In the News

GRAVETTE (May 05, 2010) — Candidate Kurt Maddox has launched a new website highlighting his Razorback Pledge, a series of commitments to ensure the next U.S. Representative from Arkansas’ Third District will serve the voters before special interests. 

The website, www.NoBrownCows.com, calls for his opponents to take four pledges and commit they will not be career politicians. The site, along with advertising launched by the Maddox campaign, compares career politicians to brown cows: “They do the same thing every day, over and over again, feeding at the trough of special interests and putting America out to pasture.”  

Maddox is asking his opponents to take what he calls the Razorback Pledge.

1.  Self-impose term limits and commit to serve no more than eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives.

2.  Refuse any special interest or lobbyist funding for their campaigns.

3.  Donate half of their congressional salary to charities benefiting the Third District because of the economic hardships currently faced by its citizens.

4.  Agree to have more congressional staff in the Third District than in Washington, D.C., and keep their staff expenses in the bottom 20 percent of Congress.

“These are common-sense promises that will keep politicians honest in office,” Maddox said. “I don’t see why any of my opponents would not want to sign the pledge, but none have yet.

“I hope my opponents will reject the brown cow mentality and accept the responsibility of the Razorback Pledge. Washington, D.C., has been broken for too long and we can’t set things right until congressional leaders start living by the same values they preach.”

The website www.NoBrownCows.com also allows voters in the Third District to sign the pledge and share the page with others.

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GRAVETTE, Ark. (April 29, 2010) — Although not responsible for the small earthquake this morning in Benton County, Kurt Maddox is shaking things up by calling on his congressional opponents to make a term-limits pledge, to take America back and serve the people of Arkansas’ Third District.

“All eight of us pretty much agree on the major issues. What’s wrong with America has little to do with campaign promises and more to do with whether a candidate possesses a true heart of service,” Maddox said.

That’s why Maddox, a small businessman, husband and father of six, is asking his opponents to join him and accept his Razorback Challenge. The challenge is simple, really. It addresses each candidate’s motive for running for Congress.

“Are you going to be a career politician serving special interests? Or will you be the citizen legislator our Founding Fathers intended you to be? Will you go to Washington, D.C., to represent your neighbors and then come home to live under the laws you created?”

That’s what Maddox has pledged and what he’s asking of his opponents by certified mail. The Razorback Challenge, being sent to all Republican primary candidates today, has four points.

1.  Self-impose an eight-year term limit.

2.  Pledge not to take any special interest or lobbyist financing for your campaign.

3.  Donate half of your congressional salary to charities benefiting the Third District of Arkansas.

4.  Have more congressional staff in the Third District than in Washington, D.C., and keep staff expenses in the lowest 20 percent of Congress.

Maddox said this straightforward pledge would ensure that the winner of the election would be beholden to no one but the voters of the Third District.

“Too many well-meaning Republicans go to our nation’s Capitol and end up becoming part of the problem instead of staying true to their convictions and being part of the solution.

“Politicians shouldn’t treat Congress as a retirement plan; they should realize their office exists to serve the people. A self-imposed term limit helps keep representatives true to their values,” Maddox said.

“It is unseemly for politicians to accept money from the special interests and lobbyists they will be tasked with regulating in Congress. Instead of accepting this easy money, I challenge my opponents to raise money from the people they seek to represent: the voters of the Third District,” Maddox said.

Maddox said he believes Americans are being shortchanged by the career politicians in Washington, D.C.

“They put little or no staff in their district so they can be served by an oversized staff at the Capitol. And once elected, that’s often where the congressman stays, Washington, D.C.”

Maddox also criticized the large salaries that members of Congress enjoy.

“With so many Americans out of work, congressional salaries have become out of step with Main Street, America, and they should be willing to give back to the taxpayers during difficult times,” Maddox said. “By contributing half my salary for my first term, charities in the Third District will see $174,000 over the next two years. I hope my opponents agree that it’s time for our leaders to give back to the people they represent.”

Maddox pledges to come home to the Third District as often as possible and to make sure the office phones in his district are answered by someone who lives in the district and understands it.

“I don’t want to be a part of the insider culture and I don’t want a big home in Georgetown. Instead, I want to come home to my family and my people and stay true to the community that I come from,” he said.

