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A Vision and a Plan for Energy Independence
A primary goal for an effective and sensible energy
policy is keeping the United States from having to exert
military force to protect our strategic energy needs. For
too long, American military men and women have died on
Middle East battlefields at the hands of enemies who are
essentially funded by American dollars. I know this all too
well. We cannot permit it to continue. And we cannot allow
tyrants and dictators to use their oil reserves to
strong-arm and bully our friends and allies.
Gas Prices
American families are being crushed by ever increasing gas
prices. Consumers are struggling to balance their day-to-day
living expenses in the face of these increases. While
American families stretch their budgets to afford gas and
other necessities, Congress is idle. Where are our leaders
in Washington?
As a nation, we had a unique opportunity in September 2001
to declare our goal of achieving energy independence. But
the opportunity was squandered. Now, I believe voters must
demand that Washington join in a national commitment to
achieving energy independence as a critical element of
national security and economic policy.
As gas prices in the Hudson Valley reach $4 per gallon, it
is clear that something has to change. My campaign has
developed a bold and comprehensive 5 point plan to deal with
escalating fuel prices in both the near-term and the
long-term.
Lalor's Bold and Comprehensive 5 Point Plan To Lower Gas
Prices
1. Drill More
2. Refine More
3. Abolish All Gas Taxes
4. Regulate Less
5. Encourage innovation in the private sector
More On Lalor's Bold and Comprehensive Plan To Lower Gas
Prices
As Senator John McCain has said, energy independence
must be our generation's "Manhattan Project." I believe that
with the right combination of technology, innovation, and
government incentives, we do not need to raise taxes on
hardworking Americans. I also believe that entrepreneurs are
more likely to solve America's energy and environmental
problems than bureaucrats in Washington.
Nuclear Power
America's working families need clean, affordable energy.
Nuclear power offers an environmentally friendly energy
source that can pace with the demands of America's dynamic
economy.
License renewal for Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan,
NY is essential to the economy and prosperity of the New
York metropolitan area. Without Indian Point, electric
bills for households, businesses and local municipalities
would jump dramatically causing blackouts, squeezing
employers and increasing taxes.
Scientist Patrick Moore, who co-founded the environmental
organization Greenpeace, said, "Nuclear energy is the only
non- greenhouse-gas-emitting power source capable of
effectively replacing fossil fuels and satisfying growing
demand."
"Hydroelectric is largely built to capacity. Other key
renewables, such as wind and solar will play a growing role.
But renewables are unreliable and intermittent, and simply
can't provide base-load electricity."
Leading environmentalists like Patrick Moore support
Indian Point license renewal and the expanded use of nuclear
power to meet our growing energy needs and so do I.
Encourage Private Sector Innovation in Alternatives and
Renewables
I support the creation of large financial prizes to be
awarded by the federal government to companies and
individuals who achieve important milestones in achieving
America's energy goals, such as inventing an affordable,
practical car that meets or exceeds a 100 mpg goal, or a new
and safer way to dispose of nuclear waste products, or new
ways to cut pollution, or new, clean energy sources.
I also support tax incentives for the creation and use
of alternatives fuels for vehicle use. I believe that the
federal government must encourage local governments and
municipalities to make smart use of LEDs, which can
dramatically reduce power when used in traffic signals and
other municipal applications. I support incentives for
development of other uses as well and support federal
programs that would defray the cost of installation using
grants or low interest loans, which can be re-paid from
energy savings.
We must continually look for sensible investments in
wind, solar, and other alternatives to foreign oil, in part
by encouraging America's competitive spirit and innovation
in the private sector.
Pro-Growth Economic Policies
Jobs
For decades our nation has been losing blue collar jobs when
companies outsource to overseas factories. The flight of
manufacturing jobs has a negative impact on our economy,
national security and culture. To improve our manufacturing
base we must make government, industry and labor realize
that each group has a common interest in keeping jobs in the
U.S.. Congress can lead the way by making the U.S. more
hospitable to business and cutting spending, taxes and
regulations.
