Just last week, Christine Jennings proved that Floridians recognize her devotion to the stabilization of the American health care system by receiving endorsement from the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSS) www.ncpss.org. Jennings has been a long time advocate for securing federal funds to insure the protection of health benefits for retirees and Americans in low-income households.

Jennings made a statement after receiving the endorsement in a town meeting at the not-for-profit Village on the Isle retirement community.

“Safeguarding Social Security and Medicare will be one of my top priorities as a member of Congress, and I am so glad that my commitment has been recognized by NCPSS. The importance of protecting both of these programs cannot be underestimated – that is why I oppose risky privatization schemes and will fight for the responsible management of these programs for the retirees of both today and tomorrow.”

To get the full blue-print on Jennings's plan for improving Medicare check out: http://www.christinejenningsforcongress.com/issues.

Offshore tax evasion in Florida by the extremely wealthy via loopholes puts extra tax burdens on the middle class and is causing an uproar on Florida's mainland. Vern Buchanan has exploited said loopholes by owning offshore reinsurance companies that allow his car dealership to pay fewer taxes than other businesses who pay their way, oblivious to the offshore corruption.

Jennings recently spoke with Rep. Brad Sherman(D-Ca) regarding such tax evasion which is also a problem in Florida and expressed her disappointment in Buchanan's shady dealings. Sherman supports two pieces of legislation designed to deter illegal deductibles taken on offshore property.

H.R. 2136, the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, restricts the use of offshore havens, and H.R. 2345, the Abuse of Tax Shelter Shutdown and Taxpayer Accountability Act of 2007 disallows tax benefits for those who fail to disclose the true nature of tax-sheltered transactions relating to business or leisure property.

Jennings: “Restoring fiscal discipline to Washington is of my top priorities. Making sure everyone pays their fair share of taxes is an important step toward balancing the budget and paying down the debt, especially as our government faces so many other economic challenges. I couldn’t agree more with Rep. Sherman’s recommendations for closing these off-shore tax loopholes that allow too many people to escape paying their fair share.”

Vern Buchanan has recently come under allegations of fraud commonly known as "power booking" which essentially means he took money out of his many car business and put it into his campaign.

He also pressured his employees to write checks to him for his campaign which he repaid in cash. Buchanan testified, under oath, that he did not ask his ex-employees for campaign cheques, but every one of them came forward with a matching claim. So far, seven lawsuits have been filed in Florida against Buchanan.

Christine Jennings calls on Buchanan to make the statement he owes to the public. Her spokeswoman, Melissa Smith, says on Jennings behalf, “Instead of answers, all we’ve seen are more lawsuits. And according to his campaign spokeswoman, Buchanan has gone on vacation for the week, continuing to deny the voters of the 13th District the explanations they deserve in these matters. "

I appreciate her policy on a women's right to choose. I also am pleased that she does not support drilling off the shore of Florida.

Although Jennings says she understands the value of testing and accountability in schools, she believes that the educational system needs to move away from the pigeonholing tactics of No Child Left Behind, which employs universal methods for very different educational facilities and diverts money from public and state schools to for-profit ones. Nor have any funds been granted for School Improvement grants program as was stipulated under title I, leaving many schools underfunded, teachers underpaid, and classrooms too full.

Instead of stifling progress further by altering and promoting NCLB, Jennings wants to re-energize education at the federal level by allowing states to re-allocate funding from the School Improvements grants program, and put federal tax dollars back to work for American children.