It is obvious that should the Cap and Trade bill fail in the Senate, the EPA is going to write the regulations that will force carbon emission controls. Prices for energy will “necessarily skyrocket”, no matter what happens with either passage of Cap and Trade or EPA regulations. This Administration is committed to legislating carbon emission reductions and forcing reductions in consumption, moving our nation to alternative energy that is not capable of supplying our energy needs, and impacting those least financially able to pay for those increased costs.

Mike believes that the “science” is flawed and there is reason to suspect that the data used to create policy has been manipulated to fit the agenda, not create good scientific evidence either way.

Mike also believes that our climate is not static, is naturally changing with little contribution by man, and that there have been numerous times in which the climate was warmer and also colder resulting in several Ice Ages. He believes any attempt to “control” our climate is going to be proven pointless and only destructive of our Liberties, Freedoms, and our way of life.

Mike believes that our economy will be further decimated by this bill and that more and more jobs are going to be lost. Studies have indicated that up to 1.9 million more Americans will be out of work if either the Cap and Trade bill passes or the EPA writes regulations.

Mike will introduce legislation that defines CO2 as a naturally occurring inert gas, that CO2 is NOT a pollutant, that any EPA regulations are outside the scope of the law that created the EPA, and that the scientific evidence used to create any “climate change” policy is based on flawed science and manipulated data and studies.

Mike will NOT support any efforts by this or any other Administration to sign onto the Copenhagen IPCC Treaty nor will he support payments to developing nations for their “carbon emission reduction” schemes. It is nothing but a transfer of YOUR hard earn dollars as economic blackmail.

Mike will work to assure that the balance between our environment and our industrial production will assure clean air, water, and our landscape.

Mike will promote the development of new technologies in the private sector that will help increase clean, inexpensive and reliable energy sources that will contribute to a cleaner environment. He believes the best innovations will come by encouraging research, not from government mandates or regulations.

Mike believes that life begins at conception and that every unborn human is deserving of the same rights as every other human being.

Mike understands that “Roe v Wade” made abortions legal for those women seeking them. He also believes that there should not be any Federal funding of any organization that supports, advocates, or performs abortions and will vote against such funding.

Mike believes that the family is the foundation of our society and the continued expansion of abortion rights only destroys that foundation, not strengthens it. He will support the counseling of unwed mothers who seek abortions to the opportunities of adoption as an alternative prior to performing the procedure. He believes every woman should be properly informed to the realities of abortion, development stages of an unborn child, and to be done so objectively and realistically before an abortion is performed, and a waiting period be required after first seeking an abortion.

Mike supports the right of a parent to know before an abortion is performed on their child under age 18.

Mike believes that the preservation of the life of the innocent, unborn child is a mark of a great society and only serves to strengthen our country by respecting all life at every stage of development. When plant and animal life are more coveted than human life, it does not speak well of the value we place on humanity and it’s survival.

Mike is a member of the NRA and supports their efforts to prevent further restrictions on gun ownership on the Local, State, and National level.

Mike believes in the literal interpretation of the 2nd Amendment and does not see any other part of our Constitution that allows Federal laws to restrict gun ownership.

Mike believes that man has the inherent right to defend himself, his property, and his family by whatever means is necessary to preserve his own life from those seeking to do harm.

Mike supports State to State reciprocation of “Concealed Carry” permits no matter where they are issued.

Mike believes that the 2nd Amendment protects us from intrusions on the 1st Amendment and that any effort to seize our right to keep and bear arms as the end to Liberty and Freedom.

Mike sees the veiled attempts to restrict the free exchange of purchasing firearms, ammunition, and reloading equipment as nothing more than another restriction on our 2nd Amendment right and will not support any efforts to pass such legislation.

Mike believes that any requirement for mental evaluation, declaring firearm ownership on tax returns, and other restrictions to firearm ownership are subjective in nature. The 2nd Amendment is not.

Mike believes that sanctuary cities, counties, and even States, who fail to enforce our existing immigration laws should not be eligible for Federal funds of any sort and will support legislation to end those funds until our immigration laws are enforced.

Mike supports reforms to our current laws that will prohibit the “anchor babies” born of illegals to have automatic citizenship and therefore eligible for Federal aid. Federal benefits belong only to those LEGAL immigrants, and their children, who follow the proper channels to achieving American rights as a citizen.

