Dan Whitfield

Hi, my name is Dan Whitfield. I am a working class Arkansan that is ready to bring actual representation to the people. For far too long our politicians have been bribed by special interests, putting our interests aside, leaving the working class to shrink and nearly disappear. In order to rebuild the working class we need to have representatives with political courage. I have that political courage. I will fight for your family and mine. To learn more about me go to https://danwhitcongress.us/autobiography to read my autobiography.

• I will bring the voice of the working class to the legislative process. Too many corrupt legislators represent special interests and too few actually represent their constituents.
• I will fight for your families health. through ending the for profit healthcare system and pushing for a system that ends medical bankruptcies.
• Ending the disastrous war on drugs is long overdue which is why I support ending the prohibition on cannabis by federally decriminalizing it and nationally expunging cannabis convictions.

Arkansas is one of the poorest states in America, ranking 49 in terms of lowest income. At the same time, we pay the highest taxes in the nation. Something is very wrong. Our representatives have failed to tackle these issues for decades, and the time has come to finally address these two very important issues. These issues cross party lines and it's going to take us coming together, as Arkansans in whole, to overcome these obstacles. We need representatives that listen to us, that understand the struggles we face every day. When 67% of children born in Arkansas are covered by Medicaid, our representatives have no business voting time and time again to cut Medicaid. A representative of nearly the poorest state must fight for aid for the people. I am sick and tired of rich old white dudes representing poor people by telling them that they are lazy and just need to get off their asses. There are so many factors that affect families and these rich old politicians are so out of touch that they have no idea what it is like to be one of their constituents.

Something happened to me in 2015, Bernie Sanders woke me up. He showed me the corruption in our government. He showed me how our legislators take huge sums of money from special interest donors in exchange for favorable legislation that in return hurts their constituents and their families. He showed me how so many Americans are suffering, while the richest 1% hoard nearly all the wealth gained. HE SHOWED ME how corporations can use tax evasion loopholes to pay $0 in taxes, while the rest of us are stuck footing the bill by paying 20-30% in taxes. Bernie Sanders and I may not agree on everything, but he showed me what I needed to see, what I need to show everyone who hasn't seen these things yet. Bernie Sanders started a political revolution, one that will put the American government back into the hands of the people where it belongs. It's up to us to continue this movement. It's up to us to take on the special interest donors that have purchased our government and tell them ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

A big motivator in my decision to run for office was the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. That is what I strive to be, a representative my constituents will be proud of, a man my country will be proud of, a father my daughter will be proud of. Having representatives that have gone through the struggles so many of their constituents face and to have a representative that actually understands these struggles would be life changing to many Americans. My political philosophy is simple: Understand, empathize, have integrity, serve with honor, then after return to the working class.

Honesty, transparency, and integrity. When I say I am sick and tired of politicians lying to my face I know I am not alone. I am tired of hearing a candidate make all sorts of promises, then as soon as they are elected do the exact opposite. There is NO private and public side, there is only the truth. If you cannot be honest with your constituents, you do not deserve to be their representative. Transparency is so important because all the corruption in our government. I believe in 100% financial transparency. Integrity is of utmost importance. We must have representatives that know the difference between right and wrong. I feel this is a quality that is severely lacking in our legislative process. If more legislators had integrity, we wouldn't need to focus on the current corruption in our government. We need disinterested Americans to run for office. We need Americans that are willing to serve their constituents because of duty and honor, not to make some quick cash. I foresee a day when we have more integrity in congress than weakness, and I see that day coming soon.

I have the honesty and integrity needed to fight the corruption in our government. I will not be bribed, I will not stop fighting, and I will not let special interests continue to purchase our legislative branch! I am a loving husband and father whose focus is making this great nation, one that we can be proud to raise our families in. A nation whose working class can pursue the American Dream. I spent 5 years as a cable guy, and I am good at it. During that time, I was blessed to be able to meet thousands of families and hear their stories, hear their complaints, hear that challenges people face every day. I am a regular guy, I work hard, I go to school to better my career, and I live through the struggles so many of us Arkansans face every day. I feel your pain. Through understanding and empathy, I am the perfect person to represent us. I am not a millionaire, I am not out of touch, I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth, I worked hard and got where I am today. If you give me a chance, elect me to replace John Boozman, I won't let you down. You will find yourself the proudest you have ever been to be an Arkansan, in the greatest nation on Earth.

The core responsibility of a representative is to represent those that elected them into office. To represent their constituency, and not a special interest donor. I believe the core responsibility of a representative is to fight FOR their constituent's wellbeing and happiness, not lowering those things in exchange for huge sums of money. We cannot afford to continue down the path of having no representation in the legislative branch. I am here my fellow Arkansans, I am here to give you a voice, to give you true representation. I am here my fellow Arkansans to make your voices heard!

