After graduating from Biola University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership, I went straight to work at a small law firm and then went on to earn my Paralegal Certificate from UCLA Extension.
While working in litigation for the past seven years, I’ve come across all different kinds of people — from the poor senior citizen barely making ends meet, to the successful entrepreneur who works to provide for his family and boost his local economy.
In my first few years of litigation, I dealt with debt collection, employment lawsuits, and loan sharking. I saw the dirty details of the housing crisis played out in courtrooms and attorneys’ offices. I saw how the federal reserve’s money meddling unhinged the housing market and how government bail outs poured salt in the wounds of everyone who lost their homes.
After a few years, I transitioned to working as a legal aid and started providing eviction defense. Many of the people who used to be homeowners were bumped down the financial ladder to renter status. Instead of dealing with mortgages, now they dealt with landlords, and on a tighter budget. Different powers, same struggles…
The problems I saw didn’t just affect renters & consumers. I’ve helped hopeful small business owners file their formation papers and excitedly go into business for themselves…only to see many of them shut down just a year later, crushed under the weight of zoning fees, special filing costs, and a tax for every level of government regulation you can imagine.
Little old church ladies, successful entrepreneurs, home owners, renters… everyone seems to face the same trouble – fighting court rules and a government that are designed to drive you into poverty and madness.
I see first hand how quickly you can fall from living paycheck to paycheck, to eviction and then homelessness.
The weight of our rotten economy weighed heavily on my heart. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to do more than just provide eviction defense and self-help legal services so I started volunteering with the homeless population of LA.
I began volunteering once a week with Monday Night Mission, and then Food Not Bombs, passing out free food to people who were homeless or living in transitional housing.
Curiously enough, both groups were small grassroots organizations that operated without any government funding – and both groups thrived without it. In fact, whenever we tried to incorporate any government programs into the services we provided, we were always met with disappointment.
Whether it’s overcrowding, years long wait lists, broken promises, and/or endless bureaucratic hoops to jump through, it always seems like government “assistance” is next to impossible to get.
Perhaps the system is designed to fail?
Maybe not… but it’s not difficult to see that government was NOT my ally in the fight against poverty and injustice. If anything, government proves to be an enemy. We don’t just need “different” government – we need to shrink our government – dramatically. And we need representatives who aren’t afraid to admit that some of the institutions we have in place to “help” people actually hurt people.
That’s why I decided to run for Congress. I’ve seen firsthand how our government has harmed good people while rewarding the bad. Yet, I’m still confident I can represent the interests of all Californians in the House of Representatives.
I wonder if you can join me in my fight while I do my part to help tame the federal beast that casts its citizens aside in its insatiable thirst for power to the detriment of all Americans.
Please consider making a donation to my campaign, even $5 or $10 helps. If money is tight, please share my site with your friends and loved ones.
I thank you for taking the time to read this.
Very truly yours,
Angela McArdle
Angela McArdle 