On The Issues

• Tax Relief

  I support giving real significant tax relief to Arkansans, not the token $10 per year the GOP has been touting.

  Arkansas has the second highest state and local sales tax rate in the US. Worse than New York or California. That’s inexcusable. I propose that we lower the state sales tax rate from 6.5% to a more reasonable 5%. That’s small but real and noticeable savings on utility bills, clothing, school supplies, etc…, nearly everything we purchase. Furthermore I would also propose we remove the local sales tax on food, diapers, and feminine hygiene products; a savings for Arkansas families that would be considerably greater than the minuscule 1/8th of a percent cut on food passed last year.

  The national standard deduction for income taxes is $15,750. In Arkansas the standard deduction is only $2,470. I propose that we increase the state standard deduction for each filer and dependent to the same $15,750 used for federal tax filers. This would be a substantial savings for working class families in Arkansas, and would require a very minimal change to the tax code.

• Spending

  Because we are so overtaxed and running up surpluses every year, we can implement some tax cuts without needing spending cuts. But that isn’t a sustainable policy and it is vitally important that we shrink government and cut spending to support even greater tax cuts. I would start with the mega-prison boondoggle. That’s a $billion pork project that should never have seen the light of day, and ending it will save the taxpayers a considerable amount of money.

• Transparency

  Every candidate says they support transparency, but few if any deliver.  I would ask the legislature to return the FOIA rules to where they were before Sanders gutted them. Even if not passed, I would voluntarily comply with the previous standard to bring some more openness to government. I would also publicly post all actions taken by my office so FOIA would rarely if ever be required.

• Right to Life

  At the moment of conception a human child is created with DNA unique to that individual person. That child is entitled the the same rights and protections as every other child. Our laws should reflect this, not attempt to regulate medical procedures.

• Right to Bear Arms

  Rights are absolute and this is no exception. I will work to repeal all laws that infringe on the right for people to keep and bear arms, and recommend pardoning anyone convicted solely for violating existing unconstitutional laws. I will also push for prosecution for those that violate the rights of others and work to prevent federal enforcement of unconstitutional laws in our state.

• Criminal Justice

  We do not need a billion dollar mega-prison at a taxpayer cost of over $300,000 per inmate. We do need to stop imprisoning people that have committed “crimes” that have no victim. If the prisons we have weren’t so full of people that don’t belong there, we would have enough room to keep those that do. We also need to look into programs that will streamline the justice process and reduce recidivism.

• Defend the Guard

  The Arkansas national guard should never be deployed beyond our borders without a formal declaration of war from Congress.