Overregulation of the securities industry, such as
Sarbanes-Oxley, has in recent years caused our most
promising companies to list on foreign stock exchanges
causing a significant loss of white collar jobs. Congress
must develop legislation that simultaneously protects
investors and employees while ensuring that the U.S. is
hospitable to business.
Support For Small Business
Small business drives the American economic engine. The
creative and determined American spirit shines in the
entrepreneurs who build the foundations of our economy.
The government, though, has burdened small businesses with
layers of regulations and high taxes. Entrepreneurs are
left vulnerable to frivolous lawsuits. Hard working
entrepreneurs, who directly and indirectly create jobs,
deserve better. Washington needs to remove unreasonable
regulations, deliver serious tort reform and not block the
creative power of the American entrepreneur.
Earmark Reform
After what we've seen from the
Congress and others, especially in New York, voters are
right to demand an end to corruption and waste in
government. I am proud to have signed the Earmark Pledge.
It is a pledge to good government, which is a foundation of
my campaign. I believe that Congress should operate with
transparency, not old boy secrecy. If something merits
spending, it should go through the normal budget process and
there ought to be an up or down vote not a last minute air
drop of pork projects that serve only to protect incumbents
and reward elite constituencies.
More on Our Fight For Earmark
Reform
Reducing the Income Tax Burden on Hudson Valley Taxpayers
My campaign is founded upon the ideals of the Reagan
Revolution - limited government and individual liberty and a
healthy skepticism of "government programs" and burdensome
taxes on hardworking Americans. For example, I believe that
forcing American taxpayers to pay upwards of forty cents of
every dollar they earn on bloated government spending
programs is an economic and moral travesty. In short, the
federal income tax code is unfair and burdensome to
hardworking Americans, and my goal is to improve the tax
code to make it more equitable.
The tax code must also be fair to small businesses in
the Hudson Valley, reduce incentives for employers here to
move overseas, and make the U.S. a more attractive place for
businesses that provide high-paying jobs. I also believe
that the "death tax" should be permanently abolished, the
AMT regime and marriage penalty should be eliminated, and
property taxes, which are an increasing burden on families
in the Hudson Valley, should be 100% deductible on federal
income tax returns. I also support making the 2003 tax cuts
permanent. They helped America's economy rebound after 9/11,
and they'll continue to strengthen it. That's one reason why
I have signed the National Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
Of course, taxes are what they are because Washington
treats tax dollars like they are monopoly money. Even
Republicans have abandoned their reputation as the party of
fiscal discipline, which has left a lot of voters scratching
their heads. I think Washington needs a reminder every once
in a while that the first step in putting hard earned tax
dollars back in your wallet is to control spending and reign
in deficits, and that is what I intend to do. The AMT will
still be around this April 15th because Washington couldn't
figure out where they'd recover the lost revenue. But a big
part of the answer is simple: "it's the pork" - Congress
seems to have forgotten that those tax dollars belonged to
the taxpayers, not Washington. For too long, Washington
insiders have stymied and frustrated efforts to address
earmarks. I will support measures that aim to end the abuse
of wasteful earmarks. I will also fight for across the board
cuts in federal spending and demand that bureaucracies
justify their budgets every year.
I will also oppose the current proposal by
Congressional Democrats to increase taxes by $3.5 trillion
over the next ten years -- which is on top of letting
the 2003 tax cuts expire and would add a 4% income tax
"surcharge" on thousands of middle class families in the
area. I will stand in opposition to these efforts to raise
your taxes.
Providing Relief from Property Taxes
While property tax is primarily a state and local
issue, as a Member of Congress I could work to ease your
property tax burden by calling on tax and spend state
officials to cut spending by eliminating waste, fraud and
abuse. Moreover, I would vote against all unfunded federal
mandates to state and local government while working to
eliminate existing unfunded mandates.
In addition, I support making property taxes
deductible on federal tax returns.
Increased Healthcare Opportunities
By the time my first daughter was born with a severe
heart condition, my wife and I had already paid tens of
thousands of dollars into traditional insurance plans for
more than a decade and assumed we would be fully covered for
our baby's open-heart surgeries and subsequent hospital
stays and care. We were not. Standing between our family and
our doctors were insurance company bureaucrats dictating to
us what care we could get for our daughter.