Maddox said he would go a step further and call on voters in the Third District to cast their ballots for an outsider.

“Pledge to no longer vote for someone in the herd, for the brown cows. Look for a razorback, for an outsider to politics, for someone who is different,” Maddox said.

“Vote for someone who accepts and embraces all aspects of the Razorback Challenge.”

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GRAVETTE, Ark. (April 15, 2010) — Making a bold statement about personal responsibility, candidate Kurt Maddox pledged to donate half of his first term’s congressional salary to nonprofits benefiting Northwest Arkansas.

“We need leaders who lead by example,” said Maddox, who is the self-described outsider in the race for Congress in Arkansas’ 3^rd District.

“Members of Congress should be willing to sacrifice to better their community, to demonstrate personal responsibility, and I would challenge all of the other candidates in the 3rd District to make the same pledge,” he said.

“I believe congressmen have salaries out of step with the acceptable norm and they should be willing to give back to the taxpayers during difficult times,” Maddox said. “These self-promoting career politicians have stolen our liberty, busted the budget and bailed out Wall Street banks while mortgaging our children’s future.”

“We don’t just have a deficit in our budget, we have a deficit of values and that’s the core of our problems in Washington D.C.  It’s the deficit of values that has caused us to shirk our responsibility and spend our children’s future.”

In 2010, members of Congress will make $174,000. Maddox’s pledge, believed to be the first of its kind, would mean $174,000 for nonprofit organizations benefiting the 3rd Congressional District in Northwest Arkansas over the next 2 years.  An accounting of all gifts will be made available via the Maddox website.

Going a step further, Maddox pledged to keep costs low while in Congress.  “I am also committing to having my office budget in the lowest 20 percent of the U.S. House of Representatives,” Maddox said. “Families across America are cutting back because of the economy. Congress should set an example and cut back their staff and office expenses.” 

Many observers have criticized congressional and federal employee pay recently as a Politico report showed that more than 2,000 congressional staffers are paid more than $100,000 a year. USA TODAY also reported that the average salary for federal employees reached $67,691 for jobs that exist both in federal government and the private sector. Median household income in the United States is $46,362, or $21,329 less than an average federal employee’s income.

“An attitude of entitlement is growing among bureaucrats and powerbrokers in D.C.,” Maddox said. “I challenge all my opponents to commit to cutting government waste and excess and start with their own salaries and staff.”

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GRAVETTE, Ark. (April 14, 2010) — Political outsider and small businessman Kurt Maddox announced today the start of his television advertising campaign across the 3^rd District Congressional District of Arkansas.

Maddox’s campaign has made a significant airtime purchase, which started today on Fox and will expand in coming weeks.

“We have not used one penny of special-interest money to pay for these television ads, and we’re challenging all other candidates to agree to do the same.

“Don’t turn the 3^rd District of Arkansas over to the powerbrokers in Washington, D.C.,” Maddox said.  “My campaign has not sought or accepted special-interest money because I want to represent the people of the 3^rd District, not the special interests in Washington, D.C.”

Maddox said he is the outsider in this race, and he’s confident voters are ready for a change. “... A change that rejects special interests and that returns our nation to our founding principles. The current herd in Congress has busted the budget, bailed out Wall Street banks and stolen our liberty.

“Arkansas is tired of career politicians and I’m here to offer something new to the 3^rd District. We need to take our country back from the powerbrokers in Washington, D.C., before it’s too late.  Our founders heard the call to service and liberty and I want to humbly follow in their footsteps to restore our rights.

 “Our leaders have lost touch with the people they are supposed to serve.  As a private citizen and not a politician, I understand that people want government to downsize and private business to grow.  In Congress, I will fight for the rights of all Americans to improve their lot through their God-given right to pursue happiness.”

The new ad from the Maddox campaign focuses on Maddox’s real-world experience as a businessman and his commitment to faith, family and the Constitution.

Maddox said that, being the outsider, voters in the 3^rd District should prepare for a different kind of campaign. “Stay tuned,” he said.  “We’re all about being different, and that’s what we’re going to provide to the citizens of this district.”

View the new ad at www.MaddoxforCongress.com. 

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