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Issues |
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ECONOMY |
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The economy
is in the midst of the worst down turn in
decades. Unemployment is
high, revenues are down, and people are
scared. It takes a steady hand to
help guide the ship through these rough
and uncertain waters. It takes someone who can
make principled financial decisions, not based on
emotion or fear, but based on effective,
principled results. I am that
person for District 52.
Utah was
recently ranked by the American
Legislative Exchange Council as the
state most likely to emerge first from
the economic recession. The
recognition is due, in large part, to
Utah's business-friendly environment and
past prudent fiscal management.
With economic indicators stabilizing, I
remain confident the State is on the
road to recovery, I am committed the
helping the State's economy continue to
grow. With this in mind, I am committed
to oppose any and all tax increases.
Tax increases would devastate Utah
families and businesses, and would
clearly stymie future economic recovery
and growth.
I am
committed to promoting and creating an
environment where people and businesses
can prosper and create wealth. |
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HEALTHCARE |
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Ronald Reagan said, "At times such as
these, government is not the answer to
our problems, government is the
problem." At the time, he was referring
to the overall economy of the country,
but this could very well be applied to
the health insurance problem. I call it
a "health insurance problem" rather than
a "healthcare problem", because in
reality few, if any, in this country are
denied medical treatment if they need
it.
We are hearing those phrases again:
national health care, universal health
care, and socialized medicine. We're
being told that government bureaucrats
can take over our entire medical
industry--which by the way is the best
and most complex in the world--and make
it better. Sorry my friends, but there
is no chance of that. So what do we do
about health care? I have been
misquoted as saying that I do not
believe that government should do
anything about health care and this is
wrong. I believe that government
should do something about the health
care/insurance problem, and it all starts
with reducing government regulation.
Government Regulation:
Health insurance reform begins with the
government realizing that over
regulation is killing the
system. We need to start by eliminating
the cumbersome insurance regulations
that drive costs up and forces providers out of
the market.
Trust the Markets:
If we trusted the market economies and
changed our tax system so that the
market could work more efficiently, give
people more power to make their own
decisions and open up the market across
state lines, prices
would go down. That would help people
who wish to buy health insurance on
their own.
Make Health Insurance Portable:
We made a mistake in our tax code many
years ago which caused employers to
provide health insurance for employees,
rather than give the tax incentives to
the holder of the insurance policy.
This left self-employed, unemployed and
others to fend for themselves. We need
to take steps to correct this so people
are not so tied to their employment for
insurance. It would become portable so
people could take their insurance with
them from job to job or elsewhere.
Medical Tort Reform:
Institute caps on non-economic and
punitive damage awards to eliminate
frivolous lawsuits.
End Illegal Immigration:
Millions of dollars are spent every year
on illegal immigrants who are uninsured
and go to the hospital for their basic
health care needs. By continuing to
dismiss the rule of law in regards to
immigration, we are bankrupting the
health care system. |
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THE
RIGHT TO LIFE |
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On January 22, 2008 the Democratic
Party celebrated the 35th anniversary of
Roe v. Wade, which legalized "no reason"
abortion in the United States. Howard
Dean, the highest ranking official in
the Democrat party said, "As we mark the
35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade today,
Democrats stand solidly in support of
women and their right to make important
life decisions about their health care.
It’s critical that abortion remain a
personal decision."
As the Democrats celebrated Roe v. Wade,
more than 3,700 unborn babies lost their
lives to abortion across the United
States in that one day alone. In Utah
we have about 4000 abortions every
year. Since the passage of Roe v. Wade
over 50 million unborn children have
lost their lives due to abortions in the
United States.
This year, through my leadership, we began to chip away at Roe
v. Wade by passing HB222 and HB90. I
sponsored HB222 entitled, THE UNBORN
CHILD PAIN PREVENTION ACT. This law
required that Doctor’s who are going to
perform an abortion on a child, shall
inform the mother that the child may
feel pain, and requires that the Doctor
to offer an anesthetic to alleviate the
pain. I also co-sponsored HB90 which
made an illegal abortion the equivalent
of a 2nd degree homicide.
