Issues

Jobs

We cannot wait any longer to cut taxes and reduce regulations that will create a pro-growth environment that promotes small and large businesses alike and enables them to start hiring again. Voters have an opportunity to stop Nancy Pelosi’s radical agenda including promises to pass: union card check legislation abolishing the secret ballot, cap and trade legislation, government run health care, and increased taxes on working families to pay for all of it. Until we reverse the course of the government’s intrusive expansion, businesses will not increase hiring and investment, and unfortunately, millions of Americans who want to work will remain jobless.
 
The $787 billion stimulus legislation passed last year was a waste of both time and resources. The spending failed to target growth and most of the money remains unspent. Now, President Obama and Nancy Pelosi are asking Americans for another round of stimulus legislation. We must not, again, waste taxpayer’s money.
 
Instead, here are concrete steps we can take now to reassure business and get the economy moving again:

• End legislative efforts to pass union card check, cap and trade, government run healthcare  and tax increases.
• Halt the approval of new regulations.  
• Demand that each agency recommend regulations to be taken off the books.
• Create a Small Business Tax Deduction equal to 20% of their income. This will give small businesses -- the driving force in our economy -- more money to invest and hire workers.
• Provide income tax relief for working families by reducing the lowest individual tax rate from 15 percent to 10 percent and from 10 percent to 5 percent.

 

Read my Jobs Plan for America (PDF)

Spending

Just say No! Stop the national spending spree today.

• We need leaders with integrity who will say no to special interests if those interests do not make sense for all the American people. 
• We need leaders with integrity who will not allow pork filled legislation to pass through their committee.
• We need leaders with integrity who will not make promises that are politically expedient, but for which there is no funding.

This lack of leadership continues today, but President Obama’s and the Democratic Congress’s record setting pace for spending is creating even greater deficits.
 
Worse yet, the House version of the “healthcare reform” legislation took $500 billion from Medicare for seniors and shifted the resources to other programs.

Government cannot continue to grow unabated each year. President Obama, like most politicians says he wants to freeze spending “next year,” but not only does next year never seem to come, under his plan spending would actually increase.
 
We need leaders who will adopt a system of prioritized budgeting. Some programs, like national defense and border security, need protection,  while  others may need dramatic cuts or even face elimination.

Border Security

We need leaders who will insist that border security is a national security problem for the United States. We must enforce our laws and eliminate the lawlessness along our border.  
 
Arizona is the number 1 state for illegal drug trafficking in the United States. This must stop! I find it incomprehensible that our borders remain unsecured, but all travelers have to take their shoes off to fly on an airplane. We screen visa applicants and travelers, but we leave the back door to our country wide open.

Read my Border Security Plan (PDF)

Sanctity of Life

I believe all life – particularly that of the unborn – is sacred and deserves our protection.  

National Security

While our economy is in recovery, we must not forget that we are fighting two wars and that we have men and women deployed around the world in service to our country. The protection of the citizenry from foreign attack is the sole responsibility of the federal government, and we must remain vigilant.  
 
Members of the US military and their families will have my unwavering support for the training, equipment, and funding they need to complete their mission. I will also remain committed to them when they return. We cannot allow another generation of veterans to be poorly served after they have served their country so bravely.
 
The threat of terrorism is real, and it is a threat we do not face alone. We must continue to deny terrorists and their financier's sanctuary and opportunities.

Energy

For decades politicians have been claiming that we need to break our dependence on foreign oil. All the while our dependence has steadily increased. We need:

• Increased production of American-made energy.
• Diversification of our energy supply including nuclear, clean-coal technology, geothermal technology as well as solar, wind and other alternative energy sources.
• Improvements to energy efficiency and conservation programs, including tax incentives to expand the use of alternative energy.

We need leaders who will block cap and trade legislation. Adding a tax on carbon emissions to our fragile economy is a bad idea, which I will vigorously oppose.

Healthcare

We need leaders who will stand firm against nationalized healthcare. I will oppose any efforts to have government play a greater role in our healthcare system.
 
Most Americans like their insurance coverage, but not its cost. Health care costs are climbing. We need to address those costs in a meaningful way and encourage greater access to coverage. American’s don’t want the healthcare legislation that Congress recently passed. Here are several common sense reforms that the public supports and Congress should pass:

• Require that insurance programs cannot exclude individuals with pre-existing conditions.
• Give small businesses the opportunity to pool together to buy insurance to reduce costs.
• Allow insurance companies to compete across state lines the same way car insurance companies do.
  
• Create incentives for individuals to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to save for future medical care, increasing personal responsibility over care.
  
• Allow parents to keep young adults on the family plan until age twenty-five, increasing the number of healthier Americans.
  
• Pass reform, ending abusive lawsuits that not only cost a fortune but cause doctors to spend valuable time and resources practicing defensive medicine.
  
• Equalize the tax laws so that individuals who pay their own health insurance can fully deduct their premiums the same as employer-provided health insurance.
  

Second Amendment

I am a strong advocate for the right of citizens to keep and bear arms, a right our founders protected.  
 
I grew up in a neighborhood plagued by drugs and violence. Democrats in Congress want to limit access of lawful citizens to obtain weapons in hopes of stopping crime. Criminals, however, will find a way to obtain firearms and Congress should not infringe on the right of law abiding citizens to own them for self-defense or recreation.