Restoring Prosperity and Creating Jobs

The U.S has long been the envy of the world because the American free market system has produced the highest level of prosperity enjoyed by any society, ever.  But the American job machine is being strangled by excessive taxation and regulation that is destroying incentive, capital investment and job creation.  Small businesses, not the government, are the backbone of the American economy.  I will work to give small businesses the tools and tax cuts necessary to allow them to begin hiring again.  Real job creation requires cutting government spending and taxation, reducing excessive regulations and ending government ownership of private businesses.

 

Despite trillion dollar “stimulus” bills, bailouts, deficits and debts, our economy continues to sputter. We need a complete change in course. President Reagan proved beyond any doubt that the key to economic growth is tax cuts. We should cut tax rates, move toward a flatter, fairer tax system, cut the capital gains and corporate income tax and forever end the marriage penalty and death tax. 

 

Reforming health care while preserving patient rights

 To read Andy’s op-ed on reforming health care without a government takeover, click here:  Top Concerns

Improving our nation's health care system is a priority for all American families. As a physician, I know that our health insurance system is in need of repair. However, the answer to the ever-rising cost of insurance is not the expansion of government-run or government-mandated insurance but, instead, common-sense market based solutions that ensure decisions are made by patients and their doctors.  Reform should focus on reducing costs and maintaining quality while preserving individual rights.  I support increased competition, price transparency, tax credits and expanded medical savings accounts, and meaningful medical malpractice liability reform.

 

 

Protecting America’s Borders

My parents came to the United States as immigrants from Hungary and the Ukraine , fleeing Communism.   I believe immigrants who come to this country legally are a great asset and make this nation stronger. However, illegal immigration has become a major problem as the federal government has been unwilling to enforce our borders.  I recognize the need for legal, temporary workers who don't displace American workers (H2B visas) - but we must enforce their return home when their visas expire.  I will work for strong border enforcement and to ensure that illegal immigrants are not taking jobs that are badly needed by American citizens.  

 

 

Government Spending: Saving our country from bankruptcy

 

Spending is simply out of control. You know the numbers. The deficit doubled in 2008, then doubled again in 2009. This year’s deficit is the largest in history and the debt ceiling has been raised to a staggering $2 trillion. We are piling debt on our children and grandchildren at a rate that is unconscionable. The national debt will be $14 trillion at the end of the year, but total national debt including Social Security, Medicare and other structural debt puts us closer to $100 trillion.

 

We all balance our family budgets, and sometimes it’s tough. Congress has been completely irresponsible where spending is concerned, and both parties are to blame. To begin to fight out-of-control spending, we should first take some common-sense advice: when you’re in a hole stop digging. We should not spend the remaining stimulus funds or the repaid TARP funds. This alone would save about one trillion dollars – halving the deficit this year.

 

Then it gets tougher. We have to reform the earmark process. This will save billions more. We must address waste, fraud and abuse, which will save hundreds of billions more. Then we have to make some tough decisions. Do we really need a Department of Energy? Would our education dollars be better spent at the local level rather than at the federal level, and if they were, we would save billions since we’d no longer be running our tax dollars through Washington.

 

Any plan to control spending should first stop the hemorrhaging, work toward a balanced budget through actual spending cuts, and begin paying off our debt. To do less is to fail future generations by saddling them with mountains of debt.

 

 

 

Cutting taxes to create jobs and economic growth

 

We addressed tax cuts in our economic growth section, but tax cuts are so crucial to economic recovery they are worth mentioning again. First, we need to reform the way we look at taxes. Tax cuts do not reduce government revenue. That might make sense on the surface, but it’s not true. President Reagan proved this in the 1980’s. Government revenues expanded because of the tax cuts. Similar cuts will have the same effect now, resulting in economic growth and job creation.

 

Excessive taxation represents one of the greatest assaults by government on personal freedoms.  I signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge twelve years ago and I have kept my word.  I support measures to eliminate or reduce the number of taxes that individuals and businesses pay.  Taxpayers have a right to a simple, fair tax code that they can understand and the knowledge that taxes will not continue to take an ever larger share of their paycheck. I am the only candidate in this campaign for Congress with a proven record of voting against tax increases and for tax cuts. It’s an important difference.

I favor the following specific proposals on taxes:

·         I will continue to keep my word as expressed in the Taxpayer Protection Pledge

·         I favor fairer, flatter, simpler and lower taxes – I can support either the flat tax or the fair tax.

·         We should make the 2002 tax cuts permanent. They expire at the end of the year. This would result in one of the largest tax increases in history and would further devastate our economy.

·         We should end forever the marriage penalty and death tax.

·         We should never raise taxes on Social Security or Medicare.

·         We should lower and eventually abolish taxes on capital gains and businesses. Even China has a capital gains tax of zero.

·         We should cut tax rates now to spur economic growth as we work toward a flatter, fairer tax code.

 

Standing up for Maryland Seniors 

 

Some have suggested balancing the books on the backs of our seniors. I won’t stand for it. Social Security and Medicare are contracts made with our seniors – we must keep our promises and commitments to older Americans.

 

 

 

Achieving Energy Independence and Affordability

 

The Department of Energy was created 33 years ago with the stated purpose of helping us gain energy independence. Three decades and billions of dollars later, gas is $4 a gallon and we still buy it from our enemies. The answer is drilling at home. The United States has enormous energy potential. From ANWR to shale discoveries in the continental U.S., we should be developing our own sources of oil. I also support a comprehensive energy policy that includes nuclear, wind, solar and new technologies that offer us true energy independence.

 

 

Respecting the Constitution

 

The U.S. Constitution carefully spells out the powers of the federal government, reserving all other powers to the individual and the states.  I will fight to restore those limits, to return power to state governments, and resist the appointment of activist judges. 

 

One of the cornerstone ideas on which our county was founded was the protection of personal property rights.  The constitution also protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms for security and defense of self, family, property, and to defend against tyranny. Another right guaranteed by the Constitution is the right to free expression of religion.  But all of these rights are under assault today.

 

I will consider every proposal for its constitutional legitimacy and always make legislative    decisions ensuring that all of your constitutional rights are fully protected.  I believe that we can stop the abuses of power that are crippling our economy and eating away our liberty by using the Constitution to fight back against those who violate it.

 

National Defense

The first responsibility of the federal government is to protect and defend the American people. Without a secure society, America would no longer be a free society.  As a Navy veteran, I know that we live in a dangerous world- and we must maintain our defenses against our enemies.    We must protect our allies and keep their trust by keeping our promises.  Peace is kept through strength.  I strongly support funding for defense and homeland security programs to ensure that the U.S. has the best-equipped and best-trained military in the world. 

Terrorists are not entitled to the rights of American citizens. The priority of the Department of Justice must be the protection of Americans, not the protection and defense of the rights of terrorists.

 American soldiers have fought for the freedom of oppressed peoples for generations and we must ensure that they are equipped to do so for the generations to come.   We must honor our veterans and keep our promises to those who serve our country.

 

Preserving our American Values 

No government program can take the place of the family.  I believe that the family is the most important unit of society and that government policy should be aimed at strengthening, not undermining the family.  I am a strong defender of the sanctity of human life and I believe that marriage should remain an institution between one man and one woman.  It is essential to uphold the traditional family values that have been the American tradition.