Elect Martin Lucas for Congress Email: info@votelucas.com
On May 7th - Republican Primary - VOTE LUCAS
Thoughts and Issues
National Debt
At the end of 2023, the United States federal debt was estimated at $33 trillion. To put this in perspective, 33 trillion seconds is more than 1,045,728 YEARS!!!! To make matters worse, this number is getting larger and larger each passing day.
Fiscal Conservative - Oppose Baseline Budgeting
Baseline budgeting increases spending and taxes. It allows politicians to present a false scenario that they are not increasing spending. "For example, if an agency's budget is projected to grow by $100 million, but only grows by $75 million, according to baseline budgeting, that agency sustained a $25 million cut. This is analogous to a person who expects to gain 100 pounds only gaining 75 pound, and taking credit for losing 25 pounds. The federal government is the only place this absurd logic is employed. Eliminating the inflated baseline budgeting will force Congress to justify and account for increased spending instead of hiding behind automatic increases."
Above quote from Citizens Against Government Waste
Ethics
"We need to eliminate waste, fraud, patronage, nepotism, cronyism, bureaucratic bloat, inside deals, conflicts of interest and pay-to-play and on and on. We must demand a government that serves the public first, not the powerful and connected."
Above quote from Andy Shaw - President & CEO of the Better Government Association.
Term Limits and Lobbyists
The political landscape is about money. The politician needs money to get re-elected. It has nothing to do about leading the country with ideas. Politicians spend millions on political consultants. Put the right image on the screen and the right words in the script, all the candidates has to do is read the lines. Do not blame the lobbyists and political action committees, but rather the self-serving career politician. Money provides access. Access is power. Access is clout. The career politician leaves Washington and becomes a lobbyist. The same people and families play the money game. Where is the incentive? Are you concerned about the welfare of your county or simply staying in power for personal financial gains? Term limits and a lifetime ban on the politician and their entire family from becoming lobbyists are two ways to correct this problem.
No Pensions for Politicians
I work for IBM. In 2004, due to high cost, IBM ended their pension. The national debt is over $33 trillion. The government needs to reduce spending.
Education
Most people attend school hoping to obtain a good job upon graduation. Businesses and education institutions should form more partnerships where specific education training matches the skills lacking and needed for businesses to excel in today’s global economy. We need more engineers, scientists and vocational career trades people. We need more efficient methods to produce more sources of energy that will continue to sustain and improve our lifestyles.
From a K-12 level, we should provide vouchers to all who need them. We need to create charter schools to provide competitive alternatives and improve education. Focus at the local level rather than a top down approach with the student and families being the central focus.
Racial Injustice
If you go back in our nation’s history from slavery, crop duster, Jim Crow, denial of social upward mobility, red lining, denial of bank loans and home ownership, then you need to really admire how any black person has gotten ahead in this country.
Let me tell two stories. The first story describes certain neighborhoods in this country that can best be described as war zones. I think every American should take a weekend vacation to these neighborhoods. Pack up a picnic basket, bring a kite and bicycles along with your 16-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son and experience life in the ghetto. Everybody is saying, “Are you crazy? I would not step foot in those neighborhoods.” I do not blame you, however, you must remember that people actually live there and have 16-year-old daughters and 13-year-old sons. How can our country be so indifferent? Why do we allow these neighborhoods to exist? Where is the compassion for improvement and assistance?
The second story is pretending that two babies are being born at the exact same moment right now. The first baby has two parents that are both 28-years old and have been married for three years. It is their first child. The father is a manager at a Fortune 500 company. The wife is a schoolteacher. She has decided to quit her job for the first few years to raise the baby. The second baby has a mother who is 23 years old. This is her third child. She has never been married. Each child has a different father. None of the men provide any support to the woman or the children. All three men and the woman have drug problems and have been in and out of jail. Now with just those facts, which child do you think will be better off social-economically in twenty years? Wait, I forgot two facts. The married couple is black. The drug users and jail people are all white. Now that race has entered the picture, does your answer change?
Wall Street
I am a strong supporter of capitalism, however, here is a problem I have with Wall Street. A company has two choices. The first is building a new plant, hiring more workers, spending more money on research and development, and giving pay raises. The second is to take that money and buy back their own company shares. Wall Street punishes the stock price for first choice while rewarding the second choice. The first is much better for the long-term success of this country. The second is a mere paper transaction.
Pro-Life
I am against abortion. An unborn child has an individual right to life that should not be infringed upon by others. The only exceptions would be rape, incest and if the mother's life is in danger.
Family Values
The nation is as strong as the family unit. If a child is raised in a loving environment where love, respect, hard work, dedication and the importance of education is stressed, this is more valuable than any amount of government assistance money.
Right to Work
Workers should be free to join a union if they want to, but no one should be forced to join. I am opposed to forced unionism. No American should be forced to pay a union boss just to get or keep a job.
Second Amendment
I believe in the Constitution and an individual's right to keep and bear arms.
Teaching of American History
When it comes to teaching American history, you must think in terms of content and perspective. There needs to be some regulation to provide a common, standardize, factual content. For example, the United States has been involved in the American Revolution, Civil War, World War I, World War II, Viet Nam, etc. We need to provide the historical facts such as dates, events and the countries participating in the war.
We must also teach history from an American perspective. This would include the reasons we entered the war and our actions taken during the war. We need to present a balanced perspective and indicate the views that related during that specific time period. We do not want to change the past. We need to learn from the past and not repeat previous mistakes. Regardless of the good and bad that resulted from the various wars, we need to stress the American perspective that brave individuals fought and many gave their lives for American democracy and freedom.
I would also favor courses about life in countries outside of the United States. You could compare and contrast the social, economic and political landscape of various countries with the United States. This would emphasize many aspects Americans take for granted. This would include the high standard of living, religious freedom, freedom of speech and the many other benefits that truly reflect how fortunate it is to be an American.
Transgender Athletes
I totally oppose transgender athletes competing in female sports. For my first argument, I would tell the following story. My best friend is involved in a serious car accident and needs a blood transfusion. He is my best friend and I would do anything to help him. I volunteer to donate my blood because this is what I want to do above anything else in the world. The problem is I have type A blood. My best friend has type B blood. Science will not allow the transfusion of type A blood with type B blood. The same applies to transgenders in sports. If a blood test shows you are a male, then you compete in male sports.
For my second argument, this is the 2022 woman's NCAA swimming national champion. The girl that finished in second place trained numerous years to become the best woman swimmer. Unfortunately, the winner was a transgender biological male. A picture is worth a thousand words.
.
