Issues

Education

For years, our legislators in Lansing have chosen to balance the budget on the backs of our teachers and children, making deep cuts to student programs and teacher pay in a time when we should be investing our resources in local schools, not Lansing bureacracy. I support our local teachers’ unions, parents, and our children. That’s why I believe it’s time to require that the budget be passed before the school year starts and that our schools be guaranteed base levels of funding for no less than three years at a time. Above all, I will stand my ground by saying, “No More Cuts to Our Local Schools!”

Economy

Over the past several years, Lansing has abandoned our blue collar, middle class workers and the manufacturing industry by failing to stabilize the industry and flooding millions of dollars into industries that aren’t creating permanent local jobs. I believe that our middle class, blue collar, and union employees deserve to be at the front of the line, not the back. That’s why I support funding programs that bolster all types of manufacturing, including new green collar jobs.

Worst of all, small business has been asked to thrive in an environment that doesn’t foster growth. That’s why I also support the creation of Micro-Loan programs in the Michigan counties that have been hit the hardest by the economic turbulence.

Our current tax code is broken and unsustainable and we must restructure the way we generate revenue to spread the burden fairly to all of our citizens, reduce overall corporate tax rates, and spur small business growth. Most of all, we need to make sure that homeowners aren’t forced to pay property taxes that reflect inflated market values. When revenue goes down, Lansing should shrink – NOT local municipalities and taxpayers.

Energy

Green Energy is not a fad or a passing fashion. It is the key to a sustainable future. That’s why I’m ready to lead in the charge to build an intelligent energy infrastructure in our state, promote the development of better systems of mass transit and high speed rail, and help educate our people about the facts surrounding the new energy economy. Setting aside ideological divides on environmental issues, everyone can agree that basic energy conservation measures save money. With that in mind, it is important that we provide tax credits for people who have energy audits and retrogrades performed on their homes and make funding available to our schools to maximize their own efficiency.

Quality of Life

I believe that the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is non-negotiable. That’s why I believe that life begins at conception and has value until the day that life ends. That’s why we need to break down the barriers to adoption that currently exist, create programs that help women in hardship pregnancies get the education and training they need to succeed in life, and instill in our children the truth that their lives are filled with a unique hope and potential that comes from a divine spark, not Hollywood’s image of what is attractive or socially acceptable. Government’s default setting should always be to protect life, promote personal liberty, and create an environment of economic and personal innovation and creativity.