Hal Bidlack is running as the Democratic candidate against incumbent Doug Lamborn for the 5th Congressional District.A retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Colonel with 25 years of service, Bidlack lives in Colorado Springs and teaches political science at the Air Force Academy. He served in the Bush Administration State Department and on the National Security Council under President Clinton.Describing himself as a moderate Democrat, Bidlack said if elected he would reach across the aisle and look for solutions that are best for the district and the state – not what is best for the party.He said he hopes moderate Republican voters will consider him trustworthy. “Bipartisanship is very important to me,” Bidlack said. “Do you think that a guy who spent 25 years serving his country is suddenly going to abandon his country to follow partisan interests?”Bidlack criticized his opponent, Rep. Lamborn, for consistently voting party line. “In the last two years, Lamborn voted with his president and against the Democrats more than anyone else in the House or the Senate.”Bidlack said his top priority is returning honor to the way the government treats its veterans. He said the current treatment of vets is outrageous and shameful, citing opposition to the new GI bill, deplorable conditions in military hospitals like Walter Reed and long waiting periods for disabled veterans to receive medical benefits.He said servicemen given a medical discharge should receive presumptive VA benefits. “It seems to me it would be very smart to say ‘you know, you’ve got a Purple Heart on your record, we’re going to go ahead and give you benefits and then we’ll check to make sure you qualify,'” he said. “In the meantime, the vast majority of honest people are going to get benefits when they need them.”Bidlack said he is ready to make tough choices to restore fiscal responsibility and ultimately a budget surplus. “I make one campaign promise,” Bidlack said, “I will work hard. But all these problems are going to take years to solve. All the fiscal irresponsibility of the last eight years can’t be undone in one sweeping gesture.”You have to fund the VA fully and fund national defense at a proper level, but if we stop spending $10 billion a month in Iraq, that helps.”He criticized the recent government bailout that passed both the House and the Senate. “It’s been terribly rushed,” he said. “If this is the greatest fiscal crisis since the Great Depression, maybe we need more than a weekend to figure it out.”He also opposed the additional $150 billion dollars of pork attached to the $700 billion. “They (the amendments) were put on the bill in the hopes that people who voted no would be enticed to say yes because their particular constituency gets something out of it,” he said.Bidlack said he is running for Congress because his parents taught him to take an active role in the community. “They said you should be part of the solution if you want to complain about the problem,” he said. “The last eight years filled me with a lot of unhappiness. We have to return government to the regular folks.”For more information about Lt. Col. Bidlack and his positions, visit www.bidlack2008.com.Editor’s note: Rep. Doug Lamborn could not be reached for comment.
