Campaign Issues
My Less Boot More Liberty Agenda
1. Reform PA’s Expensive Full-Time Legislature
Pennsylvania is one of only ten state legislatures to operate with full-time elected officials and one of the least productive. Changing to a six-month, part-time legislature would allow the Commonwealth to cut the compensation of elected legislators (currently over $90,000 per year) in half, to almost $45,000 per year, saving the taxpayers over $9 million per year. Most states have a part-time or hybrid legislature. Pennsylvania should adopt the same part-time legislature and save the residents significant tax dollars.
2. End the Property Tax
So long as we are coerced into paying property taxes, we never truly own our property. We are simply renting from our government. Indefinitely.
Failure to pay your local property taxes means that the government has the right to seize your property, even if you own the property outright. Often being late or a penalty can send properties into foreclosure.
Yet, owning property is a fundamental right of every Pennsylvanian, of every American, and there are more effective means to raise money for the government than threatening to take the homes and businesses away from citizens.
An added bonus to reducing the tax burden on citizens is the fact that it will strengthen the econonmy. Lower taxes means more money for citizens to spend the way that they see fit, more money to create jobs, more money to invest in the community.
3. Lower the State Gas Tax
Pennsylvania has the highest gas tax rate in the country. Currently, we pay 57.6 cents per gallon at the pump for taxes.
Governor Wolf supports a bill in Congress to suspend the federal gas tax which is 18.4 cents of the gas tax. The Pennsylvania gas tax is meant to offset the cost of transportation infrastructure in our state.
The legislative body insists this high tax is a necessity. A list of projects earmarked with the gas tax money can be found here: PA Projects (penndot.gov).
However, the money is often used for other projects and funneled to police departments. Highway dollars go to police | Regional | observer-reporter.com. All monies intended for road maintenance should be used for the intended purpose.
It is staggering that owners of gas stations receive a third less in net profit per gallon than consumers pay in taxes. The mark-up on a gallon of gas averages 30 cents, and after overhead expenses, owners are seeing net profits of around 10 cents a gallon.
I will fight to reduce the gas tax and keep it at the lowest possible levels.
4. Defend the Guard
Defend the Guard legislation would prohibit a state’s National Guard units from being deployed into active combat without a formal declaration of war by Congress, as provided by the U.S. Constitution. This is extremely simple and easily supportable legislation. It would seek to hold our national policymakers to the same standard, the Constitution of the United States of America. Visit https://www.defendtheguard.us
5. Rethink Our Schools!
School choice is important. Currently public schools are a monopoly – a government run monopoly, with unimpressive results. The solution is very straightforward. Force the schools to start competing for their students in a marketplace. In other words, the funding will be attached to each of the students and will follow the student to the school of the family’s choosing. Parents will fund the schools voluntarily and “fairly” by funding the schools they chose.
This method of funding schools also ensures that the schools are accountable for the curricula and the performance of the schools to the parents. The free market solution will motivate all schools to attract the most amount of students by offering high quality, sought after education.
Homeschooling should be encouraged and supported if families decide to educate at home. Funds meant for school students should not be withheld for families choosing to educate at home.
My goal is to end school property taxes and any other form of taxpayer funding.
Obviously, there will be full school choice for everyone. Parents may home school if they prefer. Competition among schools will drive education quality up and costs down, exactly as a free market economy does for substantially all other goods and services. Schools will be very motivated to reveal their curricula and adjust them to best please parents – their customers. Standardized testing will continue to measure and track student mastery of key factual core subjects (reading, writing, mathematics, science, history, etc.).
6. Legalize Cannabis
The idea of legalizing marijuana is no longer radical. It is imperative that this natural occurring substance be legalized. The multiple benefits are well documented. Pharmaceutical companies can no longer hide behind the years of misinformation they have implanted into the psyche of generations of Americans.
A short list of benefits are listed here:
- Relief of Chronic Pain
- Prevention of the growth of cancer cells (studies as early as 2007 reported that CBD may prevent cancer from spreading)
- Prevention of Alzheimer’s Diseases
- Treatment of Glaucoma
- Relief of Arthritis
- Control of Epileptic Seizures
- Relief of the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis
- Increased motor skills and reduced pain in Parkinson’s patients
- Reduced social anxiety
7. Bitcoin Legal Tender and Mining
Coming Soon….
Libertarians On The Issues
