IssuesWe, Democrats and Republicans and Independents, are all interested in achieving the same goals: building a better South Carolina and a stronger America.
We also all agree on how to achieve those goals: create equal opportunity for everyone. It is strange then that there is such division in this country when the people of the country are in agreement. Thomas Jefferson wrote that there are only two real political divisions between people: people are either Aristocrats or Populists, no matter the label they might hang upon themselves. Essentially, an Aristocrat is someone who believes that the people of the United States should be represented in government by an elite group of privileged few who know what is best for the people. A Populist believes that the people themselves know what is best for them and that their representatives in government should represent the will of the people to the largest extent possible. Equal opportunity for everyone is not favorable for Aristocrats as they would lose power if they were not lifted above the people. Therefore, it is imperative for the Aristocrats to create artificial divisions among the people so that the people cannot come together to create equal opportunity for everyone. I am a Populist. And though I will list my beliefs and ideas on the multitude of issues I think are important in this campaign, please remember that I seek to represent the people of South Carolina and speak for them in Washington. I may have firm beliefs on what is best for our State and Country, but it is the will of the people that I would speak for. Our campaign is about bringing the people together to build a Better South Carolina and a Stronger America. We do so by expanding opportunity to every person. When every person has an equal opportunity to pursue their own lives to achieve their own personal goals according to their own personal beliefs, we will have the best South Carolina and the strongest America possible. Stronger America.
A Stronger America concentrates on every aspect of America's strengths: military power, economic independence, foreign policy effectiveness, technological progress, educational strength, health care effectiveness, family and community cohesiveness, environmental sustainability, transportation efficiency, etc.
Better Future.
A Better Future provides educational, environmental, and economic opportunity for ourselves and our posterity. We have the economic strength to begin providing for our future, but to maintain progress toward a Better Future we will have to reform our tax system to encourage sustainable growth without discouraging healthy economic, educational and environmental activities. Shifting the basis of our tax system away from taxing earned income to taxation on consumption will provide for that sustainable growth. The FairTax Plan advocated by some is an excellent framework for reforming our tax system. Broader Prosperity.
A Broader Prosperity provides greater economic opportunity to all of our citizens. A Broader Prosperity means restructuring our economy away from one dominated by a few large corporations and reorganized around all of the participants in economic activity as envisioned by Adam Smith. Providing a Guaranteed Living Allowance and Single Payer Health Insurance to everyone frees the people to make economics decisions according to their own free will without being beholden to employers who fail to meet their needs. Efficient Government.
An Efficient Government eliminates wasteful practices and concentrates on public service. Smaller government does not serve the public good if it doesn't have the resources to carry out its functions. Larger government does not serve the public good if it is too large to respond to crises. An Efficient Government is large enough to carry out its responsibilities but small enough to respond to crises everywhere quickly. Mutual Responsibilities.
Mutual Responsibilities embody the true values that we, as Americans, hold the most dear. American values are set forth in our Founding Documents, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution: that all people are created Equal and endowed with natural and unalienable rights. That we the people form our government to provide for the common defense of all, to promote the general welfare of all, and to secure the blessings of our liberty for all. These values require Mutual Responsibilities to ourselves, to others, to our country and communities, to our environment and to the world on which we live. |