I want to leave my office knowing that the legislative branch has been returned to the people. We are going to be able to say we the people, finally have a voice in the legislative process. We the people, finally have true representation. We the people, finally have a government that works for us, and not us for it. I want the American people to be able to pursue the American dream.

Invisible Hands by Kim Philips Fein. This book woke me up to how special interests were able to manipulate our government into what it is today.

Jon Snow. He is a moral levelheaded man that is disinterested in power. His goal is one thing: Peace. He does what he believes is right, even when it costs him his life. If I could live up to a standard, it would be that of Jon Snow.

Zombie - Bad Wolves, The Cranberries

We have allowed ourselves to be divided to the point where we focus more on issues of little importance, and less on the issues that are changing our society. Some of the issues we should be focusing on are, wealth inequality, governmental corruption, and the climate crisis. In a time where we live in the wealthiest nation in human history, we should not be focusing on redistributing wealth form the poor to the rich. Through legislation passed by legislators that are heavily bribed we have allowed tax evasion loopholes to poison our society. these loopholes allow giant corporations to avoid taxation all together. We need to stop judging how well our society is doing by the economic growth of the top 1% and instead look at how we treat the most vulnerable of us. When 70% of working Americans are living paycheck to paycheck while the richest 1% hoards 80% of the wealth gain, there is a problem and it needs to be addressed. We need to end the corruption in our government by removing legislators financial influence in the votes they cast. We need to end congressional lobbying, we need to end citizens united, and we need to end the bribery that turned our legislators into special interest puppets. We cannot continue to let families like the Kochs, who gave candidates $400 million in 2018 alone, bribe our representatives into voting for legislation that favors them at the cost to their constituents and their families. 86% of candidates with more campaign finances "win." The legislators that took money from the Kochs all voted on the tax bill which saved the Kochs $25 billion. This bill consequently raised their constituent's income taxes in 2018 by $93 billion. We also need to address the climate crisis that is at hand. it is no longer a debate; humans have impacted the rate at which our planets climate is changing, and this will affect us all. From climate refugees, to droughts/fire, to famine, to massive storms and floods, we need to address this situation now!

Term limits are extremely important. Too many legislators have turned this position of honor into a career. When most politicians get elected they are immediately faced with the dilemma of "how am I going to keep my job?" This forces them to start looking for money, as 86% of candidates with more money "win" elections, which puts our politicians into the pockets of special interests. Some people may argue that with long political careers comes political wisdom, but I argue that most of the career politicians do more damage by voting against the needs of the people than their wisdom provides benefit. I support term limits and have signed the Term Limits Pledge. Once elected I will serve my entire 6 years with honor and integrity, as our founding father's expected a representative to do. I wont waste half my time in office asking for your money to spend it and try and convince you I am doing a good job. My name will be on the ballot after my first term and if I am doing a good job I will hold my office for one additional term, if not I wont. This is how I envision what a legislator should be, a working class citizen that serves with integrity and honor, then returns to the working class once their time is served.

It does not take experience to listen to, empathize, and understand your constituents. We need our representatives to understand the struggles their constituency is facing. There are benefits to having prior experience in the legislative branch, but those benefits can also be considered a hindrance. As legislators gain decades of experience, they also gain decades of special interest friendships. This leads to favoritism and favors. I believe in term limits, which is why I signed a term limits pledge. We should rotate our legislators out in a way in which the incumbent will be required to work with their replacement for a set amount of time to show them the ropes. If a U.S. Senator is replaced, they should be required to spend their last year with their replacement to teach them the legislative practices. If a House member is replaced, they should spend 1 year, half of their term, with their replacement to teach them the legislative practices. If we rotated out our legislators in this way, we would better be able to keep fresh representation, lower governmental corruption/influence, and keep the knowledge gained from past legislators.

There are so many variables that make us who we are. For such importance positions we must consider as many of these variables as possible in order to make the best possible choice. We need to look at a person's past, who they are and what made them the person they are today. We need to look at education. Not just the school attended, but how well the person did while at the institution. We need to look at experience. Experience is very important because if a person does not understand an industry, they cannot properly regulate it. It must be common practice NOT to allow an industry to regulate itself. The regulator MUST be disinterested. Last, but most not least, we need to look at documented history. A persons' documented career needs to be considered when looking to appoint them to the highest levels of our government. If 95% of a nominees' documented career is classified, there is a problem that is being hidden from the public.

