Primary Election Date: 08/11/2012
General Election Date: 11/06/2012

Who Am I?

My grandparents, Basilo and Maximina Belin left Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1921, coming to Hawaii to work on a sugarcane plantation on Maui, and later moved to Oahu seeking better opportunities for the family. My mother, Louise, attended Farrington High School and performed Hula at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, where she met and fell in love with my father Joseph Marx, a Naval Aviator, whom she married in 1943. The family moved to Oregon after the end of the war.

I, like my parents, was educated in public schools; I received a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Oregon State University in 1971 and shortly thereafter, at the age of 23, was elected to the Oregon State Legislature, where I served 3 terms. While serving in the State Legislature I supported my young family, working as a property appraiser, and in the evenings attending Lewis and Clark Law School, which I completed in 1979, receiving a Jurist Doctorate degree.

I am particularly proud of having been awarded the "Senior Advocate of the Year" by the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA) and the American Association of Retired People (AARP) legislative committee, for my work helping pass "Project Independence," which provides in-home assistance for Senior Citizens, helping them to stay in their homes, as well as providing improved dental care for Seniors. My commitment to fair and reasonable treatment of our seniors "Kupuna” is lifelong and unwavering. To be closer to my aging mother who had returned to Hawaii, I moved to Oahu in 1979.

I am an Attorney, a sole practitioner who has no partners in my law firm; I am a "Small Business Owner" who knows what it takes to run a successful business, in good and bad economic times. I am a local job creator with many employees in my law office and recently-opened bookstore. This means that I understand the challenges of budgeting, making a payroll every week , and the importance of "Small Business" as the backbone of our economy.

I have been recognized as and gained a reputation as a strong advocate for working people, education and preservation of our environment. In 1982-3 I successfully represented "Save the Nanawale Forest" in saving one of the few remaining natural hardwood forests in Hawaii. The "Hilo Na Loio Pu'uwai" award was presented to me in 2007 for volunteer legal service and commitment to equal access to justice, and I was named as the "Readers Choice/Best of East Hawaii" Best Attorney and Law Office several times.

I strive to quietly make a difference in many different ways beyond representing the powerless and "little guys." I bring student interns into my law offices allowing them to earn coursework credit for their college courses, while gaining real world work experience. The College Scholarship program I created in 1984 has awarded more than 50 scholarships to help students attend college, and continues to award scholarships annually. I have served many of "the little guys" in Hawaii as an Attorney and successful Small Businessman, and now I wish to broaden this service to include all of my neighbors on these beautiful islands we call home.

Why Am I Running?

Aloha,
Today more than ever the people of America are disenchanted, many home loans exceed the value of the home, student loans have high interest rates and will burden students for years if not decades into the future, high rates of unemployment, and underemployment plague and overwhelm many families and young single workers.

America has become divided into two ever more unequal half's, one of prosperity and the good life, and the other burdened with; high unemployment, social insecurity, taxes, debt, and poverty, this division threatens the very foundation of our nation, the ideal of equality and hope for a better future for our families.

We must build relationships with this divided sector, the majority of America who has been left behind, while Corporations enjoy the benefits of low or no taxes while earning record profits, sending employees to the unemployment lines while exporting jobs to low wage countries.

As your representative to Congress, I will fight to restore the middle class and get people back to work and bring government control back into the hands of our people.

We must preserve the middle class and make a fairer America with educational and economic opportunities for all, reviving the American dream of owning your own home and being secure in the knowledge that "opportunity" has been restored for all Americans. For far too long the Second Congressional seat been used as a spring board for higher office, career politicians have used this position to begin ambitious programs and then abandoned them half finished.

As your representative in Congress I seek only this position and the opportunity to serve, I will see the job through and will complete what I have started. For more than 30 years I represented people," the powerless, the little guy" against insurance companies and corporations. I have fought tirelessly inside and outside of court, for the needs of "the little guy", negotiating to defend the rights and needs of injured people, trying to help make a bad situation right, "Pono". These skills are needed by your representative in Washington D.C., decisions and laws must be fair and represent the interest of all of the people as a whole and not the interests of a few.

While in my twenties I was fortunate to serve three terms in the Oregon House of Representatives, that legislative experience and my long standing legal career has seasoned me for the job as your Congressman.

Our country's future direction is what you, through your elected officials, choose. The House of Representatives is now favoring Wall Street and Special Interests over the needs of middle class and working families. While our Hawaii families suffer and struggle to pay their bills; grocery, gas and mortgage payments, our Banks and Corporations report record profits, dispensing outrageous bonus' to a few and accepting Government Bailouts working families must pay for, while sending evermore workers to the unemployment lines.

When our Senior citizens should expect help and reassurance the insurance programs paid into over a lifetime are secure, members of Congress are working to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits. I will not sit by and allow this to happen, Hawaii needs a representative who will put Hawaii first and someone who will stand up for the middle class and working families.

