Issue Discussions
Jobs and Economic Development
Job creation and economic development must be Missouri’s top priority. Economic growth and job creation are a direct result of low taxes, limited government regulations, fiscal restraint and reliable and competitively priced energy.
Small businesses are the linchpin of the U.S. economy and their success is best achieved when government least interferes with their efforts. Free enterprise will be the answer to the economic woes facing Missouri and our Nation. Opportunities will abound as our Nation embraces capitalism over government anew.
“It is not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work — work with us, not over us; stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it.” – Ronald Reagan -First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981
“We who live in free market societies believe that growth, prosperity and ultimately human fulfillment, are created from the bottom up, not the government down. Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefiting from their success — only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive, and free. Trust the people. This is the one irrefutable lesson of the entire postwar period contradicting the notion that rigid government controls are essential to economic development.” – Ronald Reagan -September 29, 1981
“I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple. Were we directed from Washington when to sow, when to reap, we should soon want bread.” – Thomas Jefferson
“We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much.” – Ronald Reagan – Address to National Association of Realtors, March 28, 1982
Life
The sanctity of human life begins at the moment of fertilization. No action should be legally allowable if its purpose is to take the life of an innocent human being. The need to protect the unborn has never been more important.
“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.” – Deuteronomy 30:19
“There are six things the LORD hates…hands that shed innocent blood.” – Proverbs 6:16-17
Second Amendment
The right to keep and bear arms is a constitutional right which must be upheld. The Founding Fathers understood the importance of a well armed citizenry. This right is as important today, if not more important, than it was at the signing of the U.S. Constitution.
“I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.” – George Mason, Co-author of the Second Amendment during Virginia’s Convention to Ratify the Constitution, 1788
Agriculture
Agriculture is the heartbeat of Missouri’s economy. As Missouri’s number one economic driver, agriculture must be empowered to grow and produce in an economic environment focused on limited government regulations, low taxes, fiscal restraint and reliable and competitively priced energy.
Missouri agriculture must be protected from nuisance lawsuits and property rights attacks. Infrastructure for truck, rail and water transportation must continually be improved to enhance Missouri’s ability to competitively engage domestic and foreign markets.
“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands.” – Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Jay (Aug. 23, 1785)
“I know of no pursuit in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture, its breed of useful animals, and other branches of a husbandman’s cares.” – George Washington
State Sovereignty
The federal government continues to overreach its constitutionally delegated powers. The Tenth Amendment has been and is being regularly abused as was the case with the recent national healthcare reform legislation. Missourians must take a strong stance against ongoing sovereignty abuses.
“I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That “all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people.” [10th Amendment] To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specifically drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” – Thomas Jefferson: National Bank Opinion, 1791
