THE CRC
Everything has a value. Every project has a cost at which it makes sense. Every job has a value that makes it a worthwhile investment. The Columbia River Crossing, at 4 billion dollars, is neither. The project has developed not because we need a new bridge, but because some people want to bring light rail to Vancouver and Clark County. Light rail doesn’t make sense either. It cost much more than bus service and will take you twice as long to get where you’re going. Your 15 minute bus ride to Portland will become a 30 minute train ride. It will increase your taxes for decades and you will have to pay tolls to go to Oregon. I cannot support something that will burden the families of Washington State as this project most certainly will. Someone needs to take the blinders off and just say NO to this boondoggle.
ENVIRONMENT
Everyone is in favor of sensible regulations to protect the environment. The regulations are getting so extreme people can’t do anything. We need to realize that the best conservationists are private property owners. We need to scale back to reasonable regulations, ones that make sense, and don’t treat people like the enemy of the environment. We also need regulations that are clear to follow.
JOBS
Businesses create jobs. Businesses thrive, just like people do, when there is a stable, fair, and predictable market. We need a regulatory environment that is business friendly, not one that it trying to play a “Gotcha” game with fines. We need a permitting process that is well defined and less risky for businesses. We need a B&O tax structure with several options for different types of businesses to choose from instead of the one size fits all we have now. Every business owner I have met has asked for L&I reform. Monopolies tend to be unresponsive to the needs of their customers, competition fixes that.
FIREARMS
The Washington Constitution is very clear. The right of a person to bear arms in defense of himself shall not be infringed. It is unfortunate that someone overlooked that when they passed a law prohibiting “e) the possession of firearms or any other deadly weapon by a person (other than a law enforcement officer) in a place other than that person’s place of residence or business;” That needs to get fixed.
The people of Washington lawfully possessing firearms are our first defense during the commission of a crime. A police response can take 6 minutes or more. The possession and use of guns for peaceful purposes, including defense, should be encouraged by the state, not just tolerated.
PROPERTY
Our state constitution states that we have the right to Life, Liberty, and Property. If you don’t have private property, you soon won’t have liberty. We need to stop the trend of the government taking our property through legislation and regulation. We need to say no to sustainable development and Agenda 21. It’s your property, not the states.
EDUCATION
Education is the “highest priority” of the State. Not everyone agrees that more funding is the answer to better education. One problem with education is the top down mandating how we educate and what we teach. The result is lack of flexibility to deal with diversity among students. Homeschoolers and private schools know that education can be done cheaper and more effectively than public schools do. The number one indicator of student success is not funding, it is parental involvement. If we want better education, we should reward parental involvement. We should do that by funding tax credits for parents to send their children to private schools. If every parent participated, it could cost half what we currently spend on education. Reduce regulation of public schools and let them compete for students, it would make them better schools.
ENERGY
The United States has an abundance of energy resources. The availability of cheap energy is what has made us able to build the economy we have. Washington has an abundance of hydroelectric resources as well as others like coal and oil. The development of which should be encouraged, not discouraged with impossible environmental regulations.
LIFE
We the people, have the right to life. That life begins at conception and continues until natural death. One of the duties of all men is to protect the weak. That may be the young, the old, the unborn, or the handicapped. They all deserve our compassion and care. I will do my best to represent the conservative voters of our district and do whatever is necessary to defend the defenseless of Washington State. I also encourage the support of those organizations that tirelessly choose to care for the most vulnerable and do it well.
