Pat Meehan/trails

== Issues ==
Harvested from campaign site in September 2009
These are tough times for Pennsylvania families and businesses. As I travel around our state I hear the concerns average Pennsylvanians have about Washington's continuing runaway spending and mounting job losses here in our state. While families and businesses tighten their belts, the federal government continues to drive our nation deeper into debt.
Pennsylvanians are concerned that the proposals being pushed in Washington on health care, taxes, and other issues make it harder for the economy to grow, harder to create jobs, and harder to get us out of this recession. Pennsylvania needs representatives who will focus on creating new jobs and leading us through the harsh economic climate.  That’s why I am committed to bringing the values of Pennsylvania to Washington to turn things around.
I want to run a campaign focused on ideas. Please take some time to read my positions on the issues and see how you can get involved with my campaign to change Washington and get our country back on track.
=== Health Care ===
Pat Meehan believes the current health care debate in Washington must focus on two key issues: controlling health care costs and increasing accessibility to health care.  
Health care costs are skyrocketing out of control.  In many cases, those costs are being passed on to local residents in the form of changes to their health insurance plans, including higher co-pays, increased premiums, and increased prescription drug costs.  
We need a comprehensive plan that attacks waste and abuse in the health care system while reigning in overall health care costs.  As U.S. Attorney, Pat Meehan led an effort to crack down on nursing homes that failed to provide proper care to our seniors and helped hold drug companies accountable to consumers for fraud.  He will bring his experience in combating waste and abuse to the health care debate and will be a strong voice for our region.
Pat Meehan believes we can also help reduce costs through the use of new technologies that will enhance record-keeping, improve efficiencies, and reduce the potential costly and dangerous medical errors.  Cost can also be reduced by placing an increased emphasis on preventative health care and education.  By addressing potential medical issues in the early stages – or preventing them all together – we can reduce health care expenses and improve the likelihood of positive outcomes for patients.
By addressing the issue of costs, we can help make health care more accessible and affordable while preserving the quality of care that millions of Americans enjoy today.
=== Economy===
As the nation works to recover from the recession, our top economic priority must be to produce new, good paying and sustainable jobs in our region.  That means developing an economic environment that allows small businesses to grow and flourish, creating new job opportunities for local residents.  Pat Meehan believes proposals to increase taxes on small businesses are the wrong approach given our current economic situation and will hinder the ability of business owners to hire new employees.
 
Instead we must focus on providing entrepreneurs and small business owners with the tools they need to succeed.  On the federal level, we should be doing more to free small businesses of overly burdensome regulations that restricts innovation and growth and a tax structure that punishes entrepreneurs rather than rewards them for creating jobs.
Pat Meehan supports increased investment in our region’s infrastructure, including highways and mass transit, as well as our aging water and sewer systems.  This infrastructure investment will help to create immediate jobs, while also improving the quality of life for local residents and the ability of our region to attract new employers.
And perhaps most importantly, Pat Meehan believes that our economic future depends on the education of our young people.  Schools need our help to freely focus on educating students in math and science to make them competitive in the job market.
=== Fiscal Responsibility and Taxes ===
Pat Meehan will be a voice for fiscal responsibility in Washington, DC and will fight any effort to increase taxes on the middle class.
While he is steadfastly opposed to any form of income tax increase on the middle-class, Pat Meehan is equally concerned by the potential for Congress to impose new stealth or hidden taxes that will be passed on to working families.
In particular, he will fight proposals currently being discussed in Washington to create a new Value Added Tax, essentially a national sales tax, on goods and products.  While the tax will be imposed on manufacturers and businesses, it will ultimately be consumers who pay the tax in the form of higher prices for products and services they purchase every day.
In the current economy, many families are being forced to do more with less.  They are cutting their household budgets and making tough financial decisions.  Now is not the time for Congress or the White House to be talking about potential tax increases – direct or hidden -- on the middle-class.
Congress and the Administration must do more to eliminate waste and abuse in the federal government. As U.S. Attorney, Pat Meehanpersonally fought and prosecuted cases involving waste and abuse by public officials.  He will carry that fight to Congress, working to hold bureaucrats accountable for their actions and to eliminate wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars. Pat Meehan will be a fiscal watchdog in Congress and will fight to crack down on waste and abuse through reform and increased accountability.
Category:Planks