For months, concerned Americans have voiced their opposition to President Obama’s ill-conceived approach to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. I believe his desire to close the facility is based more on politics than policy and we have learned throughout our history that United States security should not include a political calculation or it places our citizens at risk. 

Five days before the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner, the White House confirmed that six detainees at Guantanamo had been returned to their homeland in the nation of Yemen. As details of the plot come to light, Americans are quickly becoming familiar with a nation that is in peril and could be, as Senator Joseph Lieberman has said, the “next war” we face in the global war on terror. 

Today, not one of the men who bombed the USS Cole in 2000 that were detained and tried in Yemen remains in custody. Every one of them has been released by a weak and ineffective Yemeni government to continue their war on the United States. 

The policy error of returning detainees to a nation with a history of setting terrorists free to return to battle stands as a stark example of the consequences of basing critical national security decisions on politics. 

Put aside, for a moment, the laughable claim by the Homeland Security Secretary that the “system worked” in the Detroit bomb plot or the fact that it took President Obama 72 hours to speak to the nation about the incident and consider the larger consequences of an administration that does not take the issue of security seriously. When we finally did hear from the president, he told us this is an isolated extremist; an assertion that already seems incorrect. We often hear politicians say we have to get it right 100% of the time while terrorists only have to win once. This is true and it should be the guiding principle of our national security policy.

Three days before the attempted bombing, Andrew McCarthy writing in National Review asked, “Does [the] Justice [Department] not appreciate not only how perilous but how unseemly it appears under the circumstances for it to be leading the charge to release the Yemeni detainees? And could anyone really believe that the supposedly noxious symbolism of Gitmo is more dangerous to Americans than is deporting terrorists to the places where terrorism thrives?” 

Bringing radical terrorists to the United States and giving them access to American courts with due process, as is happening with the Flight 253 suspect, is a mistake. Sending them to nations that cannot or will not hold them may be an acceptable risk to this administration, but it should not be an acceptable policy to the American people.

I want to take a moment to wish you and yours a truly blessed Christmas. 

Looking back on 2009,  we take heart that our shared beliefs of faith and family, and our constitutional principles, have resonated from our county courthouses to Congress. Without your dedication and love for God and Country, government intervention of healthcare, cap and trade, and much more, would have passed months ago.  For all of this, I thank you and I celebrate your friendship. 

We celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and we remember the special blessings and traditions of this holiday season. I remember coming home to the smells and sounds of Christmas. The cold chill of a winter night,  as we piled in the car to go to Christmas Eve services, or the snowball fight in the front yard, wet and cold we laughed out loud.

To those who have lost a loved one, we are with you.  To our friends and neighbors who are struggling with the loss of a job, worries about the bills and concerns for our future, we are with you. To those serving overseas who will not be with their loved ones this holiday, we are with you. 

The challenges facing us, both as individuals and as a nation, are great. I am more confident than ever that we have it within ourselves to meet those challenges. I believe the answers to solving our problems rest in the spirit of this holy season. The values of faith and charity are the underpinnings of our society and by living by those values we can restore the nation we love. 

Like you I will gather with family this year and appreciate the simple joys of time with loved ones and reflection on the year past and the times ahead. We have so much to be thankful for.

 Wishing you the merriest of Christmases.

Lou Ann

Recently, political analyst Charlie Cook wrote an opinion article about the inability or unwillingness to address the ongoing and seemingly expanding problems House Democrats have in living by ethics guidelines in performing their duties. 

Public service should be an honorable endeavor. When our public officials become tainted with corruption, they dishonor their office and disrespect those who elected them to represent us.  The American people have grown tired of the same familiar names showing up in the headlines over and over while the House leadership ignores their corruption. 

Charles Rangel, Chairman of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee and his refusal to pay his own taxes.

John Murtha, Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee has mismanaged his committee to the point where Cook made this statement: “The Defense Appropriations Subcommittee smells like a cesspool, one that is threatening to foul the entire Democratic Congress. Several subcommittee members look as if they have been engaging in “pay to play,” with campaign contributions being accepted in exchange for earmarks and with government spending decisions linked to jobs or consulting deals for relatives and former staffers.”

