Kangas for Congress

The Cold War supposedly ended somewhere between the years 1989-1991. I barely remember watching Peter Jennings’ coverage of the Berlin Wall getting obliterated, and the last-gasp Soviet coup attempt against Gorby. As a millennial with a (maybe more than) passing interest in politics, I read Francis Fukuyama’s essay The End of History as being the definitive conclusion to all world events of consequence. The US won; let’s give it up for the “Last Superpower.” 

Yet here we are, in 2023, and we’re still living under the shadow of a menacing Kremlin. We’re still rooting for the “West” in Geopolitics: The Game Show, the latest tragic installment of which is playing out in Israel today. We’re still spending money on military aid and overseas installations and interventions like we haven’t been writing IOUs to the Chinese for the better part of the last quarter-century. The President just asked for over $100 Billion to subsidize these forever wars, and our Congressman is in lockstep support, like the reliable party back-bencher he is.

The problem is, no matter how far in debt we go to fund these internationalist projects, nothing ever gets resolved. Conflicts in those regions have continued on-and-off for centuries. Terrorism continues unabated, grudges passed down from one generation to the next. Lives are lost, ecosystems destroyed, natural resources squandered for eternity in the violent throes of ideological clashes. No hearts are won, no minds are changed, and at the end of it all, you and I are footing the bill. 

Democrats want to hand over our money to foreign nations with no conditions. Republicans insist upon militarizing the southern border and further dehumanizing migrants before they, too, will sign on to this scheme. Meanwhile, ordinary people like you and I worry about our access to healthcare. A hospital in our district just abruptly severed coverage through the region’s largest insurance plan. A chronic lack of trauma centers continues to cause otherwise preventable deaths due to accident and injury.

Missing from the impassioned debates over the Middle East and Russia are the plights of everyday Americans. Aren’t there far more pressing priorities we could be funding instead? People are sprawled out on the streets, living in filth, starving and dying from untreated ailments in communities all along the North Coast. How can we justify spending our tax dollars (and our debt-dollars) on more bombs to blow up civilians overseas? 

Answer: we can’t. That’s why I’m running to represent the North Coast in Congress. The Cold War should remain a distant and fading memory, not a manufactured specter continually lingering over foreign policy. Our Congressman and his colleagues are stuck in the past. I’m looking towards a future that’s sustainable for people and the planet. 

Let’s get back to sensible and affordable public policy. On March 5, you have a chance to send a message to the partisan establishment. I’m Jolian Kangas, and I’m your Independent candidate for US Representative.

(Eureka, CA) Jolian Kangas announced today that he is running to represent the Second District in the US House of Representatives. “I’m declaring my candidacy to represent the North Coast in Congress,” said Kangas. “As a foster dad and small business owner in Eureka, I know what it is to struggle. Every day, I encounter people cast aside by society, digging through trash and breaking into my vehicles to sleep for the night. 

“Yet the wealthy elites do not care. They’d rather spend $100 billion of our taxpayer dollars to fund forever wars overseas. They get rich off the infrastructure our ancestors built and you and I pay to maintain. They drain the public coffers to support pet causes that do nothing for the public benefit, exempt their unearned income from taxes, then go home to sleep at night in gated compounds protected by private security. Meanwhile, the rest of us are left to fend for ourselves and fight over scraps.”

Kangas is entering the March 5, 2024 Primary Election as a challenger to Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. This district covers the North Coast region of California, from the Golden Gate to the Oregon border.

Kangas stated that as a political Independent, he is best suited to serve the district’s constituents. 

“Both the Democrat and Republican parties are complicit in this vicious cycle,” Kangas said. “That’s why it is time to elect a truly Independent candidate to represent us. Many of us don’t cast votes because we rightfully feel there are no candidates representing our interests. I’m running to present an alternative to the status quo that’s left the vast majority of us shut out of the process. The people of this largely rural district deserve to have our voices heard.

“Let’s get back to the basic functions of government. No more money for foreign conflicts and handouts to corporate donors. Instead, let’s expand programs that provide food security, like EBT and school lunch. Let’s empower HUD to get more people housed, and ease regulatory barriers to home loans. Let’s reverse the trend of rural hospitals and clinics shuttering. And let’s establish a baseline level of federal support for inpatient mental health and addiction treatment. 

“This is your country, and these are your tax dollars at stake. Do you really want to stick with a congressman committed to spending money we don’t have on wars that will never be ‘won’?”

For more information, please visit kangas4congress.org.

Authorized by Kangas for Congress