THESE ARE MY REPLIES TO THE "DE FACTO" STANDARD QUESTIONNAIRE (Sun-Sentinel's). 

From:                      Juan Xuna, Candidate US Congress, district 22, FL     

Office Sought:        US Congress,  District_22

Address:                1239 Hillsboro Mile, # 607, Hillsboro Beach, FL 33062-1313

Telephone:             Home 954 I-am-Xuna  ;    Office 954 426-9862 

                                 Fax 954 426-9331  ;         email   Juan@Xuna.net

Websites:                Main site at  www.Xuna.com

                                 Issues-coverage at www.Gr8St8.com (Great State) 

Occupation

Ø      Resigned on January 15, 2002 to position as Vice President of International Sales for Telecomm.  Manufacturer (Independent Technologies, Omaha, NE).  Full-time dedicated to campaign.

Education

Ø      Telecommunications Engineer.  For more, please browse resume.  

Biography

Ø      Born in Vigo, Spain in 1948. My father was a Police Officer and veteran of the Spanish Civil War. I have 3 brothers and 1 sister. I am the only one in my family who left for good the Iberian Peninsula. I have a BS in Electrical Engineering. Master in Telecommunications. Founded two software companies. I am married to a Brazilian-American Artist. I have four children.  My father died a decade ago, my mother has been diagnosed with stomach cancer and will likely die before Christmas.

1 What previous actions by you demonstrate you have the honesty, integrity, ethics and personal character to be an elected official?

Although I am an Engineer who has served almost three decades in private industries, I am a neophyte in politics.   As such, I have not held any position in public office before, neither elected nor appointed.  Only close acquaintances or family could attest to my personal character, integrity and honesty.

 What I could say though, is that you will not find a single newspaper article, website page, or court document that would suggest that I do not have the attributes you point out, plus some…

1.     Honesty and integrity

2.     World trotter and polyglot

3.     Scientific Education

4.     Compassionate

5.     Clear visibility of what is right and fair.

6.     Not biased by religion doctrine.   I do not profess any religion.

These are my greatest personal achievements:

 Ø      Running for the US Congress, despite being a foreign born who does not speak -vernacularly- English.

Ø      Founded two high-tech ventures (“Scientific Software”, Old San Juan, PR; and “Animal Science Software International”, Two Rivers, WI), and suffered financially (as well as family penuries) as a consequence of this entrepreneurial spirit, summed to the lack of venture capital.

Ø      Broke away from the Spanish Catholic mold that I was born to fit in.

Ø      Graduated Summa Cum Laude, Cum Lauded, With Honors, or In the Top 5% of the Class, in every degree I earned or careers I chose to embark.

Ø      Procreated four well directed children: Ryan (28 -Optometry), Jason (21 -Optometry), Kelvin (20 -Architecture) and Alana (3 ½ -Polyglot?).

2 What are your top priorities for the nation and for your district and why?

The failure of some of our international policies motivated me to run for office. Some of our domestic political trends have been a factor, as well.  For instance:

o        Our proven incompetence mediating peace in the Middle East, the 9-11 tragic events, and the possibility that more terror events would be added to this saga (do not forget that these days anybody could possibly carry a “dirty” nuclear bomb in a suitcase, or in a briefcase).  It is imperative that we strive for fairness, and set -by example international standards.

o        The unequal treatment of Immigrants, inequalities in the civil rights of Gays and Lesbians, stigma against Atheists, Foreign-born electoral limitations, and so on…

o        The lack of social protection in our labor laws, lack of adequate vacations and enough quality time to achieve good bonding among family members, lack of a socially-responsible maternity leave period, millions of workers making less than the minimum wage standards, non-universal healthcare, inadequate prescription drug coverage, …

o        The right-to-die with dignity, the woman’s right to decide what to do with an unwanted pregnancy, and so forth. 