Mike supports a requirement that any person in the nation illegally shall not be eligible for any financial assistance, educational opportunities, or access to any program that is funded with any amount of Federal dollars. Eligibility for government programs must be reserved for taxpaying American citizens, not non-contributory illegal immigrants or their dependents. The estimated 15-20 million illegals here now have already put tremendous strain on our State and Federal resources, at taxpayers expense, and this practice must end as it threatens our financial security as a whole.

Mike supports, and will work to achieve, full funding for the completion of the border fence along our southern border. This will stop the flow of illegals from the south, strengthen our national security interests, and only permit legal entry into our nation.

Mike opposes any effort to pass legislation that permits “amnesty” for any illegal immigrant that is in this country today. He also believes that any illegal who attempts to obtain, possesses, or create any forged documents to indicate legal status will be deported immediately (or imprisoned if a citizen is producing documents) and that we need to strengthen any ID cards that are issued so they are virtually forgery proof.

Mike will work to strengthen our laws to create harsher punishment for employers who hire illegal immigrants and re-establish the ID program to check immigration status for new hires. American jobs belong to American citizens and legal immigrants and now, more than ever, we need to make those jobs available for American workers, not illegals.

Mike will work to refine the tracking of foreign nationals who are in this nation under student or work visas and to enforce the deportation of these people once they fail to renew their visas, commit crimes, or attempt to stay in America beyond their visa expiration dates.

Mike believes that those seeking citizenship should be required to learn English, have a solid knowledge of American history and our founding documents, and be committed to becoming American citizens. The process needs to be streamlined for those who have lived in our nation legally for several years and have adapted to the American way of life and have strengthened our society as a whole by their contributions.

We can mine coal and under current regulations, require the reclamation of surface mined lands back to their original contours. Oil and natural gas producers are now using modern drilling and extraction technologies that no longer require huge platforms to recover these resources. Countless numbers of natural gas wells in the West Virginia and Southwest Virginia coal fields are capped and deemed “unavailable” for use.

Many of our oil rich Federal lands are off limits to production. The Bakken oil reserves in the Dakota’s and Montana have over 8 times the reserves of Saudi Arabia and still remains untapped. Permits for coal mines have been withdrawn by the EPA and thousands of coal miners in West Virginia have already lost their jobs and coal prices have increased because of this.

Vast reserves of oil and natural gas lie off the coasts of Florida, Virginia, Alaska, and California yet remain off limits to production. New technologies are also bringing new life to older oil fields in Texas and Oklahoma once thought to be “tapped out”  now are being drilled and oil recovered in appreciable quantities.

When the Department of Energy was created, it’s sole purpose was to “eliminate dependence on foreign oil”. Today, we are more dependent than ever and our own resources lay dormant and off limits for production. No new nuclear plants have been built for decades and coal fired power plants are under direct fire for construction permits.

Wind and solar are proving more costly and less reliable than anticipated and less than 2% of all energy is generated by these methods. It has only been because of Federal subsidies that these are even considered as viable alternatives. Biofuels, such as ethanol, are proving to be more hazardous to the environment and far more costly than anticipated and again, heavily relies on Government subsidies to survive.

Economic growth of our nation depends on reliable, inexpensive, and available energy sources. To continue to press forth with an energy policy that forces the elimination of the types of energy we use today is committing economic suicide for any recovery we might have. The Cap and Trade bill that relies on “perpetrated lies” regarding “climate change” in order to force higher costs of energy on the American people is not just bad policy, but pure immorality. Countless millions of jobs will be lost with this legislation and the “green jobs” being promised simply do not exist.

Mike supports developing our own domestic energy reserves immediately and end the dependence of foreign oil. It is no longer acceptable to keep our own sources “off limits” as we send billions of America dollars overseas for a product we have available here. This will create jobs and spur economic growth as well as make our energy supplies affordable and not dependent on the whims of any dictator or cartel.

Mike supports the further development of promising alternative energy technologies that show an ability to be economically feasible to implement, is developed from the private sector, and is dependable for wide-spread use.

Mike supports the building of new nuclear energy plants and streamlining the permitting process, as this technology has proven to be safe, reliable, and dependable. Mike further supports the building of fuel rod reclamation and recycling facilities to eliminate as much nuclear waste as possible to reduce nuclear waste storage requirements.

