Congressional candidate profiles

 

// As you know, the Bush-era income tax cuts will expire at the end of this year. Do you support extending the cuts for all income levels, only on individual income under $200,000 (under $250,000 for families), or not at all? If you support an extension of some kind, should it be paid for? //

I support abolishing the income tax and replacing it with the fair tax, a national sales tax. This would include the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service and would require that the sole purpose of taxes, to finance necessary government activities, would be restored. The tax code is not the place for government to be dictating social policy.

// Is there any circumstance in which you would support extending a pay freeze on federal employees and/or requiring current federal employees to contribute more to their retirement plans? Please explain. //

A complete audit of all federal expenditures is necessary to determine the proper scope of government. I support a significant reduction in federal spending and propose to balance the federal budget in my first year in office. This will necessarily require that certain federal employees' pay will continue to be frozen and they will need to contribute more to their retirement plans. This will also require the elimination of federal jobs and the consolidation of federal departments.

// The Congressional Budget Office projects spending on Medicare, Medicaid and other government health programs will more than double as a share of the nation's economy by 2037. What specific changes would you propose to reduce Medicare costs? //

Rising Medicare costs, like rising insurance costs, are a reflection of rising overall health care costs. Deregulation of the medical profession is one way to lower costs. Further, increased immigration of qualified medical professionals from abroad will lower these costs. Further, the bureaucratic waste contained in the Medicare budget should also be examined. Additionally, money should be block granted to the states so that there can be 50 laboratories of innovation to learn best practices for the health care field that can then be spread throughout the country.

// Would you support increased federal spending on highways and other infrastructure as a way to boost the construction industry? If so, how would you pay for it? //

I would not support increased federal spending on highways and infrastructure as a "way to boost the construction" industry. An additional bailout of the construction industry is not in the best interests of the nation. Just as it would be absurd to support increased federal spending on web development and the computer industry to help me, a computer programmer, it is absurd to prioritize the construction industry over other industries. Additional federal spending on any project should be extremely limited. While spending on defense, social security, and Medicare accounts for most of the money spent by the federal government, limiting the amount spent on infrastructure projects, which may result in bridges to nowhere, will help reduce the deficit and the influence of the federal government.

// Would you support U.S. military involvement in Iran if there were evidence that it was close to developing a nuclear weapon? //

No. Preliminarily, what evidence could there be that Iran was developing a nuclear weapon? Is it the same evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction the necessitated war with that country? That, of course, was false. Second, even if Iran had a nuclear weapon it would not have the missile capacity to engineer a first strike on the United States. Iran would not launch a nuclear attack on Israel because of the immediate response of the United States and Israel, in addition to the heretical nature of destroying the Dome of the Rock. Any nuclear threat that is posed against the United States is not from an organized state such as Iran, but rather any number of fringe groups that have no deterrence from the possibility of assured destruction.

// Describe a specific policy you would pursue in Congress that would have support from members of the opposite party. //