Kurt Bills

I know you probably are well aware of how I feel about Kurt Bills, check out how he stands on the issues. This was taken from his site kurtbills.com Federal Budget - The United States Senate should pass a budget; they haven’t since April 29, 2009, which is over 1,000 days. Our national debt now exceeds $15 trillion and is the direct result of unsustainable spending. If we want our children and our grandchildren to live with the same liberty and prosperity that we have, we must reverse this trend. Federal spending per household has grown more than 150% since 1965. The answers are straightforward. As your next U.S. Senator, I will work with fellow members to pass a budget, along with focusing on lowering spending. Unsustainable spending can be curbed by the federal government focusing on what it was designed to do as defined by the constitution. Federal Reserve Bank - Prices are signals. The price of money is known as the interest rate. It is the most important price in a free enterprise system. The policy of printing more money decreases interest rates and the value of our dollar. This affects the ratio of dollars in circulation compared to the amount of goods and services available. It is the root cause of inflation and the business cycle. Monetary policy and devaluation of our dollar is a GIANT that we face. We all work for, spend, invest, or borrow money. Printing money causes the most regressive form of taxation…the inflation tax. Stealing the purchasing power of working class people by printing money keeps interest rates low and encourages people to go further into debt rather than save. This is one of the most morally corrupt policies I have witnessed in my study and teaching of economics. The solution is to audit the Fed and, at minimum, change its dual mandate from promoting full employment AND providing price stability to simply promoting price stability. I will work for a stronger approach to allow working class people to be paid in wages that maintain or grow their purchasing power. Healthcare - Obamacare, Medicare, and Medicaid are not self-sustaining programs. Obamacare is becoming an even greater infringement on our rights and economy than we ever imagined. Medicare and Medicaid often only reimburse hospitals and other medical facilities for half of the actual medical expenses for treating patients. To compensate for the lack of payment of these medical claims and to stay in business, these health care providers raise their fees for everyone, which negatively affects the efficient and affordable cost of care for all of us. I will work to slow down and eliminate mandates that expand control over the private healthcare system. Doing so will drive costs down, improve services and provide the patient with control. Social Security - Given the current state of this government program, Social Security benefits will not be available to the young adults that are paying into it. Taxing generations of Americans under the illusion that this money is being invested and will offer a return someday is morally wrong. We can make Social Security sustainable. The studies have been done and still congress refuses to act because of the political virtues of the reelection cycle. I am ready to go to Washington to work with those who are ready to make difficult decisions and reform the system. Taxes - The tax code needs to be greatly simplified. I currently sit on the Tax Committee in the Minnesota State Legislature. I have heard the testimony from the Minnesota Department of Revenue that says reforming the state tax code is a daunting task due to the size and complexity of federal tax code and the compliance issues that exist. Having experience on our state tax committee, reforming and restructuring the federal tax code would be a natural fit for me. Simplifying the tax code and ensuring the best return on the taxpayers’ investment needs to be one of Congress’s top priorities. The benefits will be multiplied because the states will follow suit. Trade Deficits - America needs to start focusing on exporting more real goods and services that our smart, productive American workers build. We need to stop exporting inflation through the purchase of foreign goods with printed dollars. Through free trade, America’s great qualities of freedom and liberty will be exported along with those goods and services. We should be confident in knowing that our principles will win in the battle of ideas. Furthermore, we should also be careful that trade agreements are not used as political leverage in supporting monopolies. I will work to audit our “free trade agreements” to allow for competitive processes and market discipline. The less the federal government is involved in this process, the fewer lobbyists and interest groups there will be in Washington. Foreign Policy - With American and European debt crisis concerns, we must be vigilant not to allow international organizations such as the IMF to propel or catapult these monetary and fiscal issues to a magnitude that is irreparable. Reversing the course of debt and dependency should be our top priority as a nation. We should also not be a part of exacerbating debt and dependency around the globe. America should work with allies who value economic freedom and liberty through trade and business relationships. I will work to build these relationships. However, I will not support the promotion of crony capitalism and the funding of dictators through foreign aid. National Defense - According to the constitution, the most important role of the federal government is our national defense. I agree with “peace through strength.” I do not agree with spreading our military so thin around the world that it compromises our men and women and their effectiveness. Furthermore, Congress must declare war according to our constitution. I will work for keeping the US military out of nation building and ill-defined missions. I will work to make sure the US military is equipped and prepared to perform its mission to defend and protect the lives of American citizens. Subsidies - Government subsidies not only cost money and pick winners and losers, they generate bureaucracies that further ramp up the cost of government through very expensive federal employees. Politicians like subsidies because it means more lobby money comes to Washington DC and finds its way to their campaign coffers. The federal government has created more than 2000 subsidies since 1980. I will work to eliminate as many as I can. I believe we will experience more growth when main street Minnesotans are making the economic investment decisions not Washington bureaucrats. Jobs & The Economy - The expenditures of the federal government are approaching 25% of total GDP under President Obama’s budgets. In 1930, federal spending was 3.4% of GDP and the average of government expenditures since World War II has been 18%. In order to grow private sector jobs, we must cut spending by the federal government. Don’t fall for the utopian plans of Democrats or Republicans who claim that they can “create jobs.” As a public school teacher, I know that the only way my classroom is funded is through a vibrant private sector economy. There is a role for government, however it is out of equilibrium with the private sector and has grown too large, crowding out private sector job growth. As a U.S. senator, I will work to get the government out of the way of the people. Bureaucratic Growth - As with any firm or business organization, salaries and benefits are the bulk of expenditures. In 2006, the number of employees in the federal executive workforce numbered 1.88 million. Today that total is over 2.1 million. Combine this fact with a USA Today report in 2009 that found the average civil servant makes $123,000 in wages and benefits. There is a quick and direct way to savings. I will work to cut the federal workforce. My focus will be job growth in Minnesota not in Washington DC. Political Virtue - The greatest obstacle we face as a country is political virtue. Let me explain. Political virtue takes place when politicians make decisions based on self-interest rather than in service to the Constitution and people they represent. When elected representatives are making choices based on the next election cycle – and not based on the solvency and posterity of our great country – political virtue has won. I will not fall victim to political virtue. I have looked into the eyes of too many young people in my role as a public school economics teacher. I will remember their questions and their concerns about our deficits and debt. I will vote with the future of our country in mind and not the future of my political career. Housing - The housing market crash was just another great folly of the politicians and bureaucrats who think they can plan an economy better than the market can naturally guide it. In planning and tinkering with the economy, all politicians and bureaucrats do is plant the seeds for the next bust…the one they claim to save us from once it hits. I will fight to get the government out of housing and other markets once and for all. Even President Obama has called for the restructuring of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Behemoth government sponsored enterprises need to be privatized and the trillions of dollars for which taxpayers are liable need to be taken off the public books. I will not vote for any further government tinkering in the housing market. The Family - I believe the definition of marriage is a relation between a man and woman. The federal government should not involve itself in a state’s determination of how they handle the issue of civil unions and contract law between individuals in these regards. Life - I am pro-life. I will always work to protect the unborn.