This experience only highlighted to me how important
it is for Americans to have healthcare choices that work for
them. Where important and personal decisions about health
care are at stake, the decision-making must be in the hands
of families and doctors and not insurance companies.
The key to solving this problem is consumer-driven
health care and the expansion of tax-advantaged health
savings accounts. I believe that funds contributed to a
qualified health savings account should be exempt from
federal income tax at the time of deposit. Under this plan,
funds would accumulate in an interest-bearing account and
could only be used for qualified medical expenses. This way,
individuals, not insurance companies, earn the interest on
their health savings, and individuals -- not insurance
company bureaucrats -- decide what medical expenditures are
right for them and their families. The health savings
account would be accompanied by a low premium / high
deductible health plan for those who suffer catastrophic
health events.
I will also work hard to encourage entrepreneurial
approaches to prevention, strengthen chronic-care
management, and recognize the importance of personal
responsibility.
There are too many people who want and need insurance
but can't find affordable coverage, and sadly, this includes
an awful lot of children. It is heartbreaking to think of
children around America who can't get the medical care they
need. I'll use my vote in Congress to ensure that health
care is available to those children who truly need it. I
will also support giving tax credits to medical care
providers who treat indigent children.
No matter what side of the aisle you are on,
everyone's goal should be for health insurance coverage to
be affordable, fully accessible, and portable. But this is
simply not an area where big government, despite all of its
promises, is going to solve anything. "Nationalized"
healthcare may sound like the answer, but in fact it is full
of empty promises. Government control would inevitably lead
to waste, rationing of crucial services, excruciatingly long
waiting periods, and a crisis far worse than what we face
today.
Some believe that bureaucratic medicine will cure what
ails the insurance system in America. I'm not one of
them. Anyone dealing with the Canadian system and the
British National Health Insurance Service would probably
agree. Canadians spend about 20% of their total income on
health care, and their system is far worse off than
ours. Wait times for urgent procedures can be weeks or
months. As a military veteran, I am well aware that our own
federal Veteran's healthcare system has a 600,000 person
backlog on claims. Were the federal government to administer
healthcare for the entire country, the backlog would be
exponentially larger.
Making Education Work for our
Children
I began my professional career as a high school
teacher right here in the Hudson Valley. My mother is a
retired educator living here, and my wife is an elementary
school teacher.
Improving the education system in the United States is
a subject I take very seriously because there is very often
a direct correlation between the quality of one's education
and the opportunities one sees as an adult. In recent
decades, though, Americans have spent more and more tax
dollars only to see declining standards and an entire
generation of Americans who face a competitive disadvantage.
I believe that fixing our schools is a problem that
should transcend politics. It is an issue that cannot
withstand another generation of simply throwing more money
at the problem.
"One size fits all" solutions from Washington are not
going to solve the problems plaguing the schools in our
hometowns. True reform begins with local and state
governments. And I believe that Congress can assist by
raising awareness of problems, highlighting success stories
so that solutions can be duplicated, and removing
impediments to reform. We've simply lost sight of the fact
that the primary mission of our public educational system is
to educate. Too many schools think that social
experimentation and indoctrination are more important than
teaching children how to read, write and reason. But
America's ability to remain competitive will depend on
making the right choices about investing in future leaders
in math and science.
Like you, I am tired of hearing that America's education
system cannot be fixed. I challenge the voters in the Hudson
Valley and around America to put an end to defeatism when it
comes to education and to demand that Washington give a
voice to the millions of Americans who recognize that this
is a challenge that we simply must meet. My campaign's
message is simple: It can be done.
Staying Tough on Crime
The federal government has a responsibility to keep
its ears to the ground to determine areas where federal
involvement with local law enforcement is needed. We have
seen examples of this regarding Internet crime and identity
theft, and I will continue to advocate tougher penalties for
violent felons and federal funding to build more federal
prisons. I also support "truth in sentencing" so that
violent criminals get the penalty they deserve.
