Improve WNY Business Climate
by improving government efficiency and reducing the costs to do business here. We cannot spend our way to prosperity.- Constitutionally cap the unsustainable New York State spending—limit spending to inflation plus population growth and act to keep it under inflation for years
- Constitutionally cap out of control debt from unconscionable operating costs to back-door borrowing via authorities—limit debt to 5% of personal income which will require a reduction of the present debt level
- Reduction of Albany mandates on local governments including Medicaid, unfair labor laws (Taylor) that tie the hands of local elected officials in negotiations and overly generous pension provisions
- Stronger authority’s reform and significant reduction of the number of authorities
- Required public versus private sector cost comparisons for all feasible work and freeing of governments to hire more government workers or to privately contract whichever is less costly
- Support UB 2020, in particular the Health Science Center, corporate operations centers and clean technology
Improve Democracy in Albany
- Enact term limits, establish an independent redistricting commission to make elections competitive and enact citizen initiative to put proposed laws on the ballot
- Enact campaign finance reform to reduce the power of change-averse incumbents including only allowing fund raising in home district (not Albany) before an election, no lobbyist contributions, no soft money to political party accounts and reduced, more open contributions from all sources
- Further reform of legislative operations to allow open debate and introduction of laws by independent legislative committees
- Independent Ethics Board and further lobbying reforms
Educational reform
- The improved education essential for all of our children’s participation in and contribution to our economy will come from increased parent power to choose and hold accountable with their own tax-dollars the best public, charter or private schools for their children. Our public schools must see disruptive students assigned quickly to alternative schools, an end to tenure, and end to seniority based pay and position selection.
Energy Costs
- Significant Public Service Commission (PSC) reform based on the establishment of a PSC commission to make recommendations for increased competitiveness and reduced costs
Moral
- Reduce State addiction to gambling revenues
- Reduction of irresponsible free sex message and glorified violence in our media
- Strict crime enforcement including both street crime, economy-hurting, white-collar crime and abuses of the public trust by government employees at all levels
- Crime reduction through improved, disciplined education of all our youth
- Adequate health care for all in conjunction with the Federal Government
- Support for rights of unborn children. I believe we do not have the right to stop a beating heart.
- End death penalty as we do not have the right to take a life
We, “the people” Lincoln spoke of and Ben Franklin called “the middling people” can better the future of our communities. We can live Thomas Jefferson’s words by honestly confronting our problems to make the changes necessary to improve our children’s’ future. This is the positive and essential art of politics to create a better future.
Partisan gridlock and Upstate-Downstate gridlock in Albany must give way to reform led by independent, fiscally responsible Republicans and Democrats such as former Democratic Senator Lachman from Brooklyn.