Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Positions of Beason, Mathis, Palmer and Vignuelle

[The below positions on issues of Scott Beason, Chad Mathis, Gary Palmer and Tom Vignuelle are copied and pasted from their respective campaign websites.] 

Scott Beason
OBAMACARE
The repeal of Obamacare is probably the most important issue facing the country right now, not only because of its clear damage to families struggling to pay for healthcare, but its tentacles reach deep into the job market and the economy as a whole. It is cutting people off from potential employment and driving up the national debt because of its direct and indirect cost. We must deal with Obamacare so that our children will not face such a bleak financial future.

SMALLER GOVERNMENT
As a state legislator, Scott is well known for his efforts to reduce the size and scope of government. Whether serving as one of leaders in the effort to fight state tax increases within his party or sponsoring bills to stop Obamacare at the Alabama state line, Scott has always displayed the courage of his convictions to do the right thing — even when he had to fight the system to do it. As a U.S. Congressman, we can expect to see Scott leading the way to restore the Constitution, fight new government programs that only increase the role of Washington in our lives, repeal Obamacare, combat presidential abuses of power, balance the budget, and end the culture of pork-laden deficit spending.

CLEANING UP THE CULTURE OF CORRUPTION IN DC
While Scott has received national headlines for his role in cleaning up political corruption in Alabama, many of his opponents are seeking support from those in the DC Establishment that are undermining the effort to return power to the people. Scott is running to be a congressman that money can’t buy, and he will fight the special interests that seek to entice our leaders to represent the desires of those with the money to influence the process and not the people they were elected to serve. A strong believer in term limits, Scott will seek to restore government to the people and end the reign of big money, career politicians, and insider access.

IMMIGRATION REFORM
Securing our border at a state level has been a focus of Scott’s recent legislative efforts, where he served as the key sponsor of America’s most comprehensive immigration law. HB-56 has earned significant national media attention and has been of great aid to law enforcement, significantly decreasing the amount of illegal immigrants in Alabama while helping to create more jobs and cutting costs for the tax-paying citizens of the state. As Establishment Republicans in Washington are seeking to join hands with Barack Obama to promote amnesty, we need strong leadership committed to upholding the rule of law.

CHRISTIAN VALUES UNDER ATTACK
In his five-year reign in the White House, Barack Obama has done more to attack our values than any president in our history. With such hostility to Christianity and the values of our faith, we need leadership that will stand strong against this radical agenda. Throughout his time in the legislature, Scott Beason has been a relentless advocate for the unborn, a fearless spokesman for traditional marriage, and a staunch supporter of religious liberty. As our congressman, we can count on Scott Beason to oppose Barack Obama’s attacks on our most foundational beliefs which are the cornerstones of a free and prosperous society.

THE CONSTITUTION
Scott Beason believes in small government held in check by the Constitution of the United States. Unfortunately, most in Washington treat this sacred document as a mere set of archaic “suggestions.” As we fight to preserve our freedoms, we need a leader who is committed to the vision of our Founders. Scott is committed to the Second Amendment, religious liberty, freedom of speech, and our right to live our life without being monitored by the NSA, facing inquisition from the IRS, or being subject to executive fiat from the White House.


Chad Mathis
Why I’m Running

I'M RUNNING TO UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION
"I am a Christian, constitutional conservative, but I am also a surgeon, a father, a husband, and a small business owner. I want to take my experience as a successful small businessman to fight for America’s free market economy. I will put an end to out of control Washington spending. Alabamians want a conservative with the courage to take on Washington, to fight for our constitutional ideals, and to be accountable to them -- not Washington."

I'M RUNNING TO END OBAMACARE
"I’ve read Obamacare, and I know that it will smother the last flame of economic freedom from America. I’m running to restore that freedom for all Alabama families. This is our last chance to stop the government takeover of our healthcare and replace it with patient centered reforms."

I'M RUNNING BECAUSE WE NEED A BALANCED BUDGET
"For far too long we've accepted the status quo, and with it we've seen government grow far too big. Our country is $16 trillion dollars in debt. If Alabama families have to balance their budgets, why shouldn’t Washington have to do the same? I will support a balanced federal budget and back a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution."

I'M RUNNING TO PROTECT LIFE AND DEFEND OUR SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS
"As a father of two great kids, I want to do everything I can to make sure they have a strong future - and that starts by stopping the left's attack on our 2nd Amendment rights and their insistence for abortion on demand."
I'M RUNNING TO PUT AMERICANS BACK TO WORK
"I am running so that every person in Alabama that wants a job can have job and pursue the American dream. I will fight for educational freedom for teachers and students because education is the key for our students to have economic freedom and a great job."

