I personally created this web page, it was my goal to write out what is in my heart without any use of artificial intelligence, to be plain spoken, with no hidden agenda. What I have written here is truthful and accurate. If you need any clarification please contact me. E-mail: rodneykingforcongress@gmail.com
I am running for the Tennessee’s Third Congressional District as an Independent. As an independent I owe no obligation to either party. I am running because you want to vote for an honest man who serves your interest, a man who will fight for you.
I have no donors I answer to.
I do not owe my allegiance to any political, social or religious organization.
I will do the best job of representing the people of my home district, including Republicans, Democrats, Independents and those who choose not to participate in politics or are too young to participate in the political process.
I will not profit from the job, buy no stock, do no insider trading, no selling of influence or any get rich scheme. Nor allow those that work for me to participate in such activities.
The Scout Law is to be trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent I pledge to be all of these things as your representative.
I am like most of the people of the third district, I do not want people telling me what to do or how to live. The most important thing to me is freedom, the freedom that is endowed by the constitution and has to be defended constantly. Freedom is not free, there is a cost for freedom. If we are not willing to pay the price we are not worthy of Freedom. With freedom comes responsibility.
The Founding Fathers were willing to risk everything —their lives, their wealth and their sacred honor to secure independence and liberty. The Founding Fathers took this oath in the declaration of Independence and I take this same pledge.
Every time I was promoted in the Navy I took an oath I know by heart, “I Rodney J. King having been promoted to the rank of Captain in the United States Navy do hereby swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies foreign and domestic and bear true faith and allegiance to the same, I take this oath willingly without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter; so help me God.”
The constitution is a short document was written as a framework for a free country, it is not a suggestion, or inconvenience to be worked around. The United States of America is a great country, and a big reason is our dedication to the ideas of freedom and equality, combined with constraints on power and the influences of power. One of Congress’ central responsibilities is to ensure equality and freedom. When Congress does its job we have the guard rails that keep America on the right path. I will be a Congressman who does his job.
We currently have a two political party system which is not working for you and me. You are not actually invited to the party, but you are asked to send a gift, your vote. If you were satisfied by this system you would not be checking out an independent candidate. You want your voice heard. You want the government to work in your best interest. You believe in the phrase in the Declaration of Independence: “all men are created equal”, that everyone has the natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
I was born in Jefferson City, Tennessee in 1955, the seventh child of Mitchell and Irene King. I have lived in Tennessee most of my life. While serving in the Navy I lived in Rhode Island, Connecticut, Virginia, South Carolina, and Nebraska. I also have lived in Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, California and Guam. I came back to Tennessee twenty one years ago and have not left since.
I love the State of Tennessee, the dirt, the water, the air, the plants, the weather and the people. I recognize that Tennessee is a wondrous place and I already have what every man wants: a wife who I love and who loves me, and a farm that is a little piece of paradise where we’ve raise children and goats.
I have participated in the raising of seven children, four boys and three girls. All are college graduates and good people. I am very blessed.
My five sisters, brother and I were raised in stark conditions. My father was a full fledged alcoholic and gambler. As a child I spent a lot of time waiting in a car in front of beer joints for my father to come out. I have been call to bars many times to collect my father and take him home. We struggled with housing, food and clothing. In the fourth grade I used black electrical tape to hold the sole of my shoe. I wore hand me down, rummage sale, yard sale clothes, In high school I wore a jacket that was missing all of it's buttons.
I do not drink, take drugs or gamble, I keep myself mentally awake and morally straight. I can empathize with people who are struggling with affordability because I have lived the struggle.
I am retired from the US Navy, I served on the USS Nathan Hale SSBN 623 Gold Crew from 1983-1986 and the Joint Strategic Planning Staff from 1986 to 1988 and finished up as a reservist.
I was a nuclear weapons officer (General Submariner) I am a qualified Submarine Officer, and Nuclear weapons Officer. When I was at the Joint Strategic Targeting Planning Staff in Omaha, I served as Nuclear Weapons Allocator for all of the US nuclear weapons. I was entrusted with a Top Secret- SIOP (single integrated options plan), ESI (extra sensitive information) Code word protected information. I was given this level of clearance because I have always demonstrated that I am a trustworthy individual.
I taught in public school for 20 years mostly in Oak Ridge. I taught Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Environmental, Earth Science and Robotics. I am a positive and compassionate teacher. I also coached the robotics club that won the Tennessee First Robotics championship twice.
I am an unapologetic environmentalist. Without our God given clean air, clean water, clean land we would have nothing. If you do not think us humans have the power to mess everything up you underestimate our abilities. The resources of the Earth should be used to make this a better world, to do this common sense and best practices should be used.
