Tim Kilcullen: Why you should vote for me in the 49th District

Last week, we invited the three candidates running in the general election for House of Delegates race for the 49th District to write a post about why our readers should vote for them next Tuesday (Nov. 2).

Here is the unedited response from Tim Kilcullen:

I am a lifelong populist activist, having worked on campaigns across the country advocating for individual liberties, responsible governance, and tax relief for working families. I never saw myself as someone who would run for office myself, but this changed after I fell in love with the friendly, welcoming, and diverse community of Crystal City. Our home is under attack by the Amazon corporation, and it is time that we fight back.

While they were hiking your taxes, Northam’s Legislature gave Amazon $750 million in tax credit subsidies to erect their hideous, traffic-clogging HQ2 in Crystal City. Construction on the taxpayer-funded monstrosity has continued even as our local businesses were subjected to arbitrary lockdowns and crushing “covid” regulations.

We have already seen how the Amazon corporation rewarded this generosity. It censored anti-lockdown writers, because the counterproductive closures and stay-at-home orders were making it rich. It silenced President Trump across its numerous platforms, because it knew his tax reform and pro-America, anti-Red China trade policy empowered its competition. It slandered American patriots with its unlicensed, unregistered superpac, The Washington Post. It resorted to bribery to try to secure the Pentagon JEDI contract. It ignored every campaign finance and antitrust regulation Virginia businesses followed, and it blatantly exploited and abused its workers.

Now, most disturbingly, Amazon is imposing its left-wing agenda on our education system. This year, it ‘donated’ a critical race theory curriculum to Arlington Public Schools, even paying to distribute a book by noted hate-leader Ibram X. Kendi.

Terry McAuliffe, who boasts “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach,” is thrilled to see Amazon push its Seattle values on Crystal City. I am certain that there are many Dem leaders in Richmond who are secretly terrified at his idea of remaking Virginia in the dystopian vision of Jeff Bezos, but they are too scared to speak. This is wrong. There are numerous solutions the next Virginia governor and Legislature should take to ensure our Commonwealth works for everyone.

First, legislators should work to pass a common carrier law for digital platforms like AWS, Amazon marketplace, and Amazon Twitch. This means so long as tech companies claim immunity from liability and disclosure requirements, they will have to respect the Fourteenth Amendment and stop silencing dissident voices.

Next, the Commonwealth can ban all future lockdowns and covid restrictions from being imposed, be it from Richmond or at the municipal level. These regulations were presented as necessary for public health, but were simply a redistribution of wealth from our communities to West Coast tech moguls.

Furthermore, Virginia can and should ban critical race theory from poisoning our public schools. Bigotry, socialism, and anti-American hate have no place in modern education.

Finally, we need a tax code that treats Virginian families and Virginian businesses with the same respect given to Amazon. This begins by forcing Amazon to repay the $750 million it stole.

Please take a stand against Amazon’s agenda when voting in this critical election. We can take Virginia back!

For more information on my platform, please visit kilcullenforvirginia.com or email me at [email protected].