Tax and Spending
The out of control spending in Washington is disastrous. Our deficit is climbing to nearly $14 trillion with no end in sight, and it’s because of boondoggles like the $787 billion on a stimulus plan that didn’t stimulate the economy.

America’s corporate tax rate is higher than even socialist welfare states like France and Sweden, and competitor nations like Germany and Russia are lowering corporate tax rates.  We need to fix the AMT, end the death tax, and offer more tax credits for research and development to help get our economy going again.

We also need to protect the tax cuts from early last decade otherwise we will face new income tax burdens like these by 2011:

35% bracket will increase to 39.6%
33% bracket will increase to 36%
28% bracket will increase to 31%
25% bracket will increase to 28%
10% bracket will increase to 15%

Essentially we need permanent tax relief!

Family Values
I believe that the institution of marriage applies to a man and a woman.

Border Security
As the son of legal immigrants, I believe the flow of illegal immigration must be stopped. I support increased funding to protect the southern border of our state and country; plus we need physical and electronic technology, increased personnel and other assets to stop the "at will" penetration of our border. The escalation of the accompanying drug trade must also be aggressively fought. Cooperation between federal, state, and local law enforcement must be implemented.

Healthcare
As a physician, I know that sound healthcare policy must first and foremost recognize the fundamental relationship between a doctor and patient. I oppose the interference of any third party, whether the government or insurance companies, that adversely affects this interaction. Now that a trillion dollar healthcare “reform” bill has been passed, it is of paramount importance that its implementation occurs with the involvement of doctors, rather than by bureaucrats alone.

I continue to support the concept of Health Savings Accounts to allow patients greater involvement in and responsibility for their own care. With the assistance of their doctor, an informed patient will make a clinically effective and financially optimal choice.

Without comprehensive restructuring of our medicolegal system, any healthcare reform will have limited impact on the practice of so called “defensive” medicine and its associated cost.

Education
I fully support Impact Aid funding for our schools. Many local school districts across the United States include within their boundaries parcels of land that are owned by the Federal Government or that have been removed from the local tax rolls by the Federal Government, including Indian lands. These school districts face special challenges — they must provide a quality education to the children living on the Indian and other Federal lands and meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, while sometimes operating with less local revenue than is available to other school districts, because the Federal property is exempt from local property taxes.

The Johnson O’Malley Program is a BIA-funded supplemental education program designed to meet the specialized needs of Native American students attending public schools. This includes remedial instruction, Native American culture and history, provision of supplies and eyeglasses and programs designed to encourage children to remain in school. I fully support protecting this vital program for Native American youths.

Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000 was enacted to provide transitional assistance to rural counties affected by the decline in revenue from timber harvests in federal lands. Traditionally, these counties relied on a share of receipts from timber harvests to supplement local funding for school systems and roads. As your Congressman I will continue to work to protect SRS.

Environment:
While Congress has finally put the resources in place through the Healthy Forests Restoration Act there remains much to do. We must encourage a sustainable and ecologically sensible timber philosophy. Because there is no way the Federal government can ever thin enough acres to do the job, we need private industry to provide this critical function. An additional benefit to a revived timber industry are the spin offs including biomass plants and wood pellet operations.

On renewable energy there is a world leader in power production located in Flagstaff, called Southwest Windpower.  Their technology can be used across rural America to provide affordable energy for local consumers.  It can also be used effectively in underserved areas like the Navajo Nation, where a pilot project is now underway.  In order to make this more affordable we need significant tax credits so that more people, especially rural Arizonans can afford them.