Principles
The bedrock of Western Civilization are three God-ordained institutions: The Church, The State and The Family.
The State's mission is summed up in the bible in the book of Proverbs chapter 21 and the book of Romans chapter 13. The "civil magistrate", that is, the state, or civil government, is established for our good. It should be a "Minister of Justice" and a "terror to evil doers".
Our founding fathers, while not all Christians, understood the biblical underpinning of the mission of civil government. These principles are reflected, to a large degree, in The Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution.
Most of our societal problems today can be directly attributed to the fact that we, as a nation, have let ourselves stray from the original vision of our founders. If we are truly to make America great again, we must restore the federal government to the limited role intended by our founders.
The Constitution is not some antiquated, dusty document that is no longer relevant. On the contrary, it is our roadmap to freedom and liberty! But we've gone off course. If we were using some weird version of Google Maps for history, "We've gone off the blue line of the route. We need to re-route, and get back on track."
For example, one wrong turn we took was back in 1913. Our intention was good, but the result was bad. Very bad. We amended the Constitution and removed some constraints that allowed the federal to do an Income Tax. This caused explosive growth of the government. Now, we have high taxes, high debt, and high inflation. Many of us are unemployed, undereducated and dependent on government handouts. Too many of us are addicted to opioids
But we can fix this. The Republicans now control Congress and the White House. We just need the will to not just slow the train down, but to stop it, and reverse direction.
But we need leaders in Washington who know how to use the "political Google Maps" app to get us back on the right road.
The MAGA agenda is good, but only trimming Washington down to the original constitutional constraints will secure freedom and liberty for our kids and grandkids.
I will work with The President, the Vice President and the congressional leadership to move us towards a more constitutional agenda.
Sometimes, when politicians get power, they don't want to risk losing that power. Today, the GOP must realize the precarious situation our nation is in. It will take radical surgery to fix.
Trimming the fat around the edges won't cut it. It doesn't matter if the train goes off the cliff at 55MPH or 90MPH.
That's too many analogies and mixed metaphors, but they're helpful.
Where I Stand On the Issues
It's supply and demand. If we have too much of something, it's value goes down; not enough, the value goes up.
If the Money Supply is too great, the value of each dollar goes down. This is inflation. It now costs $200 to buy what cost $100 just a few years ago.
When we printed money, during COVID and after, out of this air, and sent everyone "stimulus" checks, we dramatically increased the Money Supply which is fueling our current inflation.
Also, some industries have their own supply and demand issues. For example, Maine has higher electricity rates then just about every state. We need to produce more electricity.
I will work to restore congressional authority and management of the Money Supply, and not just get inflation under control, but eliminate it.
Out founding fathers understood economics. In fact, in the Constitution, they gave the federal government exclusive responsibility to "coin money" and even specified how, and what the value should be. It was based on the value of silver, a precious metal, with intrinsic value.
But in the early party of the 20th century, when the Democrats were being influenced by the Socialist Progressives, we passed The Federal Reserve Act, unconstitutionally delegating control of the Money Supply to a central, private bank: The Fed.
This has proven to be a disaster.
We moved from real money to fake money: from a previous metal standard to fiat paper money. Dollar bills, pieces of paper, had value because the US Treasury said they did. Before that, our notes were backed by real, valuable metals. No inflation.
We need to return to a "gold standard", close down the Fed and restore the authority to regulate our Money to Congress, as our founders told us to do in the Constitution.
And no more printing paper money and handing it out like candy to buy votes!
If we reduce energy regulation, and allow supply to go up, we could get gas prices back down to $1 per gallon. There's plenty of oil and gas in the U.S. to drill and process.
If we deployed new, safe, efficient nuclear reactors, we can produce so much electricity that the rates would drop drastically. Most households shouldn't be playing more than $50 per month for electricity.
I will work hard for our energy independence.
The President is right to use the National Guard to get crime under control in certain cities. The Democrats prove time and again their incompetence. They mean well, but fail to govern miserably. We must protect U.S. citizens at home and abroad
We are a nation of immigrants, a light shining in a hill. Come, give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses, etc.
But comply with U.S. law when you come. You can help make America even greater, but not by breaking the law to get here.
The Democrats destroyed our southern border letting thousands of illegals in. No doubt the Dems are trying to secure their votes.
No doubt many good people came into the country during this invasion, but also many criminals did as well. That didn't help our crime rates. Thanks President Biden.
I support President Trump wholeheartedly in his Immigration policy
Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms
...shall not be infringed.
It's not about hunting, or even self defense. Both of those things are important.
It's more foundational. The 2nd Amendment allows us to have a final option to "call out the militia" should the government become intolerably oppressive. Lord willing, it will never come to that. We must engage politically and in prayer, on our knees, way before we think about employing this option.
But that's why our founders added this in. Right after the First Amendment. They were right to do so.
I will rigorously oppose any legislation that infringes on this right, and work to repeal any laws that currently do.
No other technology has the potential to change our work more than AI. But the government should stay out of it's regulation. This is one area the market can best keep up with rapid changes.
Speak softly, but carry a big stick. I always liked that.
We need to prevent nuclear war. Preserve our freedom, yes, but remember, NO nuclear war. The M.A.D. doctrine worked during the Cold War, but now things are more dangerous.
President Washington warned us not to get into foreign entanglements. Good advice.
My Dad always said if you're the toughest guy on the block, most kids would not pick a fight with you. China, Russia and other potential adversaries need to know it would be a serious mistake to mess with us.