Mike supports the further development of Clean Coal technology that will bring dependable, reliable, and clean energy sources now and in the future. Our current coal reserves are estimated to be capable of over 200 years of energy supplies and our nation will be well capable of developing those alternative energy sources within that time frame.

Mike supports streamlining the permitting process for new coal, oil and gas production and to lift the moratoriums on production of offshore areas. Unless we start to develop and produce from our own reserves, our dependence on foreign oil will never end. Alternative energy sources cannot be made feasible simply because government makes law that says it will.  Americas’ greatest leaps in technology has come from private, free enterprise methods and will deliver our alternative energy sources when left alone by government.

When Congress passes legislation, the actual writing of the regulations and laws are left to the individual agencies. In every case, each of these bureaucratic agencies are not elected to office, answer only to the President, and have almost uncontrolled authority. It is a form of “shadow government” that exceeds it’s authority and creates mounds of compliance issues for our businesses.

These agencies not only are enforcing these laws, but mandating directly the methods our businesses and industries must use to stay in compliance of the regulations they write. One example is in the handling of automotive waste oil and coolant. It is against the law to allow discharge of these wastes, but the EPA also mandates that anyone handling these wastes MUST use specific types of equipment, have containment facilities, and have spillage equipment in the event of a discharge. It’s not enough that businesses NOT discharge this waste and to create severe fines to do so, but the EPA feels it is within their scope and authority to demand specific requirements for proper handling or you too, can be found in violation of their regulations. Even if your business has never had a discharge of waste, you can still be fined, shut down, or the owners even imprisoned for not meeting EPA mandates.

This near dictatorial regulatory authority has created an environment in which many expansion plans for companies are shelved. New industries seek places to locate in other nations that have far fewer restrictions. Much, if not all, of entire manufacturing sectors are now overseas where they are encouraged to expand and grow. The regulations in these nations don’t mandate HOW a company will comply, but only have laws that require a means to comply and the “HOW to” is determined by the management of those businesses and industries.

Mike believes that legislation written gives only specific authority to enforcement of these laws and writing these restrictive regulations are outside the scope and authority of these agencies. He believes every single piece of legislation must contain language that specifically defines the scope and authority of any regulatory agency and any laws that give broad scope must be reviewed to allow overly restrictive regulations to be made null and void.

Mike will not vote for any legislation that does not restrict regulatory authority to the agencies assigned to enforce our laws. Congress must write the laws, not the bureaucrats.

Mike will work for legislation that restricts bureaucrats to specific language within the laws and not allow them to create mandates by broad interpretation of Congressional action and to create regulations outside the scope and authority of those laws. Mike further believes that any regulations promulgated by a bureaucratic agency must be reviewed by Congress and voted on as if they were law before they can take effect. The Constitutional authority to write laws lies within Congress, not the bureaucracies.

Mike will work to eliminate duplicity of Federal regulations in which the States have their own regulatory authority on a specific areas (land use, environment, development, etc.) already in force. Mike feels the 10th Amendment gives the States the right to regulate within their borders and if they choose to do so, Federal law should not apply.

When we begin to create a family budget, we first look at our incomes. We are forced to budget the payments for our homes, utilities, car payments, food, clothing, insurance, taxes, and other necessities based on the money we have. We are then able to determine what is left over for those luxuries we often enjoy. When we use credit unwisely, we are forced to cut back our spending and begin paying down our personal debt levels. Our government should be forced to use the same budgetary process rather than use the “base line” budgetary method they presently use.

“Base line” budgeting starts with last years spending levels, increases it based on tax revenue projections (increases), and increases the spending by the same percentages. In years where revenues are down as they are in 2009, no effort is being made to reduce the budget accordingly. This is the very reason we have the massive debt, create the massive deficits, and why Congress is seeking to increase the debt ceiling. Mike finds this unacceptable and immoral for Congress to continue to do this.

Budgetary constraints begins with the REVENUES we take in, and slicing the “pie” according to government needs. Mike believes that sound budgeting begins with setting aside funds to pay down the debt, funds the $105 TRILLION in unfunded liabilities of our entitlements in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, budget soundly for Defense, and then funding any other programs that revenues permit. Any future expansion of government cannot create deficits that create further debt to our nation.

Mike will introduce legislation to force Congress to reform earmark practices. He believes that every earmark made by Congressional members, House and Senate, should be introduced individually, voted on individually by the full members of each body, and not made part of any non-budgetary legislation. Every earmark should be weighed on merit and result in reductions of other budgetary items to equal the amount of any earmark requested. To do otherwise will result in the continual increases in deficit spending and Mike finds the current practices unacceptable in getting our government spending under control.

