Social Security

As we continue to see "Baby Boomer" Americans retiring, it becomes increasingly important to protect our senior citizens once they decide to enjoy "their golden years". However, with the current health care bill seeking to ration care and cut parts of medicare by almost $500 billion, our senior citizens are finding it increasingly difficult to live in comfort during their later years. Right now, the current Social Security system is broken and bankrupt; the seniors in the system are seeing their benefits DECREASE while our government continues to INCREASE spending, taxes and inflation. The promises made to American workers that they would get the money back that they put in while employed, is no longer applicable. It costs younger workers more money per senior citizen than at any time in our history, and that number will continue to increase. The current "solutions" such as raising taxes on benefits and increasing the age of retirement do nothing to fix the system. Thus, here are some of my proposals to protect our seniors once they retire:

First, the imposition of taxes on Social Security benefits is illogical and detrimental, not to mention downright theft. We MUST work to ELIMINATE any and all taxes on Social Security benefits which will lead to an increase in their standards of living.

Second, it is imperative that we STOP wasteful spending of money in ALL sectors of our economy, but especially in Social Security. As such, I believe that we should mandate that all money paid into the Social Security system is used ONLY for Social Security and not other spending programs.

Third, like welfare, it is inherently unfair to reward those who do not pay into the system. As such, we should completely ELIMINATE all people from the Social Security system who have not previously paid into the system; this especially means that we do not offer Social Security benefits to illegal immigrants.

As a young worker, I have seen the possibility of receiving Social Security when I retire diminish with each passing year. It is imperative that we provide young workers the same opportunities to live in comfort once they retire. We must allow workers to invest their money TAX FREE in a Social Security savings account. This would include allowing easier access to investing in the market by eliminating capital gains taxes and by reducing payroll taxes so that our workers have more money to invest in their futures.

Finally, we MUST stop the excessive and reckless spending coming out of Washington. Congress should focus the excess money on special interest projects on helping to fund Social Security and health care for seniors. Also, with the increasing retirement population of baby boomers, I would mandate that ANY money spent on Home Health, Hospice, Assisted Living facilities, etc, should be completely tax deductible so that more individuals will be able to retire in comfort.

Home Schooling

As a father who has witnessed the education, or lack thereof, of my children in our public schools, I understand the importance and necessity of viable alternatives and options for parents who seek the best education for their children. A growing and increasing viable option for educating our children, and one that I wholeheartedly support, is home schooling (my wife and I are considering home schooling our girls next year). As the Federal Government continues to intervene in our education system, the academic progress of our students is falling behind that of several third world nations! Therefore, I am completely committed to keeping home schooling a viable and practical alternative for American families.

We, as Americans, MUST be able to return the control of our education to our families. I agree with Rep. Ron Paul who seeks to INCREASE and advance tax credits for families through the Family Education Freedom Act. This would allow individuals income tax credit of up to $5000 (adjusted for inflation) for EVERY student to cover expenses and tuition associated with schooling (private, parochial and public), including but not limited too extracurricular activities and home schooling.

Second, our politicians should work to ensure parity for home school diplomas and allow home school students equal scholarship opportunities when entering colleges and universities. We must also work to guarantee the permanency of the Department of Defense Home School Tier 1 Pilot Program which guarantees equal recruitment status for our home school children who wish to serve their country in our military.

Third, we MUST fight to keep the Federal Government, through the Department of Education, from regulating the activities and studies of home school students. This includes, but is not limited to, setting national standards and/or testing of home school students and families, enshrining a Home School Bill of Rights and guaranteeing that home school students will not be limited by the imposition of a national curriculum.

Fourth, as they do here in Nashville, home school families ought NOT to have to pay up to an additional $80 fee to the Metro Public School system for "permission" to educate or children at home. If our schools are failing to educate our children and our families exercise their right to home school their children, they should NOT be penalized for doing so. I would work to abolish this fee and any other "administrative" fee charged to home school families by our local government and the Department of Education.

Finally, I will ACTIVELY vote to OPPOSE any penalties or regulation on home school families by the Federal Government in an effort to undermine home schooling our students. It is up to American families to properly educate our children since they government fails miserably in this task, and we must ensure academic freedom throughout our nation for ALL families and ALL students.