This is just a quick notice to let you in on our first YouTube commercial. Please enjoy and forward to your friends.

Matthews for Congress Supporters,

I thank you for you generous support of my campaign to re-energize Congress with the principles of our founding fathers, such as a limited Federal government, not meddling in the affairs of other nations, and prosperous trade inside and outside our borders. We are the energetic and principled campaign in this race and we can win, with your help.

Many have asked me what I would like for my birthday. Honestly, right now I have everything a man could ask for. I have a beautiful and supportive wife, Wendy. We had our first child a month and a half ago, Anna Rose. She is healthy, active and melts her father's heart when she quivers her lower lip when crying for a bottle. I am thankful to have a good job that keeps a nice roof over our head. And of course I am lucky enough to live in and raise my family in the greatest nation on the face of the earth.

What more could a man want?

Answer, to win a seat in Congress and you can help me get there!
Right now we are looking to buy a large order of yard signs. We can obtain significant savings if we order in quantities of 1000. We have a quote that we would like to act on in the first half of this month for about $2800 for these 1000 signs. I would like to ask you to contribute $28 today as a birthday gift to help us buy these signs. Nothing is more effective to gain name recognition in a local election than signs.

Conveniently you can contribute on the campaign website at www.richardmatthews.org/donate . On the contribution form please enter project code "birthday"

Just a quick note: so far as of 7:30 PM we have received $560 from twelve contributors at the Freedomslate08 money bomb for liberty loving candidates. Thank-you for the support.

We also enjoyed the Dundalk Independence Day Parade this morning. Many thanks go out to my cousin Jon and campaign manager Patrick for there great work in building the float late into the night! Our success at the Parade today is owed to them.



Now to some grilling and crabs. Wendy and I are having about 30 people over today for our annual Independence Day Party.

Check in again, I will update this page a few more times today.

Lets Rock!

This will not be your usual political event! We are especially welcoming the younger voters of the district (and those young at heart) to come out to a show with popular local band Pasadena. Your $10 contribution at the door will include your first drink. We will be rocking out interspersed with the messages of respect for our civil liberties, an end to the war in Iraq, and the prosperity that comes when the government lets you keep more of what you earn. Please come out, enjoy your self, and ask Richard Matthews the tough questions the he needs to answer to earn your vote in November.



Taps 1439 S. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21230 (Federal Hill) 410-685-TAPS
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Richard and Wendy Matthews are proud to announce there first child Anna Rose Matthews, born on May 30th 2008. Link to Press Release

Yet again we have a case that has made the news where Washington’s ever increasing tax code complexity causes headache and grief greatly beyond necessity.
I read in the Washington Post this article:
New Tax Plan Could Jeopardize Small Business Owners' Privacy
This plan would require credit card companies to report the aggregate transactions of member businesses in a batch report to IRS officials. These reports will contain TINs and for smaller businesses SSNs. At a time where everyone is worried about identity theft ,the last thing we need is large batch reports laden with SSNs frequently transferring between private business and the government.

This information will go to the IRS for all merchants, regardless of any suspicion of illegal tax cheating activity. This is private and sensitive business data that, especially in the case of law abiding and tax compliant business, the government has no jurisdiction over. We have a fourth amendment that clearly protects the right of the people to be secure in their “papers” amongst other things. It is obvious that this protection is in regard to the personal and business records of a person, and should extend to modern electronic records. There is a basic aspect of human dignity that is removed when a government entity, has in effect, carte blanch access to all of an individual’s business dealings. This is not right, and it is not in keeping with the principles of our Constitution.

This is yet one more example of how our onerous tax code has gone too far. The tens of thousands of pages of tax code is nothing less than effective top down management of the economy by central planners. This system is Un-American and needs to be scrapped. The central objective of Richard Matthews when he gets to Congress will be to reform and reconstruct our system of taxation.

The only way Matthews believes we can start to control ridiculous spending in Washington is to remove the “earmark” process. This is a legislative device where specific Representatives include line item spending provisions for funds that go to a specific project, often in their district. It is regularly abused with “make work” programs, and kick backs to political cronies. Richard believes the only way to clear out this undesirable spending is to commit to not apply for it himself. If we can gather consensus in Washington to end this practice we can end many of the wasteful “bridge to nowhere” type projects that squander our tax dollars.
Dutch Ruppersberger is marked at 7% and rated Hostile to the tax payers by the Citizens Against Government Waste
One example of this corruption is coming to light. Apparently, Rep. Young of Alaska inserted legislation to redirect 10 million dollars in highway funds to a project in Florida. This project was neither known about, or wanted by the locals due to environmental concerns, and surprised the house member elected from the area. It was discovered that a large real estate holder in the area, whose holdings would rise considerably with the new road project, helped raise $40,000 for Rep. Young only days before the bill passed.
Congress May Seek Criminal Probe of Altered Earmark - Washington Post

Earmark reform is only the beginning of how we can transform our nations spending to be more fit and trim, but it is a very important step.

Richard Matthews was on a program Bet on Ron Paul, on Ron Paul Revolution Radio yesterday.
Here is an MP3 link for anyone who missed the live show.
http://www.richardmatthews.org/audio/20080414_Mon_Indy1.mp3
The segment is one hour long. Obviously, only the comments of the candidate, and not the host, should be attributed.

Richard Matthews is in full support of the Enumerated Powers Act. It was first introduced in 1995 by Rep John Shadegg of Arizona’s Third Congressional District and in Maryland is co-sponsored by Rep. Roscoe Bartlett of the Sixth District. This bill has been reintroduced every two years but has never entered into the agenda of it’s assigned committee (Judiciary, and Rules), nor been offered for a up or down vote on the floor.

The Enumerated Powers Act is a simple bill that requires Congress, on every bill, to site the constitutional authority relied upon for the enactment of each portion of the Act in question. This straightforward bill should be supported by every member of congress without hesitation. The very fact that it is not supported by many, including Dutch Ruppersberger, is an acknowledgment of the lack of respect for constitutional lawmaking in our nation’s capital.

We need leadership in Washington that is not afraid to make a commitment to respect the governing documents of our country. Some politicians have been known to pass bills even while acknowledging the possibility of their unconstitutional nature. Their stance is to let the courts approach the bill later and strike out the portions that are in fact unconstitutional. These roughshod attitudes about our Constitution is exactly why we find ourselves with a Federal Government having a three trillion dollar budget, a directionless war in the Middle East, and trampling on our freedoms and individual liberties.

The Enumerated Powers Act is a rare piece of good legislation. No better indictment can be made against our incumbent politicians than their lack of support for this bill.

A major plank of the Richard Matthews campaign is tax reform. Not only do we Americans pay too much, but the primary method of taxation is oppressive to our dignity and provides excessive policy authority to our Federal Government. Tax simplification is a major thrust of this campaign and should be a focus of the Republican Party.

Bureaucratic overhaul never being a pretty sight, and always taking longer than desired, Matthews will propose a quicker partial remedy on our way to full tax reform. Upon election Richard Matthews will introduce and/or sponsor a bill in congress to exempt all military retirement pay from Federal Income tax. If any class deserves tax simplification and relief first it is our Veterans.