My positions on the issues

My Taxation Proposal

A consumption tax is without question the fairest way to assess and collect taxes. If elected I would move to eliminate all other forms including property taxes and propose an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would limit the consumption (sales) tax to no more than 10%.

The State of Texas, indeed all governments should, can, and eventually must live within their means.  Ten percent, I believe, is a most reasonable number.  As the great Ray Stevens song says, “If 10 percent is good enough for Jesus, it oughta be enough for Uncle Sam,” or in this case the State of Texas. Even God only asked for 10%, and that is a great example for us, since people can only bear a reasonable burden.  We can do this by:

  1. Eliminating so called “economic development” tax perks at the local and state levels. Since we would be eliminating all other taxes, those incentives would no longer by necessary since reducing the taxes for everyone will be incentive enough.
  2. Releasing non-violent offenders from jails and prisons providing ankle bracelets and supervision. Violent offenders would remain incarcerated.  Releasing the non-violent offenders will reduce costs from $60 per day to $6 per day.
  3. Eliminating expenses required to calculate, collect, and administer all other taxes.
  4. Funding education through a voucher system where the money goes with the students rather than only to public schools, colleges, and universities.
  5. Expanding toll roads with the provision that frontage roads have the same number of lanes as the toll way. Also, these must be created through limited use of eminent domain, and where this is not possible, a premium of 25 percent should be paid to property owners on top of fair market value.
  6. Closing the loopholes in the sales tax except for food and medicine.
  7. Establishing the 200 mile offshore limit instead of the current 10 mile limit for Texas.  This has the potential of increasing our offshore revenue more than 20 times.  Currently, other states have only a two mile limit with the exception of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico.

Education

Many of the public schools in Senate District 8 are exemplary, but as a state, Texas is in the middle of the pack. We can do better. I believe that Texas should lead the nation by adopting a free market throughout all levels of education. We need more charter and magnet schools. Better still, I would propose creating a voucher system allowing parents to decide where to send their children. I also support the elimination of the TAKS test.

Immigration

Immigration is one of the more complex issues because most of the policies are set at the federal level. In addition, most of the problems with immigration are not related to the immigrants themselves, but rather stem from the services that the government provides to them. As a Libertarian, I believe that most of these services should not be provided by the government at any level. That being said, we need to significantly increase the number of temporary worker visas that are available to allow these hardworking people a chance to earn a living and return easily to their homes and families.

Toll roads and the gas tax

In principle, I have no problems with allowing private companies to develop toll roads. However, I am drastically opposed to the government use of eminent domain to confiscate private property for the purposes of turning that property over to another private developer.

That said, I like county tollroad authorities. Though government, they have been designed with the right incentives to act with the efficiency of a private company. In fact, all monies collected by toll authorities in 2007 where distributed for highway purposes. This is unlike the gas tax and motor vehicle related fees where only 43 percent went for highway purposes and most of the rest of the money ends up in the state general fund.

Gas taxes are an inefficient method for taxing road use. They, therefore, should be eliminated. and replaced with the aforementioned 10 percent sales tax.

War on drugs

Governments at all levels have wasted billions of dollars fighting an unwinnable “war” on drugs. I believe each person has the right to put into their bodies any substance of their own choosing be it alcohol, marijuana or ecstasy. They are, however, completely responsible for their own actions while under the influence of any of these. Furthermore, they are solely responsible for the long-term effects these substances will have on their bodies. The “war” on drugs has created criminals out of too many otherwise peaceful people. In addition, it has extended police power to a level that is of concern for liberty loving people.

Healthcare

While this is a federal issue at the moment, I am in favor of any state effort to block the implementation of any national healthcare scheme through states rights actions in the courts.

Job creation

The greatest job engine is the freeing of entrepreneurs to create new and innovative products and services for their customers. I know. I assist people in doing this every day in my job. Without question, the best way to create more jobs is to lower taxes and remove regulations from companies thus allowing the free market to work as unencumbered as possible.