Issues
Federal Spending

We have to change an out-of-control congress that spends far too much of our money. To say that congress is spending money like drunken sailors is, well, hugely unfair to drunken sailors.

Right now, our federal government spends 4 billion more, per day, than it takes in. The size of our federal government has more than doubled since the year 2000. Congress spent almost $800 billion on a "stimulus" package that's failed to produce jobs. And our national debt, at $12 trillion dollars and growing, is now about the same size as our nation's GDP. That translates to $40,000 of debt for every single American man, woman and child.

The most recent omnibus spending bill contained over 5,000 congressional earmarks. That's about 10 earmarks per member of congress - demonstrating once again that too many in congress are concerned with their best interests for re-election, rather than the best interests of our country and the American taxpayer.

Congress' non-stop spending binge means that not only are you and I responsible for paying it back, but so are our children, and our grandchildren, and our great grandchildren.

Out of control spending and gargantuan debt also means less money in the private economy. Less money for investment, less money to start and grow a new business, less money for education, for retirement, for your home, for your savings.

Out of control spending and debt also means, inevitably, inflation. As the federal government is forced to print more money in order to monetize our debt, rampant inflation will ensue. If this is allowed to happen, the increased costs of food, medicine, housing, clothing, gas, and education could be devastating.

Unsustainable spending also makes it more difficult for us to do the things we need to do. Our spending and bailouts for those who have the loudest, special interest voices in DC, make it more difficult to help those Americans who, through no fault of their own, need a safety net.

Our spending makes it much more difficult to support and strengthen our system of retirement security. Right now our unfunded liability for Medicare and Social Security is more than 70 trillion dollars - That means we have 70 trillion of guaranteed commitments that at this point we have no way to pay for. The only way we begin to solve this, and fulfill our promise to all generations of Americans, is through spending discipline, budgetary reform, and unprecedented growth in our economy.

 
 
National Security

It's been said that the number one priority of government at every level - local, state and federal - is public safety, and that any failure to adequately provide public safety is a fundamental failure of government.

When I look to Congress right now, I'm concerned. We seem to be losing some of our clarity when it comes to national security. It feels like the only place where Congress is becoming more frugal is with defense spending. While we spend tremendous amounts on defense, Congress has flat-lined allocations here in real dollar terms, and cut vital strategic programs. This doesn't bode well with the responsibilities and growing threats that our nation must consider.

Congress is spending less on defense in order to spend more on bailouts, failed stimulus, nationalized healthcare and pet projects. This wrong-headed prioritization will make it more difficult to sustain our nation's military and national security advantages. Simply put, we cannot afford to have both a European-style welfare entitlement state and a world-class military that adequately protects the American people.

 
 
Health Care

It's critically important that we get this right - especially in a time of economic turmoil. I'm no medical professional, but I am someone who has spent a lot of time looking at the system - both as a member of the Oregon legislature's Healthcare Committee; as well as a patient. I have had diabetes since I was a child; I have chronic arthritis, and I am - gratefully - a cancer survivor. As my wife like to joke, I'm the healthiest unhealthy person she knows.

This background has given me a perspective on what works and what doesn't work with American healthcare. What does work for sure is the quality of our medical professionals, doctors and nurses, our quality of care, and our quality of research into new medical treatments and technologies. What doesn't work, of course, is the cost.

I believe that you can't fix healthcare until you implement free market reforms. I also believe that you can't address these free market reforms unless it's done on a bi-partisan basis. There's no doubt that bi-partisanship here is a challenge but it has to be the goal. The European-style nationalization of healthcare that we have been witnessing since the Summer of 2009 is not bi-partisan, and would and will exacerbate every problem that now exists in healthcare. Costs will grow, quality and access will shrink, and ultimately only the very rich few will be able to opt out of the system. The rest of us will be stuck, and that's not healthy for America.

Instead, congress should look to create a real market for healthcare. Let individuals and families enjoy the same tax benefits that companies enjoy; so that if we need to, we can shop for health coverage. Let Americans be the customer for once, not just the patient. This would certainly solve the portability problem and begin to reduce costs.

Let Americans buy insurance wherever they want, even across state lines. If it's an Oregon policy, great. But if the best policy for a family is to be found in Florida, or Colorado, so be it. Let us buy it. Open interstate commerce is the responsibility of congress to promote and protect… so do it, congress! Also, let's fix our tort system to reduce the cost of defensive medicine.

Let's also help strengthen the state systems of high risk insurance pools through block grants, so that people with pre-existing conditions, like me and so many others we know, have access to affordable care. And of course, let's protect Medicare for seniors by fixing Medicare, not by raiding it to support a fatally-flawed healthcare gambit.

 
 
Creating Jobs

The polices out of Washington, DC are not creating jobs, and people are now talking about a "jobless" economic recovery. With more than 15 million Americans out of work, another 12 million or so under-employed, and with 11% of Oregon's people unemployed, Congress must do a better job.

Every action and every bill put forward must consider what it will do to create and strengthen an environment where new, private-sector jobs are created.  Private sector job creation, economic growth, and economic security must be our top priority. Which is just another way to say that the American worker and American family must be our top priority.

I believe that congress must spend much less so that American families can keep a little more. I believe in real tax reform and simplification so that life is a little easier for families, those looking for jobs, and those creating jobs. I believe that we must empower people and small business from the bottom-up… not with top-down, command and control policies that are now in vogue with the current congress.

I believe in new educational ideas and opportunities for Americans of all ages to help ensure lifelong employability and opportunity. I believe in free market reforms that will help make healthcare affordable, portable and effective. I believe in an energy policy that helps our national security and environmental objectives without hurting American ratepayers and American jobs.

I believe that an environment where new, productive jobs are created is the most important obligation and opportunity we have right now. It’s been said that a good job, with healthy prospects of improving our standards of living, certainly does not solve all our issues.  But without this as a starting point, our other issues cannot be solved.

It’s been written that only with plentiful jobs, economic growth, and the sense of confident progress that comes from improved living standards, can even a great nation like ours create the energy to sustain a tolerant, creative and virtuous society.