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A Balanced Budget Amendment

I support a Balanced Budget Amendment in the interests of the nation's fiscal and economic health. Any short-term stimulative benefits gained by deficit spending are far outweighed by the long-term damage that spending inflicts on the economy. It's time to stop spending our children's inheritance and secure our nation's fiscal health for future generations.

Thirty Over Thirty Tax Plan

I support the elimination of federal taxes on annual income below $30,000, and a flat tax of 30% on annual income above $30,000 (e.g., under such a plan, a citizen earning $31,000 annually would pay $300 in federal income tax). Such a tax plan would simplify the tax code (click on the link to the IRS tax schedules below), eliminate the marriage penalty, eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, and, in combination with the carbon revenue enhancement below, provide sensible tax incentives.

IRS 2006 Tax Schedules

Carb Balancing

I support a federal revenue measure based on the carbon content of fossil fuels as they are extracted from the ground or imported into the United States. Such a measure would balance the budget, reduce our nation's dangerous dependence on foreign oil, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Exemptions from this measure should be considered for clean coal and similar technologies which eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.

(Full disclosure: my hometown of Odessa, TX is one of four finalists for siting of the clean coal FutureGen project.)

Entitlement Tithe Pool

I support the replacement of Medicare and Social Security taxes (which eat away as much as 18.2% of a self-employed worker's income) with an Entitlement Tithe Pool created out of less than 10% on all corporate and individual earnings. This system, based on principles in Christian and other religious traditions, would pool such revenues collected during each federal fiscal year (October 1st - September 30th) and distribute those revenues the following calendar year (January 1st - December 31st) in the form of payments to private health care providers for universal health care for all American citizens, and in the form of social security payments. Access to the world's best health care system would be guaranteed for all, and the remaining balance of revenues would provide an annual guarantee of social security to all citizens who qualify.

Government Page on Social Security Tax Rates

Calorie Tax

I support a tax of one-tenth of one penny on every calorie consumed in the United States. Such a revenue measure would be easily administered (calories are already listed on all food wrappers), would be fair to the poor when coupled with my Thirty Over Thirty tax plan and the fact that food stamps wouldn't be taxed, would combat the epidemic of obesity in this country, and would help balance the budget while paying for universal health care for a slimmer America.

Kill the Corporate Dividend Tax

To increase 401(k) and other stock investments, I support a full tax deduction for corporations on the dividend payments they make to shareholders (just as interest payments on corporate bonds are tax-deductible for corporations). Such a deduction would encourage a shift to stock valuations based on dividend payments (vs. more ephemeral criteria like the late Enron Corporation's) and thus do more to prevent the next Enron than the burdensome compliance requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Wharton School of Business page on "Killing the Corporate Dividend Tax"

The Minimum Wage

While I supported the State of Colorado's increase of the minimum wage to $6.85 per hour, I do not support a substantial increase in the federal minimum wage. I believe minimum wages belong firmly in the realm of states' and even municipal rights (a $9.50/hour dishwasher in Santa Fe, New Mexico is barely getting by; a $9.50/hour dishwasher in my ancestral hometown of Marblemount, Washington is unemployed). There are many arguments to be made against a federal minimum wage, among them the wide variation in the minimum wages that states set for their own workers:

and the clear correlation between the minimum wage and unemployment among teenagers and/or those without a high school diploma:

My first job (at McDonald's) was for the 1989 minimum wage of $3.85; my second job (at a Burger King closer to home) was for $4.00 ($5.95 in 2005 dollars), the extra 15 cents an incentive for someone willing to show up at 5:30 a.m. to help open the restaurant. The market worked in my case, but, in acknowledgement of the non-theoretical reality that entry-level workers' knowledge of the market for their skills is not always perfect, I support the increase of the federal minimum wage to $6.00/hour with annual increases tied to the Consumer Price Index.

Reduce the Interest Rates on Student Loans

A good deal of my degree from NYU was paid for with student loans, and I was lucky to have been able to pay off much of my loans when interest rates were kept low. I can't think of a more constructive program than federally guaranteed student loans, and believe that the federal government should do whatever necessary to keep interest rates on these loans low.

Secure the Borders, and Let Immigrants Work

In the Age of Terrorism, to say that we cannot secure any one of our borders is a dangerous sort of defeatism. I support appropriations for the U.S.-Mexico border fence approved by Congress and the President. I do not support rewarding the act of illegal entry into this country with citizenship, but I do support allowing those undocumented workers who are already in this country to continue to work and thus help the American economy continue its expansion.

