Issues

"Every time that we try to lift a problem from our shoulders, and shift  that problem to the hands of the government, to the same extent we are sacrificing the liberties of our people."

John F. Kennedy

Americans need to keep as much of their hard earned money in their pockets as possible. By cutting taxes, we will ignite the economy by creating good paying, high quality jobs and allowing people to spend their money on the goods and services they desire. We have seen in this state that raising the taxes on businesses only chases these quality jobs to other states and countries. Phil Hare believes in raising taxes to support government programs, despite the fact that this leads to greater job losses and more dependence on the government.  We have seen throughout our history that if government cuts taxes, jobs and positive economic results follow.  In the early 1960’s President Kennedy cut taxes and it strengthened the economy as wages increased and unemployment fell, and again in the early 1980’s President Reagan cut taxes and the economy exploded as wages increased, unemployment fell, and an astounding 19 million new jobs were created during his eight years in office.  And because of the amount of new jobs, tax revenue for the government nearly doubled during his presidency.  This type of tax policy will bring us out of recession and back into prosperity.

Out of control and out of touch lawmakers are bankrupting our country. We are currently $12 trillion in debt and that continues to grow at a rate of $4 billion per day.  Members of Congress, including Phil Hare, who criticized the overspending of the past eight years, thus far in 2009 have passed a $792 billion stimulus bill that has given away our tax money to secure political support and expand welfare, but has done little to create jobs; they have created an all time high annual deficit of $1.6 trillion, and passed a budget that will double our national debt in as little as 5 years.  To put things in perspective, in the first 11 months of 2009 Congress has voted for spending that will accumulate more debt for this country than all of this countries’ previous debt combined since our founding in 1776 thru 2008.  If not reversed, this debt will cause disastrous unemployment, inflation, and higher taxes.

Our government can not spend one penny without the approval of Congress.  As your representative, I will work to reduce spending, balance the budget, and pay down our debt.  This is the only choice we have, if we are to pass on an economically stable country to our children and grandchildren.

"Public servants say, always with the best intentions, ' What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and a little more power.' But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector." - Ronald Reagan

The recently passed health care bill focuses on government control of the healthcare system, which will destroy the greatest system of care in the world by allowing bureaucrats to control it and driving doctors and nurses out of it.  The government has horribly mismanaged the Medicare and Medicaid programs – these programs have widespread fraud and waste, and are headed into trillions of dollars of debt.

In order to lower costs and expand quality coverage, reform must address:

• Medical malpractice (tort) reform, which will dramatically reduce legal and defensive medicine costs
• An increase in the number of doctors and nurses in order to handle the rising number of people requiring care
• Increased tax incentives toward the purchase of insurance and healthcare expenses in order to expand insurance risk pools
• The creation of small business association health plans, which will give small businesses the purchasing power of large businesses, thereby reducing their costs
• Opening up competition nationwide in the insurance market, which will reduce costs
• Eliminating burdensome regulations on Community Health Centers for the underserved, which will relieve pressure from emergency rooms for non-emergency situations
• Standardization of insurance paperwork and procedures
• Reducing waste and fraud in Medicare and Medicaid to reduce cost shifting to people on private insurance
• All individuals taking responsibility for their health and for a portion of their expenses

Our country has been taken over by many representatives who have put their own best interests ahead of the people that elected them. Members of Congress have voted themselves yearly pay raises, an excellent health insurance plan, and a pension after only five years of service, all of which is funded either exclusively or largely by us, the taxpayers.  This is not public service, but rather self service.  Now, it is true that some in Congress refuse to accept some of these benefits.  As your representative, I will not take an annual pay raise, the government health insurance plan, or the pension.

No more 1,000 page bills that Congress has not read; no more laws that infringe on the peoples’ freedom to work hard and live an honest life; no more new taxes and fees to help satisfy government’s insatiable spending. Short, common sense laws that people can read and understand, and that allow people the freedom to work hard and make a good living, live an honest life, and keep more of what they earn - this is what is needed.  Smaller government leads to greater individual freedom and greater freedom leads to prosperity.

The government’s greatest responsibility is to protect its citizens. Our military must continue to have superior training and equipment, and our civilian leadership must be as committed to our security as our soldiers are.  We must continue to defeat terrorists in Afghanistan, Iraq, and wherever else they may be, and help those countries strengthen themselves in order to maintain peace.  This will lead to the withdrawal of our troops and long term stability in these countries, the United States, and around the world.

