Training and Experience
Multiple years employed in small local business and large.
Volunteer/Community Service
Inside/Out Prison Education, community programs and citizen initiatives ranging from prison awareness, drug law reform and independent media.
I would not seek to impose more restrictions on voting. We have a secure system where fraud is at a negligible level. I would only seek to make all aspects of our voting systems transparent so voters feel comfortable their votes are secure, secret and counted. With the advent of technology there is more concern of fraud, so the use of technology must be accompanied by legitimate impartial and transparent human oversight.
Many Libertarians proclaim all tax is theft. But as we all have witnessed by the wrecking crew of our current Federal Executive, removal without a plan to replace in some manner is cruel and painful. We have to deal with the monster we have before we can, if possible, remove it. First and foremost, Ohio needs to address the tax system for school funding that has been ruled unconstitutional so many times the Ohio Supreme Court will no longer hear cases on it. They have done all they can and it is up to the lawmakers and citizens. Second we need a tax system that is fair, impartial and cannot be used as a political tool. A system that cannot be used by politicians to curry favor, or businesses large or small to gain unfair advantage through the legislative process.
This is not easy at the State level in a globally interconnected world. Sustainability looms large here, and with increasing polarizing spheres that is made difficult. Making sure people have the proper knowledge to best provide for themselves within their local community, to assist in their local community before going outside it. To make sure the State is not utilizing outdated means of protecting “benevolent” monopolies in utilities and other necessities of modern life. That when taxes are collected, they are used for the benefit of all in the community regardless of the amount of income they generate or tax they pay. A key component is making sure Ohio and Ohioans have productivity that the rest of the world values. Free trade is the best path to peace and improved prosperity.
Treating students like machine components where input X gets output Y is amoral. We will never know the full potential of Ohio’s children if all are mandated to achieve at the same pace, to the same learning practices as gauged by standardized bureaucratic tests. The Arts and sports are needed components, not for determining the best skilled, but for forming full humans. The State should never push for certain skills, as they will always lag behind the marketplace. The goal should be to optimize the individuals potential in their ability to learn, not dictating what they learn. But all should have a breadth of knowledge, with depth of knowledge coming later in their academic careers and as they themselves then guide it.
Politics in my time has been reduced to making the voter fearful of the choices others may make. I grew up in a time when one would hear “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”, but that has been replaced with you are wrong and a dangerous threat to me and mine. This has all been done for votes and influence and has no basis in fact. The personal choices others make that do not have immediate and foreseeable direct harm to myself or others, my property or others, whether I abhor the act or decision or love them, are not political. They should not be made political. An original slogan for our nation was “Mind your business” and we should not be so eager to rule others.
