Saturday, July 4th, 2009

By J.R. Claeys

Today, I visited four of the Independence Day Tea Parties held across Kansas. We started in Wichita at the Sedgwick County Courthouse, made our way up to the train in Kenwood Park in Salina, headed east to the Gazebo in Ottawa, and ended up south, in Chanute.

In addition to celebrating our independence with readings of the Declaration of Independence, the Tea Parties continue to be a grassroots movement of citizens who have had enough of government corruption and waste. With a debt of $13 trillion looming over us, it is no exaggeration to say our nation has a spending problem.

Today, in Ottawa, I spoke about the need for reasonable, responsible and accountable government. We all know government at it's best can be a hassle, and at it's worst can be a burden. Growing up, my parents taught me the value of hard work, and the important principle that you just don't spend more than you have. The bottom line, is this: We need less government, not more government.

I'm running for the Republican nomination for Kansas Secretary of State to cut red tape for small business, to grow more jobs and make doing business easier for Kansans. I will run free and fair elections and fight for a Voter ID law and registration security procedures to clean up our voter rolls.