Both of these bills create some basic
human rights for the unborn, and thus
chips away at the nation's abortion
laws. I am the chairman of the Utah
Family Action Council, Which is the
largest coalition of pro-family groups
in Utah. We are continually
working to pass pro-life
legislation which will weaken Roe v.
Wade.
Abortions should be reserved for extreme
cases only. According to The Center for
Bio-Ethical Reform: 1% of all abortions
occur because of rape or incest, 6% of
abortions occur because of potential
health problems regarding either the
mother or child, and 93% of all
abortions occur for social reasons (i.e.
the child is unwanted or inconvenient).
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TAXES & FISCAL POLICY |
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For many politicians, taxes are viewed
as the way to fund their personal pet
projects. Each year we see money
which is allocated from the legislature
for projects which really should not be
funded. I oppose this use of
taxpayer dollars.
Some also view taxes as a politically
expedient topic, only
opposed to increasing taxes when it will
benefit their next election. I am
fundamentally opposed to tax
increases. The state of Utah has enough
money to fund the programs necessary for
it to function well. What we lack,
on occasion, is the discipline to decide
between the "must haves" and the "nice
to haves."
I support several pieces of tax reform
including:
Reforming the property tax, so
families do not have to fear each year's
property tax assessments. I also support
lowering the income tax, thus allowing
you to keep more of what you earn.
Tax cuts for citizens and
businesses are principles which help
boost the economy. The national
government would have been much wiser to
cut taxes by billions of dollars, rather
than going into debt in order to
"stimulate" the economy. This lack
of forethought by the national
government will result in
hyper-inflation.
I am the first Representative
from our area in almost fifteen years to
support any significant tax cuts. Ronald
Reagan proved that to stimulate the
economy, government must lower the tax
burden. I will never forget that it’s
your money, not mine.
I commit to you that once again, I will
oppose any and all tax increases.
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PERSONAL AND PROPERTY RIGHTS |
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I am one of the most pro-gun-rights
legislators in the state. I stand firm
that the 2nd amendment protects an
individual's right to bear arms. This
is why I have obtained an "A+" rating
from, and have been endorsed by, the NRA. I
co-sponsored HB357 which expanded an
individual's right to carry a weapon in
your car for self-defense. This changes
nothing for criminals who will
still
not be allowed to posses weapons
legally; rather it allows honorable
citizens to defend themselves easier.
Ownership and control of one's own
property is a basic principle of
liberty. I am a strong supporter
of property ownership. I am opposed to
eminent domain except for extreme cause
as is constitutional. Defending
one's personal property is a right some
take for granted. I will be
sponsoring legislation in 2010 to
strengthen your ability to defend your
property, without fear of running afoul
of the law. |
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EDUCATION |
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What we are doing is not working for
every child. I am a staunch advocate
for a quality education for all
children, yet some kids are falling
through the cracks. We need real reform
in order to keep up with the demands of
the world market. I support the
following:
►Increased technology in the
classroom.
► More parental involvement and
choice in their child's education.
Vouchers were defeated, but this should
not be an excuse to fear other “out
of the box” ideas that may improve
education.
►Merit pay: Pay the best teachers
the most. Good teachers should not have
to leave Utah to make a living.
► I
strongly support and honor our
quality teachers, but as with any
job, it should be easier to remove
incompetent employees. It is very easy
to remove an educator “for cause,” but
extremely onerous to remove one for
being incompetent. For the sake of our
children this needs to change.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE |
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Once again I proved to be the
champion on the hill fighting against
child predators. I have been able to
pass the most aggressive child predator
laws in the history of the state.
Jessica's law passed in 2008, which
drastically increased the penalties for
child predators. In addition, I completely removed the statute of
limitations for child abuse homicide,
and made the murder of a child a crime
punishable by death.