Agriculture, Nutrition, Forestry - I want to serve on this committee so I can fight for small farmers and ranchers. My opponent has served on this committee and in the ranking member of it. He claims to fight for our small farms while they continue to suffer. 10% of agricultural corporations are hoarding 80% of subsidies while many small farms and ranches are hung out to dry. While chapter 12 bankruptcies continue to rise year after year, giant corporations continue to grow and profit billions all while taking the majority of subsidies.
Nutrition is extremely important as well, America is obese, it's a sad fact. A lot of this has to do with a lack of education on nutritional needs of our bodies as well as allowing poison to be put into our foods. We need to crack down on the corporations that are poising us and stop the use of chemicals that are proven to be harmful but are allowed because they make the foods we eat addictive.
Our forests are our lifelines. At the federal level I will fight with everything I have to protect our forests from excessive logging. mining, and deforestation. We need to be focusing on how to save our forests, and hemp is that answer. I will push to help businesses get what they need to convert form logging to hemp farming in order to save our forests. I will also look at projects that can help reforest many areas that have been decimated by big business.

Budget - I want to serve on the budget committee to bring transparency to where our money is being spent. We need to make sure that we are putting more money back into our economy and the peoples hands and less money into special interest donors banks. We must begin to take care of the working class and rebuild it before it is completely gone.

Veterans Affairs - #22aday is an epidemic that can be solved and must be addressed. I will fight for our veterans to have quality healthcare.

Energy and Natural Resources

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

Finance
Out of Space

What does a panda cook with? A pan duh!

I will cross the aisle, to work with both parties in order to get policies passed that will benefit Arkansans and the working class. We have so many important issues that are non-partisan, that cross party lines. We need to unite, democrats, republicans, independents, greens, and libertarians to focus on these problems. If we continue the divided state in which our government is split, we will not be able to get any comprehensive legislation passed to solve these problems. I will do whatever it takes to get both parties to listen to me. I will listen to members of both parties to learn and understand their positions so that I can formulate plans that appeal to both sides. Without the ability to bring the parties together we are lost. I will work to mend the division and help bring focus to the problems at hand.

I am an Independent candidate because I believe a representative should answer to their constituents not a political party. It's time we unite and tackle the many non-partisan issues we face everyday.

• Medicare For All
• Decriminalize Cannabis
• Ending Governmental Corruption

Arkansas is one of the poorest states in America, ranking 49 in terms of lowest income. At the same time, we pay the highest taxes in the nation. Something is very wrong. Our representatives have failed to tackle these issues for decades, and the time has come to finally address these two very important issues. These issues cross party lines and it's going to take us coming together, as Arkansans in whole, to overcome these obstacles. We need representatives that listen to us, that understand the struggles we face every day. When 67% of children born in Arkansas are covered by Medicaid, our representatives have no business voting time and time again to cut Medicaid.

Something happened to me in 2015, Bernie Sanders woke me up. He showed me the corruption in our government. He showed me how our legislators take huge sums of money from special interest donors in exchange for favorable legislation that in return hurts their constituents and their families. He showed me how so many Americans are suffering, while the richest 1% hoard nearly all the wealth gained. HE SHOWED ME how corporations can use tax evasion loopholes to pay $0 in taxes, while the rest of us are stuck footing the bill by paying 20-30% in taxes. Bernie Sanders and I may not agree on everything, but he showed me what I needed to see, what I need to show everyone who hasn't seen these things yet. Bernie Sanders started a political revolution, one that will put the American government back into the hands of the people where it belongs. It's up to us to continue this movement. It's up to us to take on the special interest donors that have purchased our government and tell them ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

A big motivator in my decision to run for office was the movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. That is what I strive to be, a representative my constituents will be proud of, a man my country will be proud of, a father my daughter will be proud of.

Honesty, transparency, and integrity. When I say I am sick and tired of politicians lying to my face I know I am not alone. I am tired of hearing a candidate make all sorts of promises, then as soon as they are elected do the exact opposite. There is NO private and public side, there is only the truth. If you cannot be honest with your constituents, you do not deserve to be their representative. Transparency is so important because all the corruption in our government. I believe in 100% financial transparency. That is why any person that donates to my campaign will receive a full list of where EVERY donation was spent! I hope to one day see this as common practice. Integrity is of utmost importance. We must have representatives that know the difference between right and wrong. I feel this is a quality that is severely lacking in our legislative process. If more legislators had integrity, we wouldn't need to focus on the current corruption in our government. We need disinterested Americans to run for office. We need Americans that are willing to serve their constituents because of duty and honor, not to make some quick cash. I foresee a day when we have more integrity in congress than weakness, and I see that day coming soon.

I have the honesty and integrity needed to fight the corruption in our government. I will not be bribed, I will not stop fighting, and I will not let special interests continue to purchase our legislative branch! I am a loving husband and father whose focus is making this great nation, one that we can be proud to raise our families in. A nation whose working class can pursue the American Dream. I spent 5 years as a cable guy, and I am good at it. During that time, I was blessed to be able to meet thousands of families and hear their stories, hear their complaints, hear that challenges people face every day. I am a regular guy, I work hard, I go to school to better my career, and I live through the struggles so many of us Arkansans face every day. I feel your pain. Through understanding and empathy, I am the perfect person to represent us. I am not a millionaire, I am not out of touch, I didn't grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth, I worked hard and got where I am today. If you give me a chance, elect me to replace Tom Cotton, I won't let you down. You will find yourself the proudest you have ever been to be an Arkansan, in the greatest nation on Earth.