Therefore, the most important international, national and state issues in my campaign are:

1.     Equality in our legal system, and for ALL individuals

2.     Emphasis on better Quality of Life for the American family (longer vacations, maternity leave, child care,)

3.     To palliate the depression in the industrial sector (and to give incentives to our commerce with Latin America, Asia, and Europe) I am pro quantum leaps in Global Trade (finishing the Pan-American highway, and tunneling under the Bering Strait) …  That will surely bring more opportunities to the US work force, and ample commerce to American corporations.  It will also reduce immigration pressure in our shores by creating opportunities abroad.

4.     Universal Healthcare and Universal Rx Drug Coverage.  Others do it with 10% GDP, why cannot we do it spending 15% of our GDP?

5.     Quality of Education (inseparably joined to cap limits on those H1B visas being issued from our Embassies all over the world).

6.     National investment in technological advancement.  Focus on support to high-tech companies so they keep our technological lead.

7.     Drastic measures for immigration control.  But compassion, understanding, amnesty and equal rights to Immigrants.

8.     Environmental Responsibility, and Long Term view to the effects of pollutants.  In other words, I would like to be a watchdog for the rights of those humans who will live in our Planet in the year 3,000 .  Or even 30,000 and beyond.  We must not be shortsighted with the needs for a healthy planet and for a diverse flora and fauna.  Easy said! 

The more acute problems that I would like to see dealt with at the district level are: 

1.      Substandard, and Inadequate housing for the needs of Immigrant families, and of the poor in general. Some immigrants might be illegal aliens.  Yet, they are human beings who eat, sleep and love their children and families as we all do.  If we do not expel them (what we have the right to do, no question), then they deserve better.

2.      Lack of enough police officers with ethnic roots in our ever-growing immigrant communities. 

3.      Particularly in my district –a sliver of gold coast- there is a lack of vision on the need for open spaces along the shoreline.  In other words, too much development.  The present and future needs of our citizens have a second seat.  Big developers and Realty empires indulge in their first seat accommodations.  There are only boardwalks in Hollywood, Deerfield, Lake Worth, Palm Beach and Juno Beach.  Most of the access to the coastline is strangled and very limited.

4.     Promote tourism more vigorously.  We could be the Mecca for international travelers.  We are not at present.  When Japan joined the developed nations, their outflow of tourists surged.  China is waking up, and although the pace might be slower than that experienced by Japan, a small percent of two billion people could increase Florida’s tourism tenfold.

5.     Taxing fossil fuels (gasoline) is unpopular, yet it would be a responsible way of reducing traffic, energy consumption, and pay for needed infrastructure of the country. Taxing fossil fuels requires a lot of political courage to deal with the backlash.  But it would promote more occupancy in cars (car pooling), elimination of frivolous trips, savings of US dollars, reduction of CO2 emissions that are warming the globe and threatening to immerse Florida’s coastline under water in another 250 years, or even sooner. 

3 What are the proper roles of a member of the US Congress?

Ø      Social justice for ALL.

Ø      Put people first.

Ø      Defend separation of Church and State

4 How could Congress improve its performance?

Ø      We will soon be confronting unbelievable challenges: depletion of fossil deposits and few alternative fuels, a third-world population growth that will swamp the developed countries, etc.  We need to analyze and redesign some of our social systems.  The fabric of the American family is also breaking apart.

Ø      Can bureaucrats and lawyers accomplish these tasks alone?  I do not think so!   The US Congress -for the most part- is made up of lawyers and bureaucrats.  We have very few Governors, Representatives, or Senators who are technocrats or scientists. It is my firm belief that we need more doctors, engineers and science pundits in our governments (State and Federal). 

Ø       How NASA would be if 87% of their employees were bureaucrats and lawyers?  The emerging problems in our 21^st century world are not less challenging than NASA’s projects.  That is my point!

5 In what major areas would you like to increase or decrease federal spending?

And

6 What should be done to make our government less wasteful and more accountable, streamlined, efficient, productive and user-friendly?

