Title:
Pat Clawson candidate announcement in Flint Talk
Author:
Webmaster_LPM
Date:
6/10/2010
Year:
2010
Article:
http://www.flinttalk.com/viewtopic.php?p=56572
PAT CLAWSON FOR SENATE
PO BOX 470, FLINT, MI 48501-0470
Phone: (810) 730-5110 Fax: (810) 963-0160
E-mail: patrickclawson@comcast.net
FORMER NETWORK TV REPORTER RUNS FOR MICHIGAN STATE SENATE
For Immediate Release
Press Contact: Pat Clawson (810) 730-5110
FLINT, MI (June 1, 2010) – Former CNN investigative reporter Pat Clawson is now running as a Libertarian Party candidate for Genesee County’s 27th District Michigan State Senate seat in the November 2010 election.
Clawson, 55, is challenging incumbent Sen. John Gleason (D-Flushing) for the position. He filed formal candidacy papers with the Genesee County Clerk and Michigan Secretary of State last week and will appear on the November ballot. The 27th District serves residents in the cities of Flint, Fenton, Flushing, Linden, Montrose, Swartz Creek and the townships of Argentine, Clayton, Fenton, Gaines, Genesee, and Mundy.
Clawson is a member of the Libertarian Party of Michigan’s executive board. He is also a member of the Genesee Tea Party. His campaign will be managed by Genesee Tea Party leader and co-founder Loren Bearup, a 16-year UAW Local 9699 member.
Clawson states as follows:
“The voters of the 27th District now have a clear choice. John Gleason is taxpayer-fed. I’m a fed-up taxpayer. I am working to make Michigan’s government fair, open and honest. Both Democrats and Republicans have proven they are utterly incapable of leading. It’s long past time for new blood and new ideas in Lansing. We have to push the political hacks out of the way and get Michigan back on the right track.”
“We must drain the swamp in Lansing. Michigan government comes at the people, not from the people. It is out of control. It is too big, too expensive, too ineffective and too out of touch with the citizens. We must dramatically shrink its size and roll back red tape. Michigan citizens are taxed enough already. We must change our tax laws so businesses will take root here and citizens can build personal wealth.”
“When elected, I will work to stop the constant government money grab on the citizens of Michigan, starting with a repeal of the oppressive “driver responsibility fees” that victimize the middle class and working poor. I will work to streamline and cut the tax burden on our citizens and companies to promote job creation and economic development. I support most of the reforms outlined by the Michigan Turnaround Plan of the Business Leaders of Michigan and the Citizens Agenda published by the Center for Michigan.”
“Unlike most that run for public office, I want to repeal laws – not pass more. We have too many laws and regulations that unnecessarily dictate how we live our lives and conduct our business. One of the best ways to get Michigan thriving and our people working again is to restore freedom and the power of the individual. I want government out of our lives to the greatest extent possible.”
“But there is one area where I will work diligently to promote new laws. We need to toughen laws like the Michigan Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act. We need to make it easier for citizens to demand special audits of government finances and to get investigations of government corruption. I want to see every government agency in Michigan post their checkbooks, contracts, meeting agendas and official meeting minutes on the Internet so all citizens can participate in their government. I promise to work constantly to boost government accountability and transparency for our citizens.”
“Michigan is in trouble because the political culture of buck-passing, mediocrity and failure that exists in Lansing is strangling us. Accountability, achievement, competence and transparency must become core principles of Michigan government. That will not happen while career politicians like John Gleason focus their energies on legislative gridlock, partisan gamesmanship and publicity stunts that mask inaction.”
“This will be a true David-versus-Goliath battle. I am the underdog in this race. My opponent represents the Michigan political establishment. He is a very partisan Big Government Democrat with a tax ‘em-into-the-ground mentality. He has one of the worst attendance records in the state legislature – but he never fails to pick up his paycheck. He supported the oppressive Michigan Business Tax surcharge and the obnoxious services sales tax. Last year he introduced SB-798 to jack up the state personal income tax by over 10% – and was one of only two lawmakers who voted in favor of it. His legislative record is lackluster, with his crowning achievement being passage of a bill regulating tattoo parlors while businesses are collapsing and unemployment is skyrocketing in Depression-ravaged Genesee County. He has a huge campaign war chest and is bankrolled by a Who’s Who of Lansing lobbyists and Big Labor. Special interest groups know he’s a good investment and reliable vote. Our citizens deserve a Senator who works for them, not the fat cats.”
PAT CLAWSON BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Pat Clawson is an award-winning investigative reporter, legal investigator and process server based in both Flint, MI and Washington, D.C. who specializes in probes of financial fraud, organized crime, terrorism, and public corruption. He began his career in 1969 as a reporter with the Flint (Mich.) Journal and his national media credentials includes duty as a Washington, D.C.-based on-air investigative reporter for the original CNN Special Assignments Unit and NBC News; White House correspondent for the Independent TV News Association (Metromedia TV); Capitol Hill correspondent for Independent Network News (Tribune Broadcasting); Washington Bureau Chief of Radio & Records, the newspaper division of the Westwood One Companies; radio talk show host at the Radio America Network, WABC/New York and WRC/Washington; Congressional Editor of Washington Crime News Services; Director of Sales, Marketing & Strategy for the Radio America Network; and President/CEO of Virginia-based TeleGrafix Communications, one of America’s first Internet media companies. He is a former elected member of the board of directors of the U.S. Congress Periodical Press Gallery and has served as a judge for several national media award competitions, including those of the National Association of Broadcasters and the Society of Professional Journalists.
In addition, Pat has worked as a private investigator since 1974 on cases involving international financial frauds, Mafia bombings, public corruption, domestic terrorism, and corporate crime. He is currently registered as a Private Investigator, Armed Security Officer and Private Investigation Instructor in the Commonwealth of Virginia; a Criminal Justice Act Investigator by the District of Columbia Superior Court; and as a Certified Process Server in Michigan. His investigation of Missouri police bribery by private detectives led to the first criminal convictions under the federal Privacy Act. As Executive Director of the Saginaw Valley (Mich.) Crime Commission, he testified in 1980 before a U.S. Senate committee about his investigations of Mafia racketeers and Mexican drug trafficking in Michigan. From 2002 through 2008, he was a spokesman and defense investigator for attorneys representing Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, the former government scientist who was wrongfully labeled by Attorney General John Ashcroft as a “person of interest” in the 2001 anthrax terrorism investigation. Pat has won numerous national journalism awards for his investigations of domestic terrorism, financial crime, the Mafia and public corruption, including a National Emmy Citation for Community Service Broadcasting, the Janus Award for Financial Journalism, the Amos Tuck Financial Journalism Prize, and investigative reporting prizes from the Associated Press and Radio-Television News Directors Association. He was part of a team that won a George Polk Memorial Award for computer-assisted investigations of the administration of justice in a Michigan court. In 2006, he received The Professionalism Award from the Michigan Council of Private Investigators.
Clawson moved from Washington to his native Genesee County in July 2004 to marry his wife Laurie, a Flint public school teacher. For two years, he did investigative reporting and special projects for a now-defunct local alternative newspaper, “The Uncommon Sense.” He briefly relocated back to Washington for a network radio assignment during the 2006 elections and then returned to Genesee County. He lives in Swartz Creek with his wife and has four sons and two step-daughters.
The Libertarian Party is fielding 83 candidates for office on Michigan’s November 2, 2010 ballot. This is a 46% increase over the number of candidates it placed on the 2006 ballot. The Libertarian Party founded in 1971, is the third-largest political party in America. It is the only political party consistently calling for smaller government, lower taxes, and individual rights.
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