Our debt has weakened our nations dollar against other currencies and will eventually result in the collapse of our dollar. Massive inflation will result and the dollar will be worthless in purchasing power. The interest payments alone on our current debt is over $200 BILLION today and if current budgetary practices continue, that will increase to over $700 BILLION in 5 years or less. Mike believes that eliminating deficits, paying down the existing debt, and by living within the tax revenues collected, our nation will be strengthened economically.

Mike also believes that the tax reforms proposed with the FairTax will bring about economic growth, reduce the individual tax burden, and increase the predictability of future tax revenues for our government. It will also allow tax revenues to increase as our economy begins to thrive and the “boom-bust” cycles are minimized or eliminated. Economic downturns, which are a natural cycle of our economy, will not lead to the crippling economic crisis we are experiencing today.

Our free market system has allowed the innovations in medicine that has extended lives and made for a far better quality of life for every American as well as other citizens of other nations as we freely share those with these countries.

PelosiCare and ReidCare currently being debated will force government directly between you and your doctor. Rationing of services will occur as millions of new patients will be forced on an already understaffed medical community. Americans will be forced to purchase a product that government directly regulates and mandates compliance with or face fines, taxes, or even imprisonment for  failure to comply. Never in the history of this nation have there been a greater violation of our rights to make our own decisions been made by Congress. Mike finds no Constitutional authority to create these laws.

Mike agrees we need real reforms in our current health care system, however, not by creating government mandates, government bureaucracies, and the forced reductions of our Medicare system our Seniors depend on for their medical care. By increasing competition of health insurance companies, elimination of fraud from our Medicare system, and moving our Medicaid program into the private sector, we can have real, market based solutions that will work for all Americans.

Mike will work for Tort Reforms that forces our medical community to order unwarranted tests to protect themselves from possible legal actions caused by unlimited awards of punitive damages. This one piece of legislation alone will reduce treatment costs over $500 million annually and reduce health insurance premiums by 20-30% as well as reduce Medicare payments for “lawsuit protection” testing.

Mike will work for favorable tax treatment of individual insurance premium payments for those individuals who choose to purchase their own private plans. Individuals will enjoy the same tax treatment available to group health insurance afforded to businesses.

Mike will work to expand the Health Savings Account (HSA’s) plans for all Americans so that they can use those funds to purchase any plan the individual sees fit for their own needs. Young people can take advantage of these programs and build a reserve they can use as their health care needs increase due to age, marriage, and starting families.

Mike will work to create competition among health insurance companies by allowing the purchase of health insurance across State lines. No longer will 3 or 4 insurance companies be given a near monopoly inside one State because of excessive regulations of the industry.

Mike will work to allow businesses to form health insurance co-ops in which they can have the same purchasing power for group health insurance for their employees that are afforded only the largest of companies. Multiple insurance companies will be willing to compete heavily for this block of business and competition will bring down premiums.

Mike will work to eliminate the $500 million dollar a year fraud in the Medical equipment industry simply because convicted felons can start these companies and bilk millions by fraudulent means. Medicare has no method of detecting this fraud and unless a way to eliminate it is developed, this illegal activity will continue to grow.

Mike believes we must reform the Medicare system so that the unfunded liability of over $64 TRILLION obligations can be met for future needs. Unless this is addressed immediately, this program stands the risk of total collapse as the “baby boomer” generation reaches it peak in the next 20-30 years and using Medicare benefits. Mike believes that using HSA’s can address this issue for future generations and provide health care to those reaching retirement age. Under current provisions of Medicare, the benefit payments will exceed the tax revenues in 2016 and either taxes will have to be increased or benefits drastically reduced. Neither is acceptable to Mike as there are solutions that can solve both problems and not destroy the program with further debt.

The continued growth of our government has resulted in massive debt of over $13.4 TRILLION dollars that we are leaving to our children and grandchildren. Unless we begin to operate our government with the same fiscal discipline we operate our own household budgets, this massive debt will destroy our nation economically and from a national security standpoint. Either we are faced with raising taxes to pay down this debt, or continue to see our nation deteriorate as long as Congress continues to expand our government.