I have worked hard to give our law
enforcement officials the tools needed
to fight sex offenders, gangs and other
violent criminals.
Other areas of concern to me are:
►Death Penalty: The excessive
appeals that criminals on death row
receive. The death penalty is not used
in Utah. We have it, but through
a broken appeals system, along with
decisions by The Utah Supreme
Court, the death penalty has effectively
been eliminated in
our state.
Our first attempt to streamline the
death penalty tragically failed this
year. I will not stop working on this
issue until justice in this state is
served.
►Gang crime: This year I continued
to pass stronger gang laws for our
state. I passed what was referred to as
"the drive-by shooting bill" which
strengthens the law against gang
members. And I co-sponsored legislation
dramatically increasing the penalties
for recruitment of new gang members.
►Prison Space: We do not have
enough prison space. While the state
continues to spend millions of dollars
on “nice-to-have” social programs, we are facing the real
possibility of early release for violent
criminals! We, as a state, need to
re-prioritize and recognize that it is
our most basic function to protect our
citizens. |
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ENERGY & LAND |
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The Federal Government, under the Obama
administration, has once again locked up
tens of thousands of acres in Utah, in
what is
one of the largest expansions of
wilderness protection in a
quarter-century. We
could have used this land for energy
exploration, and now because of
decisions made by people in Washington,
these lands are closed. Until the
Federal Government stops its abusive
tactics against the states, our energy
options are somewhat limited. The
Patrick Henry Caucus, which I founded,
has a plan to fight back against this
federal encroachment. We will be
unveiling this plan in 2010.
With the current situation being as it is, we
need to do what we can as a state to
remove obstacles to producing nuclear
energy in Utah. It is being used around
the world safely. It is environment
friendly and will be the answer to many
of our energy concerns.
We are in a crisis situation involving
energy right now; I strongly support the
following:
►Remove all state
and federal obstacles to developing
Utah's oil shale and oil sands. It is
estimated that there are over 1.8
trillion barrels of recoverable oil
reserves in oil shale located in Utah,
Colorado, and Wyoming. This is nearly
twice the amount of known crude oil
reserves on the entire planet.
►Development of nuclear power
plants. We need them and we need them
now.
►Drill here, drill now. The United
States is the only world power who fails
to fully develop its own natural
resources. Restrictions on oil
exploration, drilling, and the creation
of oil refineries need to be lifted. I
call on the federal government to stop
their obstructionist behavior when it
comes to developing our own resources. |
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ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION |
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Three questions must be asked when
discussing illegal immigration. First,
do we truly believe in obeying, honoring
and sustaining the law? Second, do we
believe that mercy should be allowed to
rob justice? And lastly, does
compassion mean we should throw out the
rule of law and our country’s
sovereignty?
My good friend, Chris Herrod, who serves
with me in the House of Representatives,
knows this issue very well. He is married to an
immigrant from the Ukraine, and his
business partner is an immigrant from
Kenya. Chris says we have “selective
compassion.” He asks, "Do we believe in
compassion only for those who can walk
to the United States?"
His business partner has had family
members murdered while trying to escape
the war torn African country. Chris
continues, "Being unable to obtain a
passport or legal visa, they waited and
were killed before our slow immigration
process allowed them to come here.
There is greater suffering than anyone
can imagine in other countries, people
are standing in line to come to the
United States legally, where is the
compassion for them?"
It is a sad statement that when an
American citizen stands up for their
country's sovereignty they are labeled a
xenophobe or a racist. Nothing can be
further from the truth. When 6% of the
world’s population (Mexico, and other
South American Countries) receive over
80% of the benefit from illegal
immigration something is dreadfully
wrong.
I do not believe that we can throw out
the rule of law on this issue. I
strongly support laws which would
restrict illegal immigration into our
country and state. The federal government has
failed us, so now it is time for the
states to step in and protect our
sovereignty. |
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