Gary Palmer
OBAMACARE
The problem with Obamacare is not the website or the rollout. The problem with Obamacare is what it’s trying to impose upon the American people. For the first time in our nation’s history you are being forced to buy a government product -- or pay a penalty.
It’s a federal takeover of our health care system that will limit your choices, your freedoms, and eventually limit the care that is available. It hasn’t taken full affect yet, but it’s already sending premiums skyrocketing and its crushing mandates on businesses is crippling their ability to create jobs.
When fully implemented, it will be a nightmare. If you thought Health and Human Services did a terrible job with the roll out, you haven’t seen anything yet. When the Obama Administration begins to enforce the implementation of Obamacare, you’ll be forced to pay stiff penalties for not purchasing the government’s mandated policies.
Obamacare must be repealed and replaced with a national health care policy that allows people to buy the health insurance they want and need and that allows market competition between health insurance providers that will result in more choices for plans and at lower costs. We need innovative reforms for Medicaid that not only provide coverage for low-income individuals and families, but also create incentives for controlling costs, promote healthier lifestyle choices and reforms that treat people with dignity. And we must establish high-risk health insurance pools to make sure that people with chronic health problems are covered.

NATIONAL DEBT
Most career politicians don’t want to talk about the debt. Most Americans don’t realize how deep in debt we are as a nation, or how fast it has escalated under this President, and so politicians aren’t held accountable for it. But it’s absolutely critical for people to understand it. Our national debt now exceeds $17.2 trillion and we are going deeper in debt by the minute. Yet the Obama Administration and Congress refuse to adequately address the problem and instead continue to spend.
The fact of the matter is that we must deal with this debt – or our debt will deal with us
Like so many other addiction issues, the first step for Congress to take in fixing the debt problem is to admit that they have a spending problem. And perhaps the most important next step is to realize that our enormous debt is the price we are paying for expanding the role of government beyond what the Constitution prescribes.
How do we fix it? It’s going to require more than just eliminating waste and abuse in government programs. It’s going to require Americans to have an open and frank conversation about the proper role of government. We can’t expect government to give us everything we want. The truth is, that whatever government gives out, it must first take from someone else. A government that is big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have.
We are going to have to come to terms with the moral implications of one generation obligating the next to pay for living beyond our means. Going beyond what the Constitution prescribes will lead to the loss of freedom.
We have a window of opportunity but we must act – and act decisively. I believe we can do this…I believe we still have the know how to make America great again. We have the opportunity to have future generations look back on what we do either with great respect or great sadness. I believe we can rise to the challenge. I believe we can come together to make hard choices so that our children and our grandchildren can enjoy the freedoms and opportunities that we’ve known.

COMMON CORE
Common Core is a nation-wide effort that claims to ensure that our future labor force is prepared to compete in the competitive global economy. Common Core is a national framework of goals and assessments (tests) being promoted by the National Governor’s Association working in conjunction with state school administrators and private foundations. It seeks to establish a national framework for nationally unified curriculum standards. It sounds reasonable in its intent. However, what it will produce, according to national policy experts, is essentially a unified, national curriculum for America’s local schools.
Federal law prohibits the federal government from developing a federal curriculum, but there is no legal prohibition from the states moving toward this effort on their own. And that is what’s happening across the country.
Several years ago, the federal No Child Left Behind law established a precedent; for the very first time, the federal government told local school districts that it must test students at certain grade levels.
Common Core builds upon this precedent. States that adopt Common Core standards will not only be required to test, they will now be told by the U.S. Department of Education what tests their students must take.
What is the practical impact of Common Core? Once fully implemented, common core will allow national entities to determine what students are taught at the local level. Common Core is the means by which federal bureaucrats will exercise inappropriate control over local schools.
Alabama should follow the lead of other states and back away from Common Core and develop our own high standards. We need innovation and entrepreneurship in education, not a national, top down solution. We need choice and local control – not mediocre national standards or federal bureaucrats imposing national standards.

RIGHT TO LIFE
Life is sacred, it is granted by God and protected by the Constitution. It is the duty of government to protect the right to life. I will vote to protect the right to life.

TAXES
The federal government doesn’t have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem. Raising taxes is not the answer. I will not support a tax increase.

SECOND AMENDMENT
The right to keep and bear arms is enshrined in the Constitution for a reason. Every American has a fundamental right to protect themselves and their family.

ECONOMIC GROWTH
Free markets work if we allow them to. Our energy sector alone could create tens of thousands of new jobs overnight if government would lift unnecessary burdens on developers. We have enormous energy resources with trillions of barrels of oil, trillions of cubic feet of natural gas and enough coal to last for over 400 years. These are resources that could drive economic growth for the next decade that the Obama Administration refuses to use. According to the Bureau of Land Management, the United States literally has more oil available than the entire world has used in the last 100 years.