Mike believes that low taxes allows YOU to keep more of what you earn and that you are in a much better position to determine your own needs and spending when you control your money. Mike will not vote for any legislation that causes taxes to increase, but will work to reduce the size of our government in order to put this nation back on strong economic footing.

Mike is a supporter of the FairTax and will work for it’s passage. This bold reform of our tax system will allow you to keep 100% of what you earn, eliminate all Federal payroll taxes, and not tax any necessities in life anyone might purchase. It will not allow the creation of 700 new pages of tax code annually that allows Congress to determine the “winners and losers” and will let the free enterprise system work. Success will come to growing and well managed companies and mismanagement and greed will result in failure.

It is NOT a role of government to pick and choose the winners based on the amount of “campaign contributions” made in order to get favorable tax treatment for those donors. Mike will end that practice and the FairTax accomplishes that goal by making transparency possible in our tax laws.

Because the FairTax eliminates all income taxes on individuals and businesses, America will become the real global tax haven for investment in American industry. Jobs will be created, the movement overseas of our industries will stop, and more factories will return to bring back American prosperity. It will fully fund all of our government as it is now and equal treatment of taxes will be afforded everyone. Real, personal wealth will occur as each of us can determine our own spending habits and the resulting taxes when we choose accordingly. The FairTax will no longer make us the slaves to our government that our current tax system creates.

Mike encourages everyone to visit the FairTax site as this non-partisan, well researched and documented form of taxation will result in economic growth and prosperity for all Americans. Click here to visit their website.

The impact of Health Care, Cap and Trade, or the forthcoming EPA regulations on “carbon emissions” will each negatively and dramatically impact our small businesses bottom line costs. Either they are going to be forced to raise prices, cut expenses or both. More jobs are going to be shed if these bills are enacted into law and prices will rise dramatically for goods and services. Energy prices, to quote the President, “will necessarily skyrocket”.

Our small businesses and what remaining industry we have will be impacted with much higher tax burdens that again, will shed more jobs and increase prices. When you factor in the falling dollar on overseas markets, imported goods are going to cost more as well and the taxation of “overseas profits” will make fewer and fewer goods flow into this nation, impacting the jobs of those who depend on trade; dock workers, truckers, shipping companies, and many others.

Excessive and duplicate local, State, and Federal regulations prohibit expansion of those businesses who need and desire to do so. Many of these businesses have dedicated, “Compliance” Departments to fulfill the myriad of regulations and hoops they must jump through every day just to operate legally. Government mandates on business has caused many of them to either close their doors or move their operations overseas to more friendlier places to do business, each causing losses of jobs and economic growth at home.

Expansion of regulatory agencies have created nightmares for our business and industries as well as created a fourth, uncontrolled, branch of government. These bureaucrats are without restrictions and create the actual regulations from laws Congress writes. The EPA ruling on CO2 is but one example of an agency overstepping the boundaries and preparing to write regulations for it’s control. There is no provision of the EPA act that allows this, however, this Administration is signaling further expansion of regulatory controls that exceeds Congress’ desire when writing the laws. These bureaucrats are unelected and only answer to the President. This defeats the “checks and balances” written into our Constitution.

Mike will work to strictly define the authority of each agency of our government and to re-write the laws that restricts the ability of agencies to “create law” by fiat authority. He will work to restrict the President’s ability to make definitions outside the scope of an agencies design in order to gain regulatory authority. He will work to assure that regulatory mandates of HOW to comply with the law are not within the scope of our agencies, only the enforcement of those laws. This restores the “checks and balances” of our Constitution.

Mike will work to promote economic growth of our small businesses with tax reforms. Unless we as a nation become the leader in low business taxes, our industries will continue to leave our shores. Jobs are created by creating wealth and that comes ONLY by growing it, extracting it from the ground as raw materials, or manufacturing those raw materials into goods for people to buy. The periods of greatest economic growth and high wages have always occurred when industrial output has been at it’s peak. We export more, consume more, and create a strong middle class as well as create opportunities for more business and industries. Each of these contribute to a growing and strong economy and creation of good paying, highly demanded jobs.

Mike’s grandfather used to tell him that “nothing happens until something is sold” and unless we are making things in America to sell, no service type jobs are going to be created. Service jobs do not create real, appreciable wealth without the agricultural, raw material, and manufacturing industries to support them. Mike will promote the regulatory and tax environment that will bring jobs to anyone who desires one, and promote a tax system that makes investment in American industry desirable once again.