Take some time today to study the issues page on Tom Smith’s Senate campaign web site. Smith has a five point plan for improving America.
1) Simplify the tax code
2) End Out of Control Federal Spending
3) End Oppressive Regulation
4) Energize our Future with American Energy
5) Healthcare and Security
Here are a few points in Smith’s platform that are particularly attractive:
No Budget, No Pay. For more than three years, Congress has failed to fulfill its constitutional obligation to pass a budget. Our elected representatives should live under the simple realities their constituents do – if you don’t do your job, you don’t get paid.
Impose a Regulatory Cap on Agencies. The idea of a regulatory cap would be to establish a “regulatory budget” for new regulations, which at least initially, would be set at zero. So, if an agency wanted to issue a new regulation that was estimated to cost a certain amount, that agency would be required to eliminate existing regulation costing society an equal amount. The process would slow the implementation of new regulations.
End the frivolous lawsuits that unnecessarily drive up costs for everyone. We must enact meaningful tort reform. A CBO report in 2009 found that healthcare providers would incur approximately $35 billion annually in direct malpractice liability, or two percent of total healthcare expenditures. This number accounts for insurance costs and settlements, awards and administrative costs.¹⁴ Additionally, the threat of frivolous lawsuits often forces healthcare providers to practice “defensive medicine,” which increases costs even further.
End double taxation of savings and investments. The current systems that enact unfair double taxation of income serve to stifle investment and disproportionately harm small business. Eliminate the death tax and capital gains tax.
We endorse Tom Smith for United States Senate. America needs more Senators that believe in the Constitution.
