Good Morning Fellow Republicans.

Greetings from Oshkosh and Winnebago County.

I would first like to thank the delegations from Winnebago, Outagamie, and Walworth counties for placing my name in nomination and inviting me to speak.

I would also like to thank Michelle Litjens, Crystal Berg, and Governor Farrow for your kind words.

And I would like to thank all of you for giving me this opportunity.

On Monday, I announced my candidacy for the United States Senate.

I described how profoundly concerned we all are over what is happening to our country.

In the end, my decision to run came down to a very basic and yet passionate desire. I would like to do what I can to help bring America back.

Because both the idea of America and the promise of America are losing ground.

For decades, and for reasons of genuine compassion and altruism, our nation has embarked on a grand experiment to eliminate hardship and poverty.

The result has been the exact opposite. I know, I’ve lived through it. We have all witnessed it.

Our culture has coarsened, poverty rates have not declined, and a culture that once celebrated and encouraged hard work and success is slowly but surely being replaced by a culture of entitlement and dependency.

We’ve known this for a while. It is why America voted for an empty slate of hope and change back in November of 2008. America did not get the change it had hoped for.

Instead, our jaws have dropped as we watched President Obama and Russ Feingold spend, not hundreds of billions, but trillions of dollars that we do not have. They spent $787 billion dollars hoping to create jobs. The problem is, they have no idea how to create jobs. It didn’t work. The money is gone, and now we, our children, our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren are left holding their debt.

And in their spare time, contrary to the very vocal wishes of the American public, they passed legislation that will do great harm to the finest health care system in the world. Obamacare is the greatest assault on our freedom in my lifetime. It must be repealed. Because many of our politicians have been so grotesquely irresponsible, we have a huge financial mess ahead of us. We cannot afford to keep our heads in the sand any longer.

I am sick and tired of this. We are sick and tired of it.

We are tired of politicians that have virtually no experience working in the private sector, no experience creating jobs, and no understanding of what it takes to deal with the rules, regulations, and taxes that they impose on the rest of us.

We are tired of politicians that govern one way for 5 1/2 years, and then turn on a dime to get reelected.

We are tired of politicians that promise us one thing and then do the exact opposite.

We are tired of politicians that pretend to be something they are not.

We are tired of politicians that do not listen to us.

And we are tired of politicians that refuse to tell us the truth.

Bottom-line...We’re just sick are tired of most politicians.

Which is why I decided to run. I’ve had a full career, my three children, who have reinforced my commitment to a culture of life, have grown to be responsible adults, and now I am willing to step up to the plate to do what has to be done.

It will take a different perspective to fix this mess. It will take honesty and transparency. It will take citizen legislators who will actually listen to the wisdom of the American people. I have that perspective.

I am a business owner with a background in accounting. I have 30 years of real world experience building a business and providing secure employment to the people that work with me. I will be a citizen legislator. We have enough professional politicians in Washington. It’s about time we send someone to Washington who actually can count.

If I am honored to be your Nominee, and I am asking you to endorse me on this ballot, I will do everything in my power to defeat Russ Feingold. I will need all the help and support I can get. The stakes are simply too high to settle for anything less.

One thing I can guarantee, if elected, I will never vote with my reelection in mind. I will go to Washington to do everything I can to help fix the mess these politicians have created. If that attitude sends me back to Oshkosh in six years...so be it. I love Oshkosh. I love Wisconsin and the people who live here. I would be happy to return full time. You’d think after 18 years, Russ Feingold would be ready to return to the State that he loves so dearly. But I’m not going to hold my breath.

When you consider the entire span on human history, this 234 year old experiment we call America is something incredibly precious. It is exceptional. I will take to Washington a deep reverence for the genius of our Founding Fathers. There is a reason that America holds 5% of the world’s population and yet produces 25% of the world’s GDP.

The reason is Freedom, and the fact that we recognize our rights are endowed by our Creator, not granted to us by the government. It is high time we stand up for those rights and stop being led like a bunch of sheep to the slaughter. We need to start acting like proud and free Americans.

Thomas Jefferson wrote: “The good sense of the people will always be found to be the best army. They may be led astray for a moment, but will soon correct themselves.”

It is time for correction. We can do this. I would not be running if I didn’t believe that.

Our nation has faced far darker times...our Revolution, the Great Wars, and the Great Depression. When Ronald Reagan entered office, the Cold War was threatening, the prime rate was 20%, and we had 7.5% unemployment. By implementing policies guided by a strong set of principals, he solved those problems and ushered in two decades of peace and prosperity.

We can do it again. We must do it again.

We can bring America back from the brink of socialism and state control.

We can bring America back to the ideals and principles that made her great.

We can bring America back from a culture of entitlement and dependency.

We can bring America back to a country that rewards hard work, values personal responsibility and values life.Aplace that inspires individuals to be the best that they can possibly be.

Together, we can bring America back.

Now before I even announced my candidacy, Russ Feingold and the Democrats were ridiculing my final point. They do so at their own peril...

Because folks, this IS a fight for freedom, It is not someone else’s fight. This is our fight. And today, I am asking each and everyone of you to join me in his fight, because it is a fight that we absolutely must win.

So may God help us, and may God continue to bless the greatest nation in the history of mankind... America.

Thank you.