After World War II Europe was a disaster area.  The European leaders knew they could not offer their citizens the “American standard of living” exhibited in Hollywood movies.  Europeans opted instead for the protection of their citizens, putting emphasis on social issues (vacations, job security, universal health care, and so forth).  Today, most economies in Europe are very socialistic in nature when compared to our capitalistic system of government. 

Well, I hate to be the messenger of bad news, but America –and the entire world for that matter- is confronting new and serious problems, pretty much as the Europeans did half a century ago.  No easy solutions.  Some of these problems might defy attainable feasible solutions. 

I would like to see the American economy rebounding.  That would probably help me recover some of the stock market losses I suffered during the last two years.  Unfortunately, deep down I feel it is not going to be a V-shaped recovery.  Not even a U-shaped one.

Looking at the origin of the merchandize sold these days in Wal-Mart and K-Mart, you realize that the economy of China (2-billion-people strong) is emerging after many centuries of lackluster progress.  India and China seem to be on their way out of the doldrums.  It sounds good, but it might not be for the developed nations.   Our economy suffered a great deal when Japan raised up; we lost many manufacturing jobs and factories.  And remember, there is only 1 Japanese for every 2 Americans. But for every 2 Americans there are 10 Hindus, and 14 Chinese.  See it?

Ø      The demand for energy is bound to reach new heights as the economic acquisitive-power of these giants moves up.  Known oil reserves will be depleted in 80 years at current yields.  Coal will last for 300 more years at current production levels, but long before then we might have to drastically stop burning fossils fuels, which release significant amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Ø      Either that, or in a mater of 500 years we will return to an atmosphere as it used to be billions of years ago, before the trees and plants had extracted the CO2 from the atmosphere and buried it as fossils.  In other words, the air will not be breathable to humans and to most species of animals.

Ø      Furthermore, without much of the polar caps remaining, watch for the sea level!  A great deal of Florida could be underwater in just 250 years.

With that preamble I can now answer your questions and say that we need to emphasize energy conservation, cap the flow of dollars going to pay for foreign oil, and protect our citizens.  IF WE ARE GOING TO BE LESS RICH, LET’S -AT LEAST- HAVE A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE.  Many of our citizens do not have adequate vacations, access to medical care, and … the list goes on.  We also need to do a better job controlling illegal immigration.  Each country must accept responsibility for their economic predicaments.  They need to educate their citizens, introduce planned parenthood, protect their environments, and so forth.  Although American compassion should be our bulwark, we should not be rewarding their chaotic ways of governing.

With those statements above, I think I have answered pretty well –although indirectly- the questions of where we should we be spending our federal money (5) and government accountability(6).  With China forcing salaries down in the US –probably- for many years to come, it is time to focus more on people.

7 Briefly discuss how the US government should handle these issues:

a-  The Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

PEACE in the Middle East.   Negotiations need to be carried out with a more balanced USA positioning.  If we do not help them achieve the right democratic solutions, Israel -and all of us- will suffer tremendously in years to come. That has been my opinion on this conflict since before 1967.

Born is Spain, I have met many Arabs and Jews in college and at the workplace. I am able to see grievances on both sides of the conflict.  Many politicians -unfortunately- either cannot, or are too politically timid to be honest about their views.

b-   The war on international terrorism.

We have to be assertive helping Colombia getting rid of the FARC guerrillas, kidnappings are causing havoc over there, and pushing immigrants to our shores.

Too much emphasis on minimizing American casualties in Afghanistan (and in Iraq when Desert Storm) has diminished the effectiveness of our armed forces.  I am a critic of how both US presidents (Bush father and son) have handled these conflicts.

We also need to be pro-active.  Having all our Government Agencies in Washington D.C. is like having all your eggs in just one basket.  Again, we need System’s Analysts.

China is making good progress, let’s not interfere too much with their system of government.  We should keep unrelenting pressure, but sensibly.

I am pro normalization of relations with Cuba, and an end to the US embargo.  It only makes more miserable the life for the average Cuban.   Ironically, we could manipulate Fidel a lot better, if Cuba were accustomed to US goods and services, and their people more influenced by the views of foreign tourists.  Their isolation only helps Castro.