Make Other Countries Put a Price on Free Trade

On the theory that many good ideas need to be modified to be made acceptable, I propose that free trade partners be asked to put a price on free trade agreements, in the form of a percentage of the resulting increase in their Gross Domestic Product. Such revenues could be used to re-educate and re-train American workers who have lost their jobs to foreign competition. In any event, free trade agreements should be seen as opportunities to extend labor and environmental protections to developing nations.

Create Citizen Soldiers

To ease the strains imposed on the United States military by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without resorting to a draft, and to better prepare the country for inevitable future conflicts, I support allowing the US armed forces to offer eventual citizenship as an enticement to foreign recruits. A major milestone in the decline of the Roman Empire was the offer of financial incentives to the Praetorian Guard, and the United States military is trending towards dangerous territory with its dramatic increases in enlistment bonuses and other measures to attract recruits. Another milestone in the decline of Rome was the induction of intact foreign units into the Roman army, which is why I believe the United States' recruitment of foreign soldiers should be limited to no more than 10% of the current active duty military and should be drawn from many different countries and regions. In an age when hearts and minds need to be won in addition to battlefields, carefully screened foreign recruits would be valuable additions as translators and other specialized soldiers.

Not all is lost in Iraq, even if Iraq itself is

I supported the removal of a totalitarian dictatorship that had invaded neighboring Kuwait, attempted to assassinate a former US President, and displayed an unhealthy interest in weapons of mass destruction (when the words "mass" and "destruction" appear alongside one another, it is generally a good idea to err on the side of caution).

I do not support incompetence. The problems in Iraq did not begin with Donald Rumsfeld; the problems began with an entrenched two-party system which rewards ideology (an adherence to fixed ideas which sometimes translates into an obstinate "Stay the Course" mentality) and does not necessarily reward competence (if John McCain had been allowed to become President, we most likely would not be where we are today).

Iraq as an entity was first proposed in 1919 ("for administrative purposes") by an obscure British bureaucrat named Arnold Wilson (the real purpose? One word: "Oil."). Instead of presiding over a nation which is fracturing, sliding into civil war, and threatening to draw its neighbors into a regional conflagration, the United States should face reality and preside over a peaceful partition of Wilson's artificial creation.

The current Shia-dominated government has displayed little interest in taking concrete steps (like community investment) in winning over its Sunni minority, is unwilling or unable to disarm the militias which are tearing the country apart, and has resorted to parliamentary shenanigans to push forward autonomy (read "eventual independence") for the oil-rich Shiite region of Iraq.

The de facto independent nation of Kurdistan in Iraq's north should be recognized as such by the United States, but the Kurds should be warned that a union of Turkey's Kurdish minority with Kurdistan will not be supported (I once said in a blog entry that the United States should support such a union; now things are complicated enough as it is). Kurdistan, which is a strong supporter of the United States, would make an ideal base for a large American military presence to project power throughout the region (ie, protect the former Iraq from the depredations of Iran and Syria).

The Shiite southeast of Iraq should be allowed to continue on as a smaller Iraq, but continued financial assistance for the Shias should be contingent upon their cooperation in the re-drawing of Iraq's western borders. The Sunni region of Iraq is resource-poor and unviable as a state; as a Congressman I would introduce a bill suggesting that it be put to the inhabitants of the Sunni region of Iraq if they wish to be joined with Jordan or Saudi Arabia.

Iran and North Korea

The United States currently lacks the political and diplomatic means necessary to remove the rogue regimes of Iran and North Korea. The U.S. should therefore accept the reality of these and other nuclear-armed states which can never be 100% isolated and instead focus on improving border security, port security, and missile defense.

The Right to Protection from Government Intrusion

The National Security Agency's Terrorist Surveillance Program, under which the NSA continues to monitor phone calls between parties in the United States and foreign countries without warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, either in advance or retroactively, and the NSA's call database, which contains records of trillions of phone calls made by Americans (again without warrants from the FISC), are both in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. I support close monitoring of suspected terrorists, as long as that monitoring is within our government's system of checks and balances, the "check" in this case being a panel of judges. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was brought into the Age of Terrorism by the USA Patriot Act and the "Lone Wolf" Amendment; the law is clear on surveillance by the government and the government should stay within the law: if the current administration had done so, its surveillance programs would not be in the realm of public discourse and the advantage of secrecy would not be lost.

