Principles

Repeal Obamacare

Before meaningful reform of our national healthcare system can begin, it is essential to first fully repeal 100% of ObamaCare. Absent repeal, there is nothing to replace.

Replace government-run health care with free market solutions to create competition and restore doctor-patient relationships: Allow consumers to purchase insurance across state lines, thus forcing insurance companies from around the country to compete for consumers' business by lowering premiums and improving coverage.

Protect and Strengthen Medicare: Medicare’s trustees have said Medicare will go broke if we don't act because of the flood of Baby Boomers entering the system. What was the President's response? Pass ObamaCare, which cut Medicare by $532 billion and handed a board of 15 unelected bureaucrats control over seniors' health. These actions have only made the situation worse and have put the viability of Medicare at risk for current and future beneficiaries, offering yet another reason to repeal ObamaCare. We can protect and preserve Medicare for current and future generations, and we long proposed to do so without impacting those who are 55 or older. By giving those under 55 the choice of joining traditional Medicare or using Medicare dollars to buy a private health insurance plan that meets a minimum of Medicare standards, we can ensure Medicare is secure.

Enact meaningful medical lawsuit reform: Congressman King supports and has repeatedly voted for H.R. 5, the HEALTH Act, which would cap noneconomic lawsuit payouts at $250,000. The bill would save the federal government $40 billion and would save the private health care system much more.

Support consumer-focused health care: Expand Health Savings Accounts and convert them into Life Management Accounts (LMA). Allowing the owners of an LMA to grow their account into a larger fund that can serve as a reward for healthy living and be converted into a retirement account can improve every year of our lives through all of our working and retirement years.

Bottom line: Repealing ObamaCare and reforming our healthcare system with free market solutions will remove regulations and burdensome costs from businesses who can invest the savings with a profit incentive which will result in job creation.

Economy

President Obama's "Stimulus Bill" was poor public policy sold to the American people under the pretense of saving them from an economic collapse. This was an attempt to stimulate economic growth through government spending, which succeeded in increasing our debt and deficit but failed to stimulate the economy in a measureable way.

The Obama Administration is operating from the wrong economic philosophy.  Borrowing and spending results in an inescapable and inevitable obligation to service the expanded debt.  Higher interest payments and principle payments will delay the recovery.  Government borrowing and spending crowds out private investment and reduces private sector job creation. The current ruling, one-party leadership team of the President, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid needs to understand government doesn't create jobs. If job creation is truly desired, voters know government just needs to get out of the way and let businesses be productive so new hires can come on board.

We need to reduce taxes and excessive regulation on business. Business needs predictability. Right now, the only thing businesses are certain of is that more taxes and regulations are coming their way - which means their ability to be profitable and create jobs will be curtailed significantly.

We must end the federal government's support for, and involvement in, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; putting them on the fast track to privatization. And we must divest the federal government's share of private entities like GM, Chrysler, and AIG – then return any unused stimulus funds to the federal treasury.

The American people know better how to spend their money than government can any day. It is an arrogant thought for Washington bureaucrats and politicians to believe otherwise.

Job Creation

Stop the Massive Tax Increase Coming in 2013: Without action, small business owners and hardworking Americans are facing a $494 billion tax increase in 2013 alone- just one year. Uncertainty about skyrocketing taxes next year is making it difficult for small business owners to plan ahead, grow their operations, and hire more workers. The looming tax hike is also injecting uncertainty into family finances. It's hard for a family to know whether now is the time to explore new jobs or a new business venture if the tax rules are up in the air. We must give small businesses and families the certainty they need to create and take advantage of economic opportunities.

Hold the Washington Regulatory Machine Accountable: Federal bureaucrats are working overtime churning out reams and reams of new, burdensome regulations. The cascade of regulations from Washington is drowning out economic opportunity in our economy. Every day new regulations come down the pike and increase the cost of doing business in America. In the end, this means less economic growth and fewer jobs. Congressman King wants to introduce accountability in the regulatory process by requiring Congress to approve all new and existing regulations. Real Congressional oversight will ensure that small businesses have the means to seek relief from the regulatory whims of unelected bureaucrats.

