Oct 31, 2015 2 min read

There’s been a deluge of political ads recently. But there’s one thing that troubles me – candidates for public or judicial offices using their status as military veterans to gain an edge with voters.

Candidates should be thanked for their military service. But it’s not a prerequisite for public service. As a Vietnam veteran, no public relations firm or political campaign consultant attached themselves to my wagon upon my return, proclaiming, “Hey, you’re a Vietnam veteran. Let’s use that in seeking political office.”

If you’re running for office, these are the things that you should be addressing:

• What you’re going to do about property taxes burdening our senior citizens to the point that they could lose their homes.

• If you’ll support a standard statewide property assessment procedure that’s uniform throughout all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

• If you would support increasing local community funding to fight the scourge of drugs.

• If you will support all local programs that help domestic violence victims.

• If you will support a fair, family-supporting increase in the minimum wage.

• What is your plan to help thousands of unemployed miners find meaningful, family-sustaining jobs?

• What is your plan to make it safe again to take a walk outside without the threat of being shot, robbed, or raped?

• What is your plan for doing something about our crumbling infrastructure?

• What is your plan for easing the burden of student-loan debt?

• What will you do to make it easier, rather than more difficult, to register and vote here in Pennsylvania?

• Last, but certainly not least, don’t exploit the fact that you’re a veteran for political

purposes.

Barry L. Andrews

Washington

Andrews is president of the Central Labor Council of Washington and Greene counties.