The core responsibility of a representative is to represent those that elected to into office. To represent their constituency, and not a special interest donor. I believe the core responsibility of a representative is to fight FOR their constituent's wellbeing and happiness, not lowering those things in exchange for huge sums of money. We cannot afford to continue down the path of having no representation in the legislative branch. I am here my fellow Arkansans, I am here to give you a voice, to give you true representation. I am here my fellow Arkansans to make your voices heard!

I want to leave my office knowing that the legislative branch has been returned to the people. We are going to be able to say we the people, finally have a voice in the legislative process. We the people, finally have true representation. We the people, finally have a government that works for us, and not us for it.

Jon Snow. He is a moral levelheaded man that is disinterested in power. His goal is one thing: Peace. He does what he believes is right, even when it costs him his life. If I could live up to a standard, it would be that of Jon Snow.

We have allowed ourselves to be divided to the point where we focus more on issues of little importance, and less on the issues that are changing our society. Some of the issues we should be focusing on are, wealth inequality, governmental corruption, and the climate crisis. In a time where we live in the wealthiest nation in human history, we should not be focusing on redistributing wealth form the poor to the rich. Through legislation passed by legislators that are heavily bribed we have allowed tax evasion loopholes to poison our society. these loopholes allow giant corporations to avoid taxation all together. We need to stop judging how well our society is doing by the economic growth of the top 1% and instead look at how we treat the most vulnerable of us. When 70% of working Americans are living paycheck to paycheck while the richest 1% hoards 80% of the wealth gain, there is a problem and it needs to be addressed. We need to end the corruption in our government by removing legislators financial influence in the votes they cast. We need to end congressional lobbying, we need to end citizens united, and we need to end the bribery that turned our legislators into special interest puppets. We cannot continue to let families like the Kochs, who gave candidates $400 million in 2018 alone, bribe our representatives into voting for legislation that favors them at the cost to their constituents and their families. 86% of candidates with more campaign finances "win." The legislators that took money from the Kochs all voted on the tax bill which saved the Kochs $25 billion in august. This bill consequently raised their constituent's income taxes in 2018 y $93 billion. We also need to address the climate crisis that is at hand. it is no longer a debate; humans have impacted the rate at which our planets climate is changing, and this will affect us all. From climate refugees, to droughts/fire, to famine, to massive storms and floods, we need to address this situation now!

It does not take experience to listen to, empathize, and understand your constituents. We need our representatives to understand the struggles their constituency is facing. There are benefits to having prior experience in the legislative branch, but those benefits can also be considered a hindrance. As legislators gain decades of experience, they also gain decades of special interest friendships. This leads to favoritism and favors. I believe in term limits, which is why I signed a term limits pledge. We should rotate our legislators out in a way in which the incumbent will be required to work with their replacement for a set amount of time to show them the ropes. If a U.S. Senator is replaced, they should be required to spend their last year with their replacement to teach them the legislative practices. If a House member is replaced, they should spend 1 year, half of their term, with their replacement to teach them the legislative practices. If we rotated out our legislators in this way, we would better be able to keep fresh representation, lower governmental corruption/influence, and keep the knowledge gained from past legislators.

There are so many variables that make us who we are. For such importance positions we must consider as many of these variables as possible in order to make the best possible choice. We need to look at a person's past, who they are and what made them the person they are today. We need to look at education. Not just the school attended, but how well the person did while at the institution. We need to look at experience. Experience is very important because if a person does not understand an industry, they cannot properly regulate it. It must be common practice NOT to allow an industry to regulate itself. The regulator MUST be disinterested. Last, but most not least, we need to look at documented history. A persons' documented career needs to be considered when looking to appoint them to the highest levels of our government. If 95% of a nominees' documented career is classified, there is a problem that is being hidden from the public.

Absolutely. As an independent I can cross the aisle, to work with both parties. We have so many important issues that are non-partisan, that cross party lines. We need to unite, democrats, republicans, independents, greens, and libertarians to focus on these problems. If we continue the divided state in which our government is split, we will not be able to get any comprehensive legislation passed to solve these problems. I will do whatever it takes to get both parties to listen to me. I will listen to members of both parties to learn and understand their positions so that I can formulate plans that appeal to both sides. Without the ability to bring the parties together we are lost. As an independent I will mend the division and help bring focus to the problems at hand.

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry; Armed Services; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Budget; Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Energy and Natural Resources; Environment and Public Works; Finance; Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions; Joint Committee on Taxation; Joint Committee on the Library; Joint Economic Committee; Select Committee on Ethics; Veterans' Affairs.