The list is long and embarrassing for our nation. In 2006, Nancy Pelosi told us she was going to “drain the swamp” and clean up the ethics problems in Congress. It seems there were a few more gators in the swamp than Speaker Pelosi counted, as she seems unwilling to wade into the mess.

As embarrassing as it is to see members like Murtha and Rangel acting in this manner and thumbing their nose at the people, it is equally shameful that members such as Bart Gordon allow it to happen.  Earlier this year, Gordon voted to condone Rangel’s ethical shortcomings, even as Rangel faces a criminal investigation for his failure to pay the taxes he expects you to hand over every April 15. Gordon voted to allow Rangel to continue to serve as Ways and Means Chairman, picking his political buddy over the people of Tennessee.

Tennesseans can do the job Nancy Pelosi and Bart Gordon won’t in November 2010. We can elect a Congressman who will stand up to these corrupt members and restore faith that our government is for the people, not the politicians.

Like you, I will take some time this week to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with my family and take a little time to count our blessings over the past year.

There can be no doubt this Thanksgiving comes at a difficult time for many of us in Tennessee. Many of our neighbors are struggling to find work or make ends meet. Many of our families are missing a loved one who is defending our liberty on the other side of the world and the problems that face America can sometimes seem overwhelming.

As we pause to observe the holiday, I hope you will join with me to remember those who are less fortunate, families that are struggling and our friends and neighbors who need our help most as the season begins.

I am convinced that, while our problems may seem overwhelming, we have it within us as a nation to overcome any challenge and solve the problems that concern so many Americans. I believe the first step to overcoming our problems is to elect representatives who will truly listen to you and reflect your values, but there will be plenty of time to discuss that as the calendar turns and the campaign season begins. For now, it is a time to be thankful for our freedoms and to reach out to those who need the compassion of their fellow Tennesseans.

One thing I am thankful for is the outpouring of encouragement and support I have received since announcing my candidacy for Congress. Taking on a task like this is never easy and I am grateful for every expression of support I receive. Your words of encouragement convince me every day that taking on the career politicians who care more about their titles and power than the people is the right thing to do.

So on this Thanksgiving, my family will save a special moment of thanks for you.

I hope this season finds your family happy and healthy. I look forward to seeing you on the campaign trail soon.

In these tough times, it’s important for Americans to have faith in the accuracy of information their government provides to them. It’s become clear in the last few months that the Obama Administration has some problems with math.

You might remember in February, President Obama and Nancy Pelosi told us that unless we passed their $787 billion “stimulus” plan, they would be unable to keep unemployment below 8%. Their sales job worked and the pork plan passed. Bart Gordon was right there first in line to cast a yes vote for more debt and a weaker economic future for our children.

Here we are in November and unemployment sits at 10.2%. Vice President Biden tells us, “everyone guessed wrong.”

After nine months we cannot get an accurate number of the jobs the administration claims to have “saved or created” with the pork plan. We do know from reporting that the president is claiming jobs have been created in 15 of 25 Arizona congressional districts.

The problem with their estimates is Arizona only has eight congressional districts.

Faced with an avalanche of new debt, the House moves to Nancy Pelosi’s 1,990 health care takeover bill costing $1.3 trillion, but we are told it will lower costs. A week after the bill is passed, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services informs us that it will actually INCREASE costs by $289 billion over the next decade.

Now comes word that the Department of Health and Human Services will revise the number of available doses of the H1N1 flu vaccine down from the original number of 100 million to 40 million and today down to 28 million. This after the HHS Secretary told Congress earlier this year that there would be plenty of vaccine available. Since September, 3,000 Americans have died as a result of H1N1 and 29,000 have been hospitalized. The administration blames the manufacturers for their staggering overestimation of available doses, but excuses don’t solve the problem.

Whether the administration’s problems giving accurate numbers to deal with policy issues are a result of politics or incompetence, the fact remains that we as citizens deserve an honest accounting of our government’s activities. The Obama administration has not learned that lesson and the Congress has failed in its oversight responsibilities.

Welcome and thanks for checking in. Here I hope to discuss the issues in more depth than you get in news reports or commercials. I also will be keeping you updated on my campaign for Congress and the exciting things that are happening. Please let me know your thoughts and get involved. 2010 will be an exciting year as we finally give Middle Tennesseans a true choice and a representative that stands for our values.