Issue Position: Root Out Wasteful Spending

Issue Position

Government waste is out of control.

Our roads and highways are significantly underfunded and beginning to crumble. Lottery officials spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on travel junkets instead of sending the money back to our local schools. All the while, the Governor purchases a fleet of private planes to attend sporting events and press conferences.

Our current welfare system has grown faster than all other areas of government combined. Only 13.5% of Missouri welfare recipients are engaged in "work activities" -- a broad definition that includes not only actual work, but also education, job training, and job search activities. This percentage ranks Missouri dead last among all 50 states.

It's time to take action.

Government works for the people, not the other way around. First we need to control spending, because bigger government often means more corruption and abuse of taxpayer dollars. We must audit every dime of state government spending.

We need to create a smaller, more efficient, and more accountable government. We need to promote innovation so we can deliver on the promises made to those who pay taxes.

My Mission

*Top to bottom review of every government program. Identify and eliminate inefficient, outdated and ineffective programs.

*Require agencies and bureaucrats to defend and justify their core budgets to the Legislature and Governor annually.

*Use existing resources to lead a waste and fraud team to identify and eliminate misuse of taxpayer dollars in every corner of state government.

*We must invest in information technology (IT). It has been proven that for every dollar invested in upgrading IT there will be an average return of $3.49 back to the treasury.

*Recruit Missouri's most successful entrepreneurs and managers to work with department heads to adopt innovative solutions and streamline government operations.

*Our goal: Provide a hand up, not just a hand out. Reform welfare into a temporary not permanent solution, eliminate its expansion, tighten eligibility, and enforce welfare to work requirements.

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