Issue Position: The Economy

Issue Position

The economy

The urgent crisis of our nation in 2011 is our wounded economy. The heart of our nation's economic woe is centered in Washington, D.C. Out-of-control spending and resultant borrowing make our nation vulnerable. With the world's instability, this is no time to be unprepared financially to deal with possible conflicts and disasters.

Debt

Our staggering $15+ trillion national debt must be addressed aggressively and soon or dire consequences will occur. And this doesn't include the multiple trillions of unfunded mandates based on entitlements. We add $4 billion to this debt every day! We soon will reach the point that, humanly speaking, there is no way back to solvency. I favor passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment coupled with immediate major cost cuts and capping future budgets. Like a family facing job loss, our Washington leadership must ruthlessly and courageously stop the bleeding now.

Budget

As stated above, I favor immediate passage of a Balanced Budge Amendment. Earmarks must be eliminated; all expenditures must be on the record.
Jobs and Job Creation: Jobs are created when people with capital decide to take a risk by starting a new business or expanding an existing business. But the anti-business environment coming from Washington discourages capital investment. To change this, corporate taxes must be reduced from 35 to 25 percent and we must remove the growing labyrinth of needless bureaucratic regulations that frustrate businesses and stifle job creation. Forced unionization on unwilling workers is another tax that discourages job creators from investing in new or expanded businesses. I totally support Right to Work and Freedom to Work.

Taxes

In 1900, the average combined tax load on a citizen from all levels of government--federal, state and local--was less than 6 percent. In 2000, it had climbed to 40 percent. The size and cost of government must be lowered to raise our standard of living. I believe we need to start over with our tax code. I support the Fair Tax which is a consumption tax rather than an income tax. To implement this pro-economy, pro-taxpayer system we will need to repeal the 16th Amendment that authorized the income tax system. In the meantime, we still need major tax overhaul to simplify our complex tax code, reduce loopholes, lower taxes, and broaden the base so more citizens have some "skin in the game."

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