Candidate for
State Representative; District 6

Since going to Harrisburg, I have voted "no" on all of the tax increases. I have voted "yes" on all the tax cuts. I have been a strong advocate for the right to own and bear arms. I work hard to promote the Pro Life and traditional family values movement. I am a reformer and have lead the charge on government reform. I do what the people in my District want me to do.

Tax cuts and getting state spending under control would allow Pennsylvania companies to grow and create jobs. Pennsylvania has among the highest tax rates in the country and many companies do not want to expand here. We have almost no job growth at all in the last decade. State with lower tax rates have higher job growth.

I support reducing every tax that we have, both for individuals and businesses. People and comanies should be able to keep more of their money.

State spending is out of control. I voted against the 2007 - 2008 General Fund Budget because it was reckless and irresponsible. It increased spending about 5% over the prior budget. It was an improvement over the normal 6%, 7%, or 8% increase, but not good enough to vote for.

In the first four years of Gov. Rendell, the inflation rate was up about 14%, but the General Fund Budget went up 28%. Per capita income only went up about 12%. That means people are not even keeping up with inflation, but the state government is growing at double the inflation rate.

We must get state spending under control so that we can give people and businesses the tax cuts that they need. I support the Taxpayer Protection Plan that would limit the increase in state spending to the inflation rate. This would make a tax cut easy to do. No programs or services would be cut, they would be increased at the inflation rate.

Health insurance needs to be made more affordable so that individuals and companies can afford to buy it. The only way to make health insurance more affordable is to reduce the cost of the health care system.

I oppose a government monopoly universal healthcare plan that is run by the government. It is scary to think that the government and not your doctor would be in charge of your health care decisions. It would cost about $5 billion dollars for the Governor to implement his "Cover All Pennsylvanians" proposal. Every tax we have would have to be increased by about 15% to pay for it. Sales tax would go from 6% to 6.9%, income tax from 3.06% to 3.52%, etc.

Health care savings accounts, eliminating hospital aquired infections, expanding the scope of practice for nurses, physician assistants, etc. tort liability reform, tax credits for individuals, tax deductions for companies, etc. can bring the cost of health care. If health care costs less, health insurance will cost less. If health insurance costs less, more people can afford it.

I am one of only two Members of the PA House of Representatives that does not take special interest group campain donations. 100% of my contributors are individuals. Many people are not comfortable with the influence that these Philadelphia and Harrisburg based PACs have on the process. I support campaign finance reform to get the big money influence out of the political process.

I support more government reform. I serve on the Commission for Legislative Reform. We got the ball rolling on the Open Records bill. We got the rules changed the State House operates under. No voting sessions after 11:00 pm, no last minute amendments on bills, etc. were the result of our work. We made the Ethics Committee more powerful.

I support term limits. I introduced a bill to impose a 12 year term limit on Legislators. People stay too long and get too powerful. We need a constant influx of new Members to bring in new ideas. The seniority seystem needs to be eliminated because it gives the old timers more power than the new Members.

I support reducing the size of the Legislature. California has 30 million people and an 80 Member state house. Pennsylvania has 12.5 million people and a 203 Member state house. Years ago we needed that many because of travel by horse and no efficient way to communicate. We now have cars and a good highway system, so any Member can get from home to the Capitol in less than 5 hours. we also have cell phones, email, faxes, overnight mail, etc. We can reduce the number of Members and still have more contact with people in our District than Members had in years past.

I support reforming the way Legislative Districts are drawn after each Cencus. The lines are redrawn to protect Members who are at risk of losing reelection. Members get sections added to their District with voters of the same party and have areas removed if there are too many people from the other major party.

I refuse to keep the COLA pay raise that Legislators get each year. I asked the Chief Clerk to not put it in my paycheck, but by law he cannot do that. So each month I donate the pay raise portion of my check to groups that help active duty military troops and veterans. We should have to vote on any pay raises, they should not be automatic.

The right to own and bear arms shall not be questionned. That is what is stated in the Pennsylvania Constitution. I am a strong defender of our right to own and bear arms. I support locking up people for a long time that use guns to shoot others, rob people, or rape women. Taking away guns from law abiding citizens does nothing except give the criminals the advantage.

I am pro life and believe that abortion is wrong. I support traditional family values. I believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman. I support voluntary prayer in public places such as before sporting events, before meetings start, etc. I support the 10 commandments being allowed in courhouses and nativity scenes being on display in public parks.

I would appreciate your support on April 22nd.