Quick Position Points

On the reverse side of my campaign cards I have a short checklist of some of my positions. This list is by no means exhaustive. I hope that it gives people some idea of who I am and what I stand for. Several people have asked me to elaborate on some of these points so please find my short comments:

• Clean water: We have excellent laws in place, it's now a matter of enforcing those laws. Single large polluters dumping gallons of waste into our lakes and streams are on notice. The problem is increasingly the thousands and thousands of little polluters. I would like to work on creating incentives to reduce run-off pollution without treating average people like criminals.
• Clean Air: We have made tremendous strides in reducing large industrial-style air pollution. Again, the problem is increasingly thousands of small problems. It's not sexy, it's not flashy, but the best solution is to increase energy efficiency.
• A Clean Chesapeake Bay: Cleaning our air and water will result in a cleaner Chesapeake Bay. Senator Cardin's new bill will bring a lot of attention and money to bear on the problem. At the state level, it's a matter of creating incentives to use the Bay wisely and in a sustainable matter.
• Lower Taxes: This is on top of the lists of concerns for most people. I want to shift the tax burden away from "good" things like income and property and onto "bad" things like embalming and pollution. For the average citizen, I believe that this will result in lower taxes.
• Corruption-free government: One of the best things about the United States that makes us the envy of the world is that our government is relatively free from corruption. However, that can easily change overnight. My vote cannot be bought.
• The Government out of your bedroom: Some conservative extremists keep making noises about regulating what goes on in the bedrooms of consenting adults. That's not the government's business.
• Safe Schools: Let's keep dangerous people out of our schools whether they are students or adults. Let's make sure that the school buildings themselves are in good repair.
• The Right to bear arms: It's pretty self-evident. As long as the guns are kept in a safe and secure manner and nobody is being hurt, you have the right to bear arms.
• Criminals to be punished: This is probably my most controversial position. I don't like spending my tax dollars on housing criminals. I would rather give the Justice system new tools to get the job done.
• Graffiti-free neighborhoods: It may be a pet-peeve of mine, but I believe that it is shared. I don't like graffiti and I think we need to empower the police and the people to prosecute vandals with harsher punishments. A Graffiti-free neighborhood sends the message that crime is not tolerated there.
• The Right to free-speech: Again, it's pretty self-evident. Free-speech is messy and you will hear a lot of things that you don't like, but that is the essence of a free nation. Government should not be stifling any voices.