photo by Hollie Webb
Congressional candidate Weston Wamp said to the Chattanooga Civitan Club Friday afternoon, "What was unique about our country from the beginning was that we protected people's rights, within the law of the land, to do whatever they wanted to do. To pursue whatever they were passionate about."
He told the club that entrepreneurial spirit had shaped his life, from his grandparents starting a roller skating rink in Cullman, Al., to his working with the venture incubator Lamp Post Group.
Mr.
Wamp is running for Congressman Chuck Fleischman's seat. If elected, at 27 years old, he will be the youngest member of Congress.
He said there were three reasons in particular why he would be well-suited to that role.
First, he said, "We need more people on either side of the aisle...who are willing to talk in an open manner."
He said, "None of us will always agree. I'm a conservative but I'm independent-minded."
He said the only way Washington would get back to a place of "reasonable leadership" is if Republicans and Democrats are willing to work together across the aisle. He said with the deficit crisis, this is the only way a solution could be found.
He said, "That's the legacy of our country...that reasonable patriotic people from both sides of the aisle work together. Mr. Wamp also applauded Senator Bob Corker for doing this.
Second, Mr. Wamp said tackling the national debt should be lead by people who "have the most skin in the game." He said because the younger generation would be affected the most, they could bring a new "level of seriousness" to Washington.
He pointed out that no business would have ever been allowed to function in the way that the federal government has with money. He said a business would have been long bankrupt at this point.
He said, "We're playing with fire...It doesn't matter if you're a Republican or Democrat. $17 trillion in debt really should scare us."
Third, he said he would like to improve government efficiency. He said his background at Lamp Post working with tech entrepreneurship showed him many new things. He said innovators are constantly coming up with new "ways the world should work, that business should work."
He said, "One of our great challenges is trying to figure out how to make that massive federal government efficient."
He said, "The federal government rarely finds solutions but the private sector of the United States of America does it better than anybody every has."
He pointed out that while the federal government is currently overwhelmed by fraud in programs such as medicare and social security, there are many technological solutions already being used in the private sector that could drastically help the government.
Mr. Wamp told everyone to send people to Washington who would look at problems from a business standpoint rather than trying to win a political battle.
photo by Hollie Webb