President Trump has been amazingly successful being peace to many posts of the world. I will work hard to support The President in his defense strategy.
We wouldn't need much in taxes if we we spent less.
We need to pay off the debt, and stop spending more than we take in. This can only be done by shrinking the size of the federal government.
When we do, we can eliminate the income tax and all other direct taxes on the people, and fund legitimate government functions with tariffs.
The President is on the right track here. But while tariffs can be used as bargaining chips in trade deals, they should be the primary source of income of the federal government. Before 1913, they were!
If tariffs don't quite cut it, like, for example, in a time of war, the founders planned for that. It's called an "apportionment tax". Each State writes a check towards the deficit in an amount in proportion to the states population. So if California has 10% of the population, they have to come up with 10% of the deficit. How the state raises that money is up to the individual states. California may tax Oranges; Maine might tax lobsters. But if California has 35% of the population, they need to raise 35% of the deficit. If Maine has 1% of the people, Maine raise 1% of the deficit.
The Constitution only allows the federal government to own land for the federal city and military bases.
If we sell the unconstitutionally held lands back to the states, we could pay off the federal debt in a heart beat!
State Conservationists are as good, if not better than, most National Park conservationists. So don't worry. Our National Park land will be well cared for.
But how can Utah and other federal land-intensive states afford to buy back these lands? Creative financing. Bonds and mortgages.
We MUST pay off the federal debt. It's killing us folks.
The federal government has so much debt because we, the People, have let it get out of control.
Back in 1913, the "mainstream" Democrats, threatened by an organized Progressive (socialist) wing, caved and, instead of fighting the socialists, they simply adopted the socialist platform. If you can't beat, join 'em!
But we, as a nation, made a few serious, long-lasting mistakes in 1913. We removed the shackles on the growth of the federal government the founders had put in place, which worked quite well for 126 years. Fueled by class envy, we were sold a bill of goods by the socialist Democrats.
Calling this "Progressive" is an abuse of the English language. But that's what evil doers do. They lie, cheat and steal. It's like calling homosexuals "gay", which used to mean "joyful," "carefree," "lively". To sell their special rights laws to us, they had to call themselves something other than homosexuals. "Gay" worked, and we bought it, hook, line and sinker.
In 1913, we passed the 16th and 17th amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The 16th amendment allowed Washington to levy a personal, direct, income tax on the People. Prior to that, federal revenue was mostly through tariffs. The Democrats told us only the rich would be taxed, and only at 1%.
Yeah. Right. Look what's happened over time.
The 17th amendment called for the direct election of U.S. Senators. Now this sounds good on the surface. Power to the People!
But wait. The founders designed federal representation so The House of Representatives (Congress) were elected directly by the People and represented The People, but the US Senators were elected by the State legislatures and represented The States.
The state legislators, like your local Maine House rep., whom you likely know, are very close to the People. If they want to stay in office, they had better listen to the People.
The US Senate had an incentive to keep the federal government small. If a US Senator voted for an outrageous spending bill, his constituent, the state legislature, will vote him out! In a heart beat! It was a perfect "check and balance" to prevent out-of-control federal growth, like we have experienced.
The founders also chose not to give Congress the power to tax the People directly, unless the tax was "apportioned" among the several states. Congress did this to fund the Civil War. So it does allow for direct taxation in extraordinary case such as war time.
The way an apportionment tax would work is extremely cool! Let's call it the "State Rate Tax". Say Congress passes a budget that goes beyond what we could reasonably collect in tariffs. So we take that deficit and apportion it among the states.
If California has 15% of the population, California has to come up with 15% of the deficit. If Maine has 1% of the population, Maine has to come up with 1% of the deficit. Each state decides how to raise the money. Maybe California taxes oranges. Maine might tax lobsters. Who knows? It's up to each state.
But no matter how you slice it, the state legislators DO NOT want to go back to their constituents and raise their taxes! The state legislature will only send "spendthrifts" to Washington to serve in the US Senate.
This was a very important "check" on federal power, and an attack on the constitutional power and sovereignty of the States.
While it shouldn't be a federal issue, I do oppose "transgender" folks playing in sports where they would have an unfair advantage. I oppose boys/men playing in girls/women sports.
The U.S. Constitution does not authorize any role for the federal government in education. I agree with our founders on this. They're right. They usually are.
If you're reading this, we're assuming you've already been born. So this may not apply to you. It's really for the millions of U.S. citizens murdered in their mother's wombs..
We all were, at one time, a fetus. Had we been aborted, our life would have ended, then and there. So human life clearly begins at conception. An unborn baby is a person, made in the image of God, being "knit together in their mother's womb".
One of the first duties of government is to prevent the shedding of innocent blood. To that end, the government must protect these unborn children from their confused, scared or inconvenienced mother's, and the evil Planned Parenthood butchers. Didn't compound the evil with murder. Two wrongs do not make a right.
While now it's primarily a state issue, I would support making murder by abortion a federal crime, especially when the crime was committed in those states that have refused to extend the protection of the law to those innocent children.
Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security are in grave danger from the profligate spending of the Democrats. We need to transition to private alternatives, but in a smooth, fair and equitable manner.
Protect Medicare and Social Security by breaking them out of the budget into their own, separate protected fund, with private administration, overseen by, and annually reauthorized by, Congress.
No taxpayer should be left behind!
Bill Clarke for US Senate * Tom Gould, Treasurer * 94 Plains Road * Poland * Maine * 04274 * (207) 370-2103