Most of the world’s problems can be solved by honest, hard-working people, willing to dedicate themselves to the common good. I do believe, however, that those who hurt others by stealing, lying, killing, and doing unethical things should be punished.

·               The United States is the best country in the world.  I am very lucky to have been born here when I was.  No other country, no other system, no group of people or government has done so much for the average person as the United States of America.  No other country has given its citizens, regardless of race, religion, or origin, so much freedom and opportunity.  No other country has increased the average standard of living as we have.  No other country has fought wars and laid down the lives of its young men and women for the freedom of others as much as the United States.

America has been betrayed by career politicians who are knowledgeable about very little besides the working of the Washington nuclear core.  Roland Straten is a man with a plan.  He knows business.  He knows economics.  He knows engineering.  He knows how to devise a plan, measure all the factors, and make the plan work.  As a benefactor of charities in Paterson, he also knows how to make the human factor, and even the environmental factor, part of the equation.

Straten is not one to simply throw money at a problem.  He will study the issue carefully, like a good engineer, come up with an efficient, economical, and productive solution like a good economist, and make sure it benefits the entire community, like a good entrepreneur.

Whenever a piece of infrastructure breaks down, like a bridge or a dam, engineers must always be brought in to solve the problem and make sure it doesn’t happen again.  The failure is always found to like in false economy, poor planning, and corruption.  Like a badly repaired bridge, America is on the brink of failure and we need a representative like Roland Straten to fix it, properly, securely, and safely.

Vote for Roland Straten for Congress.