The Rights of Detainees

Whenever human beings are detained in and/or transported from Iraq, Afghanistan, or elsewhere by the US military, panels of military judges should quickly determine which detainees are innocent civilians and which are enemy combatants; the civilians should be speedily released and the enemy combatants should then be treated according to the Geneva Conventions. Fraser, Colorado and other American communities were sites of POW camps for German soldiers who were treated according to the Geneva Conventions even after war crimes were committed against American soldiers in Normandy and even after the horrors of the Holocaust came to light. The war on extremism is a war for hearts and minds, and the evil of our enemies is no excuse to sacrifice the principles of our civilization.

The Death Penalty

I support the death penalty.

Church and State

I believe in the separation of Church and State, and while I support statements of faith in God in the Pledge of Allegiance and elsewhere, I do not support express advocation of religion in public schools and other public institutions.

Stem Cell Research

I support embryonic stem cell research. Current stem cell technology involves the destruction of a mass of approximately 100 cells (a mass smaller than the head of a pin); the technology has the potential to treat brain damage, spinal cord injuries, muscle damage, heart damage, low blood supply, blindness, deafness, Lou Gehrig's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, genetic diseases, and a host of other conditions. In effect, embryonic stem cell research could revolutionize medicine and thus the human condition in ways we cannot begin to imagine.

The Right to Choose

I support a woman's right to choose whether to terminate a pregnancy in the first two trimesters; I do not support late-term abortion.

Civil Unions

I support civil unions which will grant the basic benefits of partnership to same-sex couples.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Harass, Don't Pursue

Donning the uniform of a United States armed servicemember is more than just putting on a set of clothing; it's agreeing to abide by a set of rules and regulations not all soldiers might agree with but all soldiers need to maintain the US military's cohesion. I support the current policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" regarding homosexuals in the military; I also support enforcement of the "Don't Harass, Don't Pursue" policy: just as the military has better things to do than bend over backwards to accomodate the individuality of its members, the military has better things to do than hunt down homosexuals who agree to be discrete about their sexuality.

The Right to Die

I do not support legalization of the right to die. The ending of innocent human life should be left outside the sanction of the law.

The Second Amendment

I support the right to bear arms enshrined in the Constitution.

Economic-based Affirmative Action

I support affirmative action based on economics and not on ethnicity. Many (but certainly not all) of the effects of discrimination are economic in nature, and affirmative action policies that, for example, give added weight to applicants in the university admissions process based on the low income level of the applicant's family, will help ameliorate the effects of ethnic discrimination and at the same time give earned opportunities to those from white and poor backgrounds.

No Child Left Behind

I support the No Child Left Behind Act, but believe it should be fully funded up to the authorized levels (for example, the current administration requested only $13 billion of an authorized $22 billion in 2006; that $9 billion shortfall is equal to about six weeks' worth of funding the war in Iraq).

I also believe NCLB should be enhanced with the option of school vouchers for students stuck in under-performing schools (in addition to the option of enrollment in another public school). School voucher programs often lead to substantial amounts of public money being funneled into religious schools, muddling the separation between church and state, but often parents' only intent is the best education for their children and the benefits of maximum school choice are well worth it.

Citizenship at Sixteen

Current laws prohibit Americans from voting before the age of eighteen, but allow anyone under eighteen to contribute to federal campaigns. Does this make sense? Not to me.

To bring youth into an aging voting population and to reconcile campaign finance laws with voting laws, I support the lowering of the voting age to 16, and the raising of the campaign contribution age to 16 (in case you were wondering, my latter position is supported by no less than the Federal Election Commission (The FEC on Implementing and Enforcing Federal Campaign Finance Law)). Those who are allowed to work and drive should be allowed to fully participate in their America by voting for the candidates of their choice and contributing to their campaigns.

Preserve Net Neutrality

I support federal legislation to ensure continued Net Neutrality (which in this context is essentially the right of all Internet content providers for the same access to Internet capacity from cable and telecom companies). Start-up operations should not have to pay prohibitively expensive fees to ensure that their content is pulled up on screen just as quickly as, say, a MySpace page (full disclosure: I'm the sole propietor of WRHAMMONS.COM). One of the beauties of the Internet is its continual evolution without higher authority, but preservation of Net Neutrality is one of those instances where government intervention is essential to the continued health of society.

Online Gambling

I oppose the legalization of online gambling, and applaud the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. It is inevitable that online gamblers will find ways around this new law, just as