It is vital to communicate with the people of other countries as much as we do with their governments.  Governments come and go, but the people and their beliefs remain.  United States foreign policy has had many victories, including winning the Cold War and the peaceful breakup of the Soviet Union. These victories were achieved because the United States endured with its message and example of freedom.

America needs a firm, proactive foreign policy in order to deal with problems before they become crises.  We must be realistic about current threats and deal with them using a strategy of respect, endurance, intelligence, power, and historical knowledge.

Phil Hare voted for the 1,427 page Cap & Trade bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives earlier this year.  This is of great concern.  If this bill is passed by the Senate and signed into law, it will raise families’ energy bills thousands of dollars per year and destroy jobs in many sectors of the economy, most notably manufacturing.  The development of wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal energy, as well as the creation of more nuclear power plants is important for the overall needs of the country, but oil, natural gas, and coal are the lifeblood of the American economy.  While we use much of our own coal, America also has a wealth of oil and natural gas beneath our coastal waters, in areas throughout the western United States, and several thousand acres near the edge of Alaska’s 19.6 million-acre Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, but currently many of these areas are off limits.  No other country in the world has restricted as much of its energy resources as the United States has.

It is critical to the long term energy, economic and national security of our country to open these areas up and utilize them, rather than continuing to depend largely on foreign supply. This will bring down the prices we pay at the pump and for heating our homes and businesses, while creating good jobs here in the U.S.  The American Energy Act would do just this.  This Act, which has been proposed in Congress, allows the opening up of America’s vast energy supply and keeps environmental protections in place.  Put simply, we need to drill here, drill now, pay less, and create jobs.

Life begins at conception.  Abortion takes life – approximately 1.2 million unborn babies’ lives each year in this country.  The most basic rule of law tells us that it is wrong for one person to take the life of another person, no matter what stage of life they are at.  Sadly, my opponent Phil Hare not only supports a woman’s’ right to take the life of her unborn child, but he also supports The Freedom of Choice Act, which, if passed, will remove basic restrictions on abortion, such as the partial birth abortion ban and notification of parents of minors attempting to obtain an abortion, and consequently lead to many more of them.

The Right to Life Act and The Pregnant Women Support Act are two of the most sound pieces of legislation Congress has ever introduced.  They protect the lives of unborn children and provide support for mothers in need.  Both bills are sponsored by Democrats and Republicans and have been introduced several times now.  These must be passed if we are ever to build a culture of life in this country.

Embryonic stem cell research also takes life.  This systematic taking of life through experimentation is also wrong no matter how good the intentions. We must focus our efforts on adult stem cell research that does not take life and to date has produced cures and therapies for over 70 diseases and injuries, such as Parkinson’s, Leukemia, and spinal injuries to name just a few.  Embryonic stem cell research has produced zero cures or therapies.

The men and women who have fought for this great nation should not have to come home and fight for the benefits they have earned. Our veterans' hospitals should be the standard throughout our nations' medical facilities for quality and affordable healthcare.  In addition, our veterans should have the choice to visit any hospital or physician of their choosing to receive care, thereby reducing or eliminating long drives to veterans’ facilities.  In addition, Congress must work to alleviate VA bureaucratic procedures and improve communications between the Department of Defense and the VA. Why do our politicians get to go to any doctor they choose and our heroes go to the VA?  How about sending the politicians to the VA and our heroes to the doctor of their choice?

As stated in The Constitution, 'the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.'  It is the responsibility of our elected officials to uphold this Second Amendment right; however, in September 2008 my opponent Phil Hare voted against allowing law abiding citizens of Washington, D.C. the right to own a gun.  Despite his vote, this bill passed overwhelmingly. The right to defend ones’ self is paramount to sustaining a free society. If you put a hammer and a gun on a table, neither are good or evil, the person that picks up the hammer or the gun makes that determination.

Family farmers have been the backbone of America since our nation's founding. We need to take an honest look at the way we handle farm subsidies, ensuring that it is these family-owned farms that get assistance in tough times, not millionaire corporations.  Many farmers work all their lives to maintain their farms, provide America and the world with needed agricultural products, and then pass on their farms to their children or grandchildren.  This is why I favor repeal of the estate/death tax. Eliminating this destructive tax would allow numerous farmers to pass on their farms to younger generations.  This will expand opportunity, create jobs and stimulate the economy.

