Recent Press Coverage
Article published May 2, 2006
Candidate takes aim at Bush
Andy Rathbun
Battle Creek Enquirer
HILLSDALE — A fired-up Chuck Ream announced his campaign for the Democrat party nomination in Michigan's 7th Congressional District to a small but receptive crowd Monday night.
Faulting the Bush administration for everything imaginable in a 50-minute speech, the newly minted candidate only took one swipe at his potential rival in the Nov. 7 general election, U.S. Rep. Joe Schwarz, R-Battle Creek. "My opponent in the seventh district thinks we should stay in Iraq for up to 50 years if necessary," Ream said of Schwarz. "The voters don't believe it. The voters want us out of Iraq."
While Schwarz has said the war against terrorism could last decades, he also has said he would like to see troops begin withdrawal from Iraq in a year's time, if possible.
Instead of attacking Schwarz or one of his rivals for the Democratic nomination, Ream reserved his criticism for President Bush, faulting the president for wiretapping Americans, among other perceived faults. "I will submit a motion to impeach when I arrive in Congress for lying," said Ream, a retired kindergarten teacher.
Ream then spoke to various issues, at times drawing laughter and applause from the crowd. Among the items on his list, Ream said we must increase taxes on the rich, offer universal health care, withdraw from Iraq, drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, legalize medical marijuana, reform campaign finance laws and offer affordable college education to all students.
While the 7th District skews to the right, Ream said he has a shot.
"This election is a referendum on what has been happening to our country," he said.
A resident of Scio Township, where he has served five terms as a township trustee, Ream lives near Ann Arbor inside of Washtenaw County, part of the 7th Congressional District. His first hurdle will be winning the Democratic primary on Aug. 8.
Andy Rathbun covers City Hall and local news. He can be reached at 962-3380 or arathbun@battlecr.gannett.com.
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Ream declares candidacy for Congress seat
HILLSDALE DAILY NEWS
By Chad Dally, 5/2/06
Chuck Ream announced his candidacy for the Democratic ticket in the 7th Congressional District race at The Annex in Hillsdale on Monday.
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While any Democrat faces an uphill battle in a traditionally conservative district, the former teacher and township trustee from Scio Township, in Washtenaw County, feels he has a solid shot to unseat the incumbent, Rep. Joe Schwarz, or Schwarz’s main challenger, Tim Walberg.
“2006 is such a critical election year and America must snap out of it,” Ream said in a release. “We must reject the spell of fear that freezes us in place and prevents us from solving big problems. Never have we faced such a wide range of critical problems, and never have we had such poor leadership.”
After teaching kindergarten in Monroe for 33 years, Ream said he retired because he saw his country “twisted until I could hardly recognize it.” Whether it was war, the economy or the environment, Ream wanted to help find a solution.
That led to five terms as a trustee in Scio Township, in which time he said he “ran winning campaigns to preserve valuable land, to defend the budget of the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s road patrol and to try to help sick people have the right to use medicinal marijuana.”
Some of Ream’s other platform priorities include:
- Iraq: Backs “a three–nation solution to provide stability and to get U.S. troops out quickly.”
-Health Care: “Universal health care must happen now — for our people, businesses and cities.”
- Economic Regeneration: “Jobs and prosperity will follow if we develop alternative energy sources and make our economic system more sustainable.” Also supports major tariffs on Chinese goods to preserve middle class jobs.
- Education: The world’s best education must be standard in Michigan. College must be affordable.
- Drug War: “Drug abuse should be treated as a medical or public health issue, not necessarily a criminal problem.”
- Corruption: “Reform campaign financing by limiting incumbent spending to the level of that of the challenger.”
For more information:
chuckreamforcongress.homestead.com
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May day candidacy announcement:
Chuck Ream will “let it rip”
By Heather Orlando
Collegian Reporter
Candidate for Congress Chuck Ream announced his intentions to run for office in the Volume I Annex bookstore on Monday evening surrounded by a small group of supporters from the Hillsdale County area.
A Monroe County kindergarten teacher for 33 years, Ream now proposes to teach the U.S. Congress a thing or two about foreign policy, health care, education and corruption.
“I’m a new kind of candidate,” Ream said before his speech. “I’m going to let you guys know that right now and really let it rip.”
Ream will be running as a Democrat, but several of his positions—most notably his proposal to legalize marijuana—stray from the traditional Democratic platform.
“Cannabis [marijuana] is basically harmless, yet we arrest 750,000 Americans every year for pot,” Ream said. “Cannabis should be available for medical use and be taxed and regulated like alcohol for recreational use. It cannot be constitutional to outlaw a natural plant.”
Ream also called for a new approach to the war in Iraq. His plan proposes giving land to each of the major dissenters in the conflict, allowing them to start their own governments.
“Rebirth starts by recognizing reality,” Ream said. “The idea that there is a legitimate country called Iraq is false. The British tried to patch together Iraq in 1920 from three leftover scraps of the Ottoman Empire. They failed. To provide peace and permit our troops to leave we must allow a three-nation solution for Iraq. The Kurds, Sunnis and Shiites must each have their own police, prisons and army so they can feel secure.”
He also proposed strict tariffs on Chinese goods until they agree to allow their currency to find its market price, education for all who qualify and strenuous campaign finance reform.
Ream’s campaign manager, Robert Redmond, said he believes Ream is the only candidate that has the courage to make needed changes in Washington D.C.
“ I’ve known Chuck [Ream] for 30 years and he has a great heart,” Redmond said. “The seventh district needs someone like him in office. He is a defender of personal freedoms and he would fight for the people of Michigan if he were elected.”
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