That's why I've made the decision to run for Congress in 2012. Enough is enough, we need to get Hawaii and America back on track, a place of opportunity, not opportunists. I will be coming to your community soon to meet with you and hear your concerns and hopes for a better future.

Mahalo,
Bob Marx

Hold Me Accountable!

True tax reform is one of my top goals; we must restructure the Tax code so that the rich pay their share, rather than having the working people pay it. President Obama's proposal of the Warren Buffet rule is an excellent place to start; those who make over $250,000 should have their taxes increased by elimination of the tax reductions extension and some of the loopholes currently in the tax codes. Those that live off of their investments alone cannot pay a mere 15%, while the working middle class bears the burden of higher tax rates to pay for schools, roads, our military, and tax cuts for the wealthy. This tax fairness is imperative as the future of Hawaii and our nation will be in the hands of our children and grandchildren, and they must have a country they believe in and have a future in. The “American Dream must live.” I am a product of public schools and believe they are a cornerstone to upward mobility and the American Dream. We must fund them, and restructuring the tax code will go a long way toward that. When innovative and creative people have access to education and are not burdened with school loan debt, the economy and employment will grow.

Within my first year in office, I will also sponsor and support bills to encourage nationwide plastic recycling. The Pacific Ocean in particular is greatly impacted by the accumulation of plastic from the entire Pacific Rim. Hawaii specifically is in danger, and we must do more to stop it. At the center of the Norther Pacific gyre, between California and Hawai`i, is a virtual island of floating with an area estimated to be twice the size of Texas that consists mostly of plastic rubbish congregates, and will be joined by the March 2011 Japan Tsunami debris.
Unfortunately, this area of the Pacific between Hawai`i and California is an important reproduction area for many of the Pacific’s marine mammals and sea birds. The plastic not only destroys their habitat but also endangers the smallest but most important part of the marine life; plankton and phytoplankton produce more oxygen than all the other plant life on earth and are the base of the oceanic food chain. Many plastic by-products breakdown and become known carcinogens (cancer causing agents).
The solution to this problem is straightforward but difficult. We must together reduce our use of plastics. We must also re-use and recycle those plastics that we do use and create public policy that encourages research in alternatives.

My DFA values:

Equality and Freedom

Hawai`i is diverse both in its people and its Aina. We are proud of this diversity that makes us the rainbow state. It is our Aloha spirit that influenced President Obama so much so that Respect, Empower, and Include became the motto for his campaign offices all over the nation in 2008. I would like to foster this Aloha nationally by making sure all Americans have equal rights and freedom under the law regardless of sex, race, religion, or whether they are LGBTQ. I believe DOMA is mean-spirited and contrary to the Aloha Spirit. We must work hard to repeal it.

Security, Stability, and Energy Independence for our Aina and People

According to Hawai‘i's American Automobile Association, gas prices are now at a record high in Hawai‘i, reaching $6.00 a gallon in Hana. With tensions in Iran escalating over their nuclear program, along with the blockade threat at the Straight Hormuz and other unrest in the Middle East, we are just one mishap shy of an additional 50% rise in gasoline prices. This would lead to more astronomical utility bills and an unprecedented spike in food prices. Hawaii will suffer more than most of the mainland as we rely almost exclusively on oil, which is imported, to produce electricity.

It is imperative for Hawai‘i to rid itself of dependency on foreign, imported oil and into sustainability, security, and self-sufficiency. For our own security and freedom, Hawai‘i must lead the way by harnessing Mother Nature’s abundant alternative forms of clean, reliable, and independent sources of energy. Hawai‘i is blessed with sun, wind, tides, biomass and, most uniquely, our islands are located on the most active volcanic hot spot in the world. Furthermore, we have fertile farmland ready to be utilized. We must work to move Hawaii away from dependency on imported oil.

I will work hard every day with legislators and constituents to drive this issue and create the political will to move us forward with real incentives to become the leader in clean energy.

My Campaign is People-Powered!

We are the 99%.
We are also building our message and platform around the conversations I have with everyday people in the district who are disenchanted with our political system. Some of the most inspiring conversations have been with farmers and producers of the local goods that will be the foundation of a new Hawaiian economy that depends less on outside oil, food and consumer products and more on locally grown and created products. My hope is that if I am elected we will continue to channel the grassroots energy of the 99% into real public policy that better serves our community.
We are a people-powered campaign which will heavily depend on our friends and supporters going door-to-door to spread the message that we are in need of a fairer America, a land of opportunity and not opportunists. Our District HI-O2 encompasses the islands of Maui, Molokai, Kauai, Lanai, The Big Island and rural Oahu. Volunteer Captains are organizing their canvassing and sign waving teams. I personally have been building those teams as I meet voters who are excited about our progressive message and grassroots activism at farmers markets, parades, and festivals.