There are more people today in America without the right to vote, than there were American citizens when the American Constitution was written.   If we value our democracy for what it is, ALL people should have representation.  That includes ex-felons, felons and non-citizens.  Voting for President could remain a citizen’s privilege, but voting for your representatives should be the right of all legal residents in our land

Value our independence, lack of influence in our thoughts, and our courage and stamina.  Do not be another of those “prophets” who say: NPA campaigns are not viable!   In doing so, they fulfill their prophecy.   Instead, please support our campaigns, and promote political debates.  Without prejudice, let the best win, fairly.

Our tax system has become too complex for the average individual to understand.  It is imperative we simplify it.  Deductions and credits are at the root of its complexity, and most of these deductions only benefit a few, and are subject to manipulation and transformation into loopholes.  In my opinion the best way to simplify the code, and eliminate the yearly burden to our citizens, is to eliminate the tax code in its entirety. It will be a simple metamorphosis through a period of a decade, first a flat tax with only two or three tax tiers.  Then progressively reduce the tiers, to be changed in favor of an increase in sales tax (taxing consumption, and not wages) maintaining the equation balanced.  Not only our lives will be simpler, but also would fairer and it would promote conservation of our -more and more- limited resources.

Ø      On the other hand, and modesty aside, I am –academically- better qualified that any of the other two candidates to grasp -and solve- today’s problems!  If our democratic system were more fair and representative –I am sure- there would be many people and organizations out there stating publicly what I just wrote.

Ø      Congressman Clay Shaw has been in Washington 22 years.  In that long period of time a lot can be accomplished by an energetic and idealist individual.  Mr. Shaw – despite his party’s propaganda to the contrary- in more than two decades has done very little for our seniors, workers or families.   He does not believe in equal rights for all Americans (definitely not for homosexuals, a group that represent -perhaps as much as- 10% of our population).

Ø      Both, Shaw and Roberts do not see anything wrong with Israel’s theocracy where the “Jewish character” of the land has to be maintained at all costs. Consequently, in those “sacred” lands ethnic Arabs are being treated as second-class citizens.  And this despite the fact that in a couple of decades the Arab ethnic group will be the majority there. Land has been a usurped, legitimate inhabitant expelled and transformed in international refugees.  All Palestinian families are painted as guerrilla-lovers and being exposed to similar predicaments to the ones Jews suffered in Germany and elsewhere.  The oppressed have become the oppressors!  Who would have guessed this outcome in the 1950’s?  The US government closes its eyes and tacitly nods.  The saga of terror will not end!  Too much injustice!  We now look at Iraq as the culprit of malice.  Look closer!

Ø      Clay Shaw, in my opinion, has sold his soul to the Pharmaceuticals.  But, I will give him partial credit for some of those needed reforms to the welfare system that were implemented a few years ago.

Ø      Clay just sits on a Republican chair, voting 99.9% of the time as his party recommends.  He does not have much ideology of his own.

Ø      I am hopeful on the support from the thousands in the technocratic communities of Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton.  As well as thousands of Hispanics, Foreign-born citizens, Freethinkers and Humanists.

Ø      I trust my campaign will have as much appeal to the business community as support from the labor unions.  And as much appeal to moderate Jewish as to Arabs, Pakistanis, Hindus, Italians and others.  Fairness is fairness, and it goes beyond social barriers and religions.

Ø      My role as an elected official would be to make a real difference in people’s lives.  Not just for Floridians, but for all people in this nation of ours.

Ø      As well as, justice for all in the international community, from which –progressively- we will become more inseparable.  After all, we are all human beings!  … Here and abroad.

Ø      A crying 2-year old in Uruguay or in Topeka, KS, are the same to me.  Seeing a hungry mother or a malnourished child in Bosnia or in Afghanistan is equally devastating to me.  Both, an American afflicted with AIDS in Miami, or one in S. Africa, deserve similar compassion.