My Political Views are better than yours.

I am right. Please review these issues and respond. I. LEGISLATION: I will fight hard to fund education properly. Our schools are overcrowded, our teachers are underpaid, and new technology is often unavailable due to lack of funds. Education affects every aspect of our society, from crime and unemployment to welfare and our economy. Better education will make a difference in all these areas. How can we expect our children to take education seriously, when our state Legislature doesn’t? II. TAXES: We need to take a serious look at our current tax structure and make sure it is going to be adequate for our future needs. We need to provide future incentives for small business and make sure West Virginia is tax friendly for new industry. III. FISCAL PRIORITIES: We should be able to fund education and other state services by making state agencies more accountable and creating public-private partnerships to save much-needed funds. If this can be done effectively, then there won't be a need for new taxes. IV. SCHOOLS: I don't support vouchers or anything else that takes desperately needed funds out of our state education system. If our legislators had not allowed the state education system to get into the state of disrepair that it is in today, people wouldn't feel the need to enroll their children in private schools. I believe in public education and I attended public schools all my life. We need to make our public schools somewhere that parents will be proud to send our children. V. BUDGET PRIORITIES: Our No. 1 budget priority should be education. Even with the recent funds put into education the past legislative season, we are still far below the levels prior to the lottery as a percent of general revenue funds. With the number of new students entering the system, we are barely even keeping up. I feel that we should continue to look for ways to cut the bureaucracy of state government and try to bring more control to the local level. These cuts could be done in most areas of government without services to the taxpayer being affected. VI. TOBACCO LITIGATION: The state has the right to sue the tobacco companies just like anyone else who has suffered losses due to a defective product. If the product was a defective toy that was killing or injuring children, you can bet, and rightfully so, that the manufacturer would be getting sued. In this case the product is cigarettes. The state has suffered losses because of smoking-related illnesses to people on Medicare and Medicaid and has been picking up the tab. VII. SPECIAL INTERESTS: I don't have a problem with special interests influencing the Legislature as long as those groups are West Virginian-based and made up of West Virginia citizens. It's the groups outside of our state that should be limited to the amount of influence that they have on our Legislature. I give state-based groups more credit for being involved with our political system than people who don't even bother to vote or participate in the system. One area where I do feel that this influence is inappropriate is when industries donate to lawmakers' campaigns when that lawmaker sits on the committee that is supposed to regulate their industry. This should not be allowed. VIII. ABORTION: I am committed to allowing people in the state to choose their own ways of dealing with their personal issues. I am Pro-Choice, because someone has a constitutional right to something if they choose. I am for the government getting out of the citizen’s lives and doing what they are intended to. IX. SAME-SEX MARRIAGE: As my religion teaches me, Reform Judaism promotes equality in life, liberties, and marriage. People should be given the right to marry freely in their own privacy and comfort. I ask for a strong PRO vote today!