Bottom line: Your family doesn’t double down in the stock market when the outlook is grim. Similarly, business won’t reinvest and provide career opportunities if our government doesn’t provide economic certainty.

Taxes

We must abolish the IRS and replace the federal income tax – and all other forms of federal taxation – with the FairTax, a national consumption tax.

Not only would this relieve the taxpayer of the budgetary burden of funding an immense federal bureaucracy, it would also unleash an immense surge of economic activity that would breathe new life into the American entrepreneurial spirit.

I also believe that death should not be a taxable event. The Deathtax is immoral and is bad policy. It is bad policy because it acts as a disincentive for business growth and expansion. It is immoral because it is a direct barrier to the American Dream, which is about making a better life for the next generation.

The ability to pass on the fruit of a life's worth of hard work to the next generation is something that should be encouraged, not penalized. Americans pay taxes their entire lives on the money they earn. It should not be taxed again when it is passed on to the next generation.

In 2001, Republicans were successful in passing reforms to the Death tax which ultimately phased the tax out altogether in 2010. However, the Democrat majority in Congress has stood in the way of permanently extending the current Death tax moratorium, and so families across the country are nervously awaiting the arrival of January 1, 2011 - the date that the Death tax will come back to life. Tax considerations should not play any role in the end of life decisions that families must make. But, given the fact that the Death tax is set to resume at the beginning of next year, families will be forced to make these decisions not based on morality but on financial necessity.

No family should be forced to make a decision between keeping a loved one alive and saving the family farm or business. We must end the Death tax immediately, completely, and permanently.

Immigration

Immigration policy must be designed to enhance the economic, social and cultural well being of the United States. I believe we have an obligation to address our growing illegal immigration problem. We must enforce the laws already on the books, which includes completeing the border fence along our southern border.

In 2006, funding was authorized to complete 854 miles of two-layered reinforced fencing. To date, only 346 miles of pedestrian fencing, 298 miles of vehicle fencing and 34 miles of secondary fencing has been completed.

I also believe we have to cut off the welfare and job magnets to illegal immigrants. I have introduced H.R. 3580, the New Illegal Deduction Elimination Act or New IDEA, which is legislation that would make wages and benefits that are paid to illegal immigrants non-deductible for federal income purposes. This legislation would make it less attractive and more costly to hire illegal immigrants over Americans. New IDEA would ensure that American jobs are going to American workers by immediately reducing America's unemployment and result in the hiring of millions of unemployed Americans by cracking down on employers and illegal workers and leveling the playing field for law-abiding American employers and employees.

I am adamantly against amnesty, which is to pardon immigration lawbreakers and reward them with the object of their crime. A pathway to citizenship does exactly that. There mere discussion of granting citizenship to those who have rejected the Rule of Law by entering our country illegally only encourages more illegal immigration.

Faith & Family Values

All federal funding for Planned Parenthood and other entities that perform abortions must end. To help prevent the taking of innocent human life through abortion, I believe that a mother requesting an abortion should undergo an ultrasound and review the life within her. In addition, we must work to ensure that only those who believe that human life has a natural right to be protected – consistent with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution – are nominated for and confirmed to positions as judges in our federal courts.

Second, I do not believe marriage is a right that can be granted to same-sex couples by government. It is a sacred institution that is the foundation stone of the family and civilization, and it has never been anything other than a union between one man and one woman.

Renewable Energy

The federal government should have an all inclusive energy policy. We need more domestic oil, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, clean coal, and renewables. From an economic and national security point of view, there is significant value in continuing the development of domestically produced energy of all types, including renewable sources.

In recent months, the federal government's commitment to the renewable energy industry has come in to question, and we cannot expect this vibrant young industry to continue to grow if those commitments are not sustained.

The most important step Congress and the federal government should take to encourage development of renewable energy sources is to take immediate action to fulfill and reaffirm its support for, and commitment to, this industry.