Issues you care about
“I want you to understand where I stand on the issues. During the course of the campaign, we’ll be adding new issues to this page. If you have an issue you’d like to see added, or have a question, please email the campaign at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).”
The Budget Crisis
Saddling future generation’s with debt to fund out-of-control government spending goes beyond simple mismanagement. There is something grossly immoral about taking from our kids to pay for our addictions. Iowa’s government should balance its budget, and the Governor should veto any bill that spent one cent over the 99% spending limits, or raided reserves to get there.
I am a businessman who has made tough decisions to make payroll and stay profitable. I am a husband and father who has guided family finances through a recession. Yet the “experienced” political leaders spend, grow the reach of the state and expect hard-working Iowans to shoulder the yoke of not just big government, but bad government. It must end.
Bloated Cost of Government
The cost of state government is growing at an out-of-control pace. I promised to shrink the size of government by 5% in my first year. The culture of out-of-control spending requires an executive order ending the spending of taxpayer dollars to fund lobbyists. Those lobbyists come back and ask for even more taxpayer money! That cycle must come to an end.
Strong executive leadership should stop outsourcing the job of negotiating with government employee unions. The Governor must lead the negotiation of future contracts, making it clear that the state’s private-sector employees are not second-class citizens to government employees. Public employee unions must stop obstructing, and instead partner with the Governor to streamline government and make it accountable, transparent and accessible.
Life
On the issue of life, I am clear. I am pro-life. The Governor should take all possible steps to defend human life, that most basic of human rights, from conception to natural death.
Support of Traditional Marriage
When the Supreme Court overturned Iowa’s definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, I dropped what I was doing and immediately published where I stood. It took Governor Culver four days to decide to flip-flop and play politics on the issue of marriage.
My position reflects the values of most Iowans: I believe Iowans should be able to vote on a constitutional amendment on marriage. It is an amendment I will personally support.
Right to Work
I support Iowa’s Right to Work law. I will resist any repeal. The Governor must protect the rights of workers to decide for themselves whether they want to join a union. Iowa’s Right to Work law leads to better wages, more jobs, and better opportunities for Iowa workers.
Celebrating the Iowa Family
Iowa is made strong when its families are strong. I propose that the first year of the next Governor’s administration should be declared the Year of the Iowa Family, to celebrate the sort of hard-working Iowa families that make us strong. Imagine leaders that actually get out to all 99 counties, to talk to Iowans week after week, not just coming for donor meetings or making an appearance during campaign season!
Sliding Standards in Education
The Des Moines Register reported that our high school drop-out rates are rising, even as our expectations drop for our education system. Did you know that our standards are so low that an elementary teacher could miss every math question on the Praxis certification exam, and still be considered qualified to teach our kids? I believe that every Iowan, rural or urban, whether public, private or home-educated, should have a world-class education. This will require a transformation of our education system, giving real school choice to parents, consistently excellent teachers to kids and twenty-first century resources to teachers.
Disaster Recovery
I led the grassroots efforts to rebuild homes, get businesses back on their feet and keep my community focused on the priorities of its citizens. My wife and I even took a flood family into our home for eight months. All the while Governor Culver deliberated, delayed and betrayed the trust of my community by making the flood an excuse to grow government, build bureaucracy and play the blame game - rather than empowering people and solving problems.
I am concerned when the Governor spends more on the bureaucracy of flood management than saving thousands of jobs in the flooded small businesses. I have demonstrated, through true community leadership, with the support of the community we can do better.