I also believe that we must find ways to encourage the
use of science and DNA analysis early in the criminal
process to protect the innocent and to help prosecutors put
away the guilty.
Upholding the Second Amendment
I have spent my entire adult life studying, teaching
or defending the U.S. Constitution. I understand that all of
the rights in the U.S. Constitution, including the Second
Amendment right to bear arms, must be respected. I know that
gun-control laws disarm law abiding citizens and leave us
defenseless against criminals who won't stop to fill out
forms and pay hefty gun registration and license fees. I
believe in and support the Constitutional right to bear
arms.
Experience has shown, with one example after another,
that gun control laws do not reduce gun crime. The truth is
that the criminals are going to get their guns, and they're
all too happy when their victims are unarmed. The Founding
Fathers knew that there are times when the government can't
protect you, and the Constitution says we are entitled to
protect ourselves. I don't believe in imposing hefty burdens
on law-abiding citizens, and I will not use my vote in
Congress to infringe Americans' Second Amendment rights.
Illegal
Immigration
Illegal immigration is a pressing national security
problem. In the post September 11 world we cannot afford to
lose control of our borders. Border security needs to be a
top priority. We can secure the border with a combination
of manpower, a virtual wall, and where needed a physical
wall.
In dealing with the population of illegal immigrants already
here, we need to deport any who are convicted of crimes or
discovered by routine law enforcement activity. We can also
discourage illegal immigration by eliminating welfare,
in-state tuition and other benefits to illegal immigrants.
Honoring and
Fulfilling Our Promise to Veterans
Innovative Solutions To Help Veterans:
The Federal Department of Veterans Affairs is
designed to fulfill a vital service, but like almost all
bureaucracies, it is ineffective. My campaign will detail a
multi-point plan that will immediately help veterans without
further burdening the VA:
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There are more than 400,000 U.S. military veterans who
are waiting in line for medical care because of an
enormous backlog at the Veterans Administration. To
remedy this, I believe that every eligible veteran
should be able to use his identification and discharge
papers (Form DD-214) and go to any hospital or doctor
for treatment and the federal government will reimburse
the facility at the same rate as they reimburse for
Medicare. Veterans will be given the respect they
deserve, and that's what matters to me.
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Because military service involves a comprehensive
education, attaining the rank of Non-Commissioned
Officer should entitle veterans to 60 readily
transferable credits -- equivalent to an Associate's
degree. This would allow them to save thousands of
dollars on two years of tuition and dramatically
decrease the time it takes to earn a Bachelor's degree.
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I propose a $5,000 tax deduction for employers who hire
a veteran within a year of leaving the military.
Montrose and Castle Point VA Medical Centers
Simultaneously sending American servicemen and
servicewomen to war while closing VA hospitals they need is
simply unconscionable. Montrose and Castle Point are vital
to the Veterans living in the Hudson Valley. Both facilities
must be maintained and upgraded with the goal of providing
state-of-the-art medical treatment for area veterans.
Mandatory Funding For VA Healthcare
Recently, I signed a pledge to support mandatory
funding for veteran's healthcare services as part of
Operation Firing For Effect a non-profit, non-partisan, and
grassroots veterans' service organization. The current
discretionary funding mechanisms for veterans' healthcare is
beset by numerous flaws that prevent many veterans from
receiving the quality care they deserve. Mandatory funding
would assure that the bureaucracy and political wrangling
over budgets does not keep U.S. veterans from getting the
healthcare they deserve.
A Responsible
Policy on China
I believe that America's policy as it concerns China
needs to be addressed comprehensively and in a manner that
accounts for China's growing economic and military strength
and its human rights record. This hasn't been done. Despite
China's emergence as a world power, Washington has not
addressed America's policy toward China in a coherent
fashion. I believe that we need to think hard about U.S.
policy and, as we must always do, remember that America's
interests come first.
Caring For Our Seniors
Our senior citizens
built the great nation that we know today. We owe it to
them to see that government is responsive to their needs in
retirement. Seniors need relief from taxes that are pushing
them out of the homes in which they raised their families.
They need healthcare options that respond to their
individual needs. And they need a strong Social Security
system.
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