During Bearkat Family Weekend, students and parents alike got the chance to listen to guest speaker John Sharp as he spoke about his upcoming democratic campaign for Texas Senate.
According to his website, Sharp holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Texas A&M University and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Texas State University.
Sharp is the former state comptroller and chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission where he reformed the state’s trucking regulations, improved railroad safety, and developed new markets for Texas’ abundant clean-burning natural gas supplies.
During his term as comptroller, Sharp helped the state avoid an income tax, created the Lone Star card to reduce fraud and waste in the federal food stamp program, and instated the Texas Tomorrow fund, which is a prepaid college tuition plan for middle-class families.
During his address to the community, Sharp discussed topics from gun control to the importance of having Texas represented in Senate meetings. In his speech, Sharp stressed just how vital the middle class is to the economy.
“The question [at the federal level] now is how did we get into the [economical] mess that we are in? Because we ignored the words of Sam Rayburn, former Speaker of the House from Texas, and his mantra was, ‘There are only three things that matter: working families, working, families working families,” said Sharp. “You take care of those folks and everyone else will do good, rich folks and poor folks, because the middle class is what drives the engine that is the United States economy.”
As Senator, Sharp would like to balance the budget and make the economy stable for future generations.
“We are in such a big deficit and there are problems with Medicare, Medicaid, social security, etc. And until we fix them in a sensible and humane way, then [future generations] will not have an economy that is going to allow them to make the same living as their parents did,” Sharp said.
Sharp also wants to bring Texas representation to the Senate because, “Kay Hutchinson and John Cornyn are just not invited,” said Sharp.
Quoting John Tower, the first Republican Senator in Texas, Sharp said, “It is in Texas’ interest to have a Democrat and Republican in the United States Senate, so that no matter who is power, we have someone to be running for.”
In closing, Sharp said, “I want to be a Senator that looks to the future, I want to be a Senator that represents Texas, and I want to be a Senator that puts a stop to the extremes of both political parties and starts representing what mainstream folks are all about,” said Sharp.
For more information on John Sharp and his upcoming campaign visit http://www.johnsharp.com