Platform
I believe in the “Right to Life”
I support the second amendment.
Save social security. Ronald Reagan promised supply side economics where the wealthy were given tax breaks and the proceeds would trickle down to the working people of this country for the sacrifices they made. After 45 years have passed, there has been little trickle down. This 45 year contract between the people who were getting tax breaks and those who made sacrifices. It is time to pay what was negotiated. Surely billionaires know what a contract is and they know their obligation. The wealthiest country in the world should support the citizens that have built this country made it great. We must absolutely fund Social Security and those that have received all of the breaks must help paying for it.
Universal Health Care. The richest, most blessed country in history can afford to supply the people with health care. We ask a citizen of the United States to serve in the military and; to give his or her life to defend the United States of America in a war. About 35% of the US population is insured by government-paid health care. This group is comprised of the sickest and most expensive-to-treat citizens. At the same time seven of the highest publicly traded insurance companies made a profit of 71.3 billion. Add in the companies that are private and smaller insurance companies and the profit and the numbers are much higher. In addition to those profits, administrative cost swell what you’re paying for healthcare. Think of how much medical treatment could be done with 100 billion dollars or more. The enormous and rising costs of deductibles, premiums and out-of packet cost are consuming a large share of low and middle-income workers paychecks. The Affordable Care Act (Obama Care) has the federal government give individuals money to buy bad insurance. This makes the insurance companies richer and the rest of us worse off. I have bought insurance with high co pays, and high deductibles, and faced the deny, deny, deny polices of insurance companies. It just shows how jaded the politicians are about affordable healthcare that they pass off a windfall for the rich as an improvement in healthcare.
Lower taxes on working Americans The big beautiful tax bill, had temporary, limited, restrictive tax breaks for some working Americans. At the same time the permanent ten trillion dollar tax break to billionaires has added to the national debt and the servicing of that debt is passed on to working taxpayers. This happens because the wealthiest people in America spend a lot of money buying politician, the politician pass laws and tax bills that allow billionaires to pay less taxes and to hoard that wealth. Then, they attack any who desire to change this status quo as “Communist.” Actual Communism is a political and economic system that aims for a classless society, common ownership of property, and the removal of private profit. Its core ideas are public ownership, central economic planning, and wealth distribution based on need. The people who built America want a structure where everyone shares in the tax burden. I won’t call politicians and their wealthy benefactors Communist Pigs. They are just pigs; who need to share. It will Make America Greater and Stronger.
Getting federal government out of student loan business. As an educator I was told things that were not true and then shamed when I called the lie. I was shamed but I was never ashamed for standing up for the truth. What ever the federal student loan system was set up to do it is not doing it. It looks like the only thing it does is give big banks a big payday without any due diligence or risk. The government puts up the money and takes the risk but does not keep the interest paid on the loan. College degrees and four years of goofing off should not be financed by the American taxpayer, it should be financed by the people getting the degrees.
No wars without congress giving approval It is dangerous to have one person start a war on their own. This is outlined in our Constitution. When I was in the Navy, I spent months at a time on a submarine under hundreds of feet of water I would work and sleep within feet of a nuclear reactor and shared that space with over a hundred nuclear warheads. To risk my life was part of the deal. The other part of the deal was that congress would do its constitutionally endowed duty and only send me into harm’s way after much consideration to the consequences. At the very least they planned for contingencies, prepared, positioned and had a clear understanding of the objectives and an exit plan. This is what I thought I was owed and it is what every member congress owes our troops.
Members of any branch of the government should not enrich themselves while they are serving in office. To trade in securities with or without inside information takes away from concentrating on the job of good governance. All laws should be applicable to elected and appointed officials. Inside trading is illegal for obvious reasons and so is selling influence or taking bribes. Shady deals should be investigated and those responsible for taking part in shady deals should be held legally liable. I pledge that I will not participate in any stock trading, or making money through shady deals. I will support the strongest bans possible on members of Congress trading stock and securities and otherwise profiting from insider information they obtain while working for the American people.
Make life more affordable to all. I see the higher cost of food in the grocery store and have personally worked on a system for the last 26 years that will greatly reduce the cost of groceries. The system is best explained if you go to the website Autobotit.com. The Autobotit is a work in progress, the takeaway is that I am dedicated to and working toward lowering the cost of groceries.
You have in your power the ability to change things. The power you have is in your vote and how you wield that vote will make you a hero or a goat.
Save America’s Soul,
Rodney Joe King
Independent Candidate for Tennessee’s Third Congressional District
"Approved by and Paid for by the Candidate Rodney Joe King for U.S Congress Committee.”