An extremely vital part of working to make this country better is ensuring that our children are well educated.  The blame for the problems in our education system cannot be put on teachers and administrators alone. Parents must take responsibility for their children’s education and lawmakers must take a step back from creating more regulations that make it harder for teachers to teach.  Teaching students takes place at the local level, and that is where decisions regarding instruction and funding need to be made. The A-PLUS Act, which has been introduced in Congress, would return authority to the state level by allowing states to opt out of No Child Left Behind. States and local governments would have greater control of federal education funds to use on local priorities. States could end ineffective or inefficient federal programs and direct funds toward greater needs.  There would be less adminis­trative costs and less bureaucracy to deal with. States, rather than the federal government, would establish standards and assessments and be responsible for publicly reporting results.

Our transportation infrastructure is in great need of modernization. Airport delays are longer due to a lack of runways and gates, congestion and deterioration of roads and highways costs tremendous amounts of time and money, and the locks on many of our rivers are inadequate.  These deficiencies increase transportation costs, which in turn drive up the cost of every product we buy and make American products less attractive on the world market.

I am committed to increasing the capacity of our roads, airports, and rivers.  I intend to ensure that the new roads we construct and our existing roads serve drivers, as well as transit users, bicyclists and pedestrians.

Trade with other countries stimulates the economy and creates jobs by expanding markets for American business. However, we need to ensure that trade is fair for our businesses in our agreements with other nations. Many of our trading partners impose tariffs on America’s exports.  We must enforce our trade agreements to ensure our businesses have reciprocal access to foreign markets and we must hold foreign governments accountable for illegal practices, such as currency manipulation and illegal subsidies.  In addition, we need to change our trade policies that are detrimental, including modernizing our export control laws, our restrictive business visa policies, and the growing tendency of our government agencies to procure goods and services from abroad.

Our nation’s immigration laws must be respected and enforced.  We must secure our borders to ensure illegal immigrants do not enter this country, we must not reward people who do enter illegally, and we must work with our neighbors on border law enforcement and to promote economic opportunity in their countries, in order to prevent illegal immigration for economic reasons.  People who are here illegally, but otherwise have obeyed our laws, should be given the opportunity to return to their country of origin, with the option of applying for legal entry into the U.S.  This is a matter of preserving our national security, protecting federal, state, and local budgets; and reducing stress on our country’s job markets.

I will not support any bill that contains amnesty.  Phil Hare talks about giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship – this sounds a lot like amnesty, and that can not stand.  In 1986 Congress granted amnesty to approximately three million illegal immigrants and promised increased border security in the near future.  Over twenty years later, the number of illegal immigrants in our country is approximately twelve million, with an estimated 10% being hardened criminals. Rather than repeating the mistakes of our past, Congress must work to secure our nation’s borders and enforce the immigration laws already in place.  In addition, immigrants must be required to learn the English language as all American citizens are.

With 13 years of union experience, I fully support the rights of employees to collectively bargain with their employers.  I believe the secret ballot system of determining whether employees unionize or not must be kept in place.  The Employee Free Choice Act, which Phil Hare supports, seeks to undermine this system.  Passage of this Act would allow union organizers to openly pressure employees into forming unions.  Union elections must continue to be free and fair with the secret ballot system.

As the programs that provide for the financial security of our seniors, these two programs must remain solvent, however they present our greatest budgetary challenge.  Congress and the states must work together to move people off of welfare and into jobs in order to increase the number of contributors to these programs.  Fraud and waste within these programs must also be dramatically reduced.  Regarding Medicare, one change for consideration is moving away from paying for all treatments used on a patient and toward paying for cost-effective, coordinated care that involves prevention and case management, and yields high-quality outcomes.   There is also a great need to focus more on chronic disease and managing its treatment because this is where the majority of money is being used for an aging population.  In addition, burdensome government bureaucracy and regulations must be reduced and government price fixing eliminated.

We have an obligation to take care of those people that can not take care of themselves, whether they are children, disabled, or temporarily out of work. However, it is absolutely wrong for the government to take money, from people that work, through taxes, and give it to people that choose not to work, through welfare programs.  This hurts both the people being taken from and given to because it weakens their incentive to work and be productive.  Of great concern is the stimulus bill, which Phil Hare voted for, that increases welfare spending by $189 billion over the next two years, rewards states more heavily with funds if they increase their welfare caseloads, and repeals the successful Welfare Reform Act of 1996 by removing the five year time limit a person can receive welfare.  This policy must be reversed in the next Congress and we must reestablish the welfare reform that saw the federal welfare rolls decrease from 14.2 million people in 1994 to 3.8 million people in 2008.