Tom Vignuelle
ECONOMY
Limited federal government, Less spending, More pro-business legislation
As a small business owner, count on me to remove obstacles so the economy can grow. Everyone knows that increasing incentives to create more businesses will continually produce more jobs. The success of America relies on an opportunity economy. Simply put, Congressmen are there to make sure the federal government does everything to keep the American dream alive! In the past few years, I have witnessed that dream come under attack. Laws are continuing to be passed that burden all businesses. Too many regulations have become the norm and destroy the entrepreneurial spirit. The President promised the country prosperity. Instead, we have Obamacare, he is heading toward 20 trillion dollars of debt, he has added six (6) trillion dollars of additional debt since he was first elected and we have 10.4 million unemployed Americans. He is creating an American Nightmare. As a small business owner, I am used to creating solutions. Fixing the economy starts with a balanced budget, cutting federal regulations and supporting those who want to take the risk of starting a small business.
I believe in the power and opportunity of America’s free-market economy and I believe in the importance of limiting business regulations to promote confidence in our economy among consumers, entrepreneurs and businesses, while opposing interventionist policies that put the federal government in control to allow it to pick winners and losers in the marketplace.
K.Carl Smith noted in his book “Frederick Douglass would not support policies that create a WELFARE state, but he would favor laws that produce a WEALTH-FARE economy—starting small businesses to end generational poverty. Today’s entitlement programs must be reformed and restructured so they can transform the poor from being consumers to producers, borrowers to lenders, and poverty dwellers to business owners.”

HEALTHCARE
Repeal and replace
Like so many of you, Obamacare has personally affected my entire family. Our family premiums went from $680.00 to over $1500.00. As a small business owner, I was left with a choice. I could release one of my workers and make the new premium payment or I could keep my employee and go without insurance. I chose my employee. As your Congressman, from day one, I will work tirelessly. I will confront this policy to stop it.
I will work with other conservatives who support common-sense reforms that lower costs, ensure the quality healthcare that Americans deserve, end lawsuit abuse and replace ObamaCare. Improvements that will remove the waste, include health savings accounts that are portable and transferable so families can help each other, protect the patient-physician relationship and promote competition and innovation will keep our system the envy of the world.
Dr. Ben Carson, in a matter of 45 seconds, provides a simple solution to quality health care coverage. The Heritage Foundation provides additional solutions for controlling health care costs. There are a number of practical Republican solutions that have been offered, only to be rejected by the progressive left. These plans will work when given the opportunity. I refuse to allow government to continue to kill small business, bankrupt the middle class and ruin what has been the greatest healthcare system in the world.

EDUCATION
Empower the state, Support the teacher, Encourage an environment of learning
Education for our children must be a priority. The future of America relies on the children we educate now. Teachers need is less government and politics. A teacher must be able to go into a classroom and have the freedom to teach the students without feeling overburdened by federal oversight and heavy regulations. Furthermore, a teacher or school administrator should not take all the blame for a student’s failed performance. That logic does not follow common sense. Education, at its core, starts in the home with committed parents. The focus is to be on creating a balance, less federal government which will empower the state, gives freedom in the classroom and encourages early education in the home.
Empowered, tax-paying parents are best equipped to send their children to the school of their choice so tax dollars must follow the child. We all believe that a world-class system of education, with high standards in which all students can reach their potential, is critically important to America’s future. The average expenditure per student is more than enough to provide for their choice of education. Again, David Horowitz has it right… it’s time to fundamentally improve the mission of the US Department of Education, to require its 50 billion dollar budget be spent on a voucher program for all Americans – from kindergarten through college. Let’s put the education dollars in the hands of every person in America, regardless of income or class. And let’s launch this effort by informing Americans about how the liberal socialists in every major urban school system have destroyed the lives of poor, mainly African American and Hispanic children, who can’t afford the private schools to which progressive legislators send their own kids.
Let’s put hope in the hands of people who can’t afford to send their kids to schools that will teach them, like what we are starting to do in Alabama! Let’s transform the way the educational economy works, so that individuals are empowered – not government – so that competition is restored and standards are raised. Let’s take the second biggest part of the government’s economy and return it to the people. Let’s create a model of the kind of society we want — a free market society, a society based on individual achievement, not government defined collectives
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NATIONAL SECURITY
Improve Military Spending, Protect Military Abroad, Secure our Borders
The future of America as a world leader depends on the strength of our national security. Military defense has never been more important for the safety and security of this great land. Our nation was forever altered on 9/11, and every day the evils of terrorism continue to evolve. We simply cannot afford to be complacent when it comes to our protection. Unfortunately, under the Obama administration, this is exactly what has happened. The President has made deep cuts in military spending, provided zero answers on Benghazi, and has yet to support any plan to secure our borders. Like so many other issues, I plan on taking the fight to Washington over national security, not just for our future, but for those veterans whose sacrifices have created the model of a secure land.
President Ronald Reagan’s approach to America’s national defense, which successfully confronted the Soviet Union and ended the Cold War, is as essential today as it was then. Trust but verify. Have peace through strength — an enduring peace, based on freedom and the will to defend it. Today, it requires defending America’s homeland, including remaining prepared to confront global terrorism, maintaining a robust defense against the threats arising from nuclear proliferation, including a strong ballistic missile defense for America and our allies, and promoting an effective, capable intelligence community. It requires a full commitment to America’s Armed Forces to ensure they are modern, agile and adaptable to the unpredictable range of challenges in the years ahead. And it requires a sustained international effort, which complements our military activities, to develop and maintain alliances and relationships that will lead to greater peace and stability. While the United States participates in various international organizations which can serve the cause of peace and posterity, they must never substitute for principled American leadership nor prevent America from joining other free nations to protect our vital national interests. We’ll treat our allies as friends.

OUR COURTS
Republicans believe a judge’s role is to interpret the law, not make law from the bench. Judges in our federal court system, from district courts to the Supreme Court, should demonstrate fidelity to the U.S. Constitution. We trust the judicial system to base rulings on the Constitution, and nothing else.

LIMITED GOVERNMENT
Thomas Jefferson wisely stated: “To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt…..we’re for a government rigorously, frugal and simple. All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
We’re not remaining silent anymore.

NATIONAL DEBT
Let’s talk about how we SOLVE the national debt instead of dwelling on the 17+ trillion dollars that we owe. In 1910, America borrowed 10 billion dollars to fund World War I. Not one dollar of principle has been paid back.
For over 100 years, our elected officials have continued to borrow money without paying it back. The power behind the federal government has to demand more and since we are the power behind the federal government we will hold our elected officials accountable for paying our debts and living within our means. The federal government can tax us at 100% and still not live within its means. You and I could not live that way, so let’s stop our government from living this way.
It’s hard to get our hands around being trillions in debt. The best way to grasp it is to look at the American family. The median income is $51,000.00 per year. If people spent their money like the federal government, they would spend $60,500.00, meaning they would be putting $9,500.00 on their credit card each year while already being $300,000.00 in debt. This family is not broke, they are bankrupt. The same goes for the federal government. The 6th district needs a manufacturing small businessman who knows how to pay bills, make tough choices on cuts and to live within his means. If America continues to do the same things, in the same way and elect the same profession, we’ll keep getting the same results. It’s time for who we elect to represent us… no more crony politicians… people want successful small business people who will take the not-so-common “common sense” approach to reigning in the federal government within its constitutional boundaries. Click HERE to view a visual chart of what we’re discussing.
ENERGY
I believe in energy independence. We support an “all of the above” approach that includes mining for coal, drilling for oil and natural gas, production of nuclear power, using hydropower, geothermal power and other viable, self-supporting approaches that do not rely on graft-prone taxpayer loans or subsidies. I oppose so-called cap and trade legislation that would impose a national energy tax on families and small business that would kill jobs and raise utility prices.

CARLY’S LAW
Children all over Alabama suffer with debilitating seizures, often thousands each day, which catastrophically affect them and their families. For those with treatment-resistant epilepsy, Dravet syndrome and other seizure-prone conditions, the enormous toll includes the direct and potentially deadly consequences of such seizures, which are compounded by the disabling physical, cognitive and behavioral side effects from high doses of multiple anti-epileptic drugs. The emotional and financial burdens are crushing enough. Now the State of Alabama is putting citizens at risk of felony arrest unless Carly’s Law is passed. Carly’s Law, named for the afflicted daughter of a Pelham police officer, is the only way families will not be prosecuted for administering or receiving the hemp derivative CBD oil. Despite advances in medical therapies over the past decades, progress is painfully slow and disappointing. Medical research fails too many patients.
CBD is already being used effectively for epilepsy and a host of other syndromes because it successfully calms super-heightened uncontrolled brainwave activity, the major cause of so many types of seizures. How many times have we learned of substances that are bad for us, when used in proper formulas and doses, help heal us from terrible diseases? Amazing stories about people conquering cancer and other terminal diseases because of substances that would usually be fatal, are commonplace. CBD oil comes from crossbreeding male hemp with super-low THC marijuana so there is no psychoactive effect. CBD oil relaxes brain activity so the afflicted can communicate, walk, speak, read, respond to loved ones and pursue the physical and emotional normalcy the healthy among us take for granted. Carly’s law is supported by Alabama law enforcement professionals, elected officials, is endorsed by Alabama’s association of pediatric physicians and countless parents and families. The victims’ legal access to CBD, supervised by the most trustworthy authorities within the medical community in Birmingham which supports this solution-oriented process, both mitigates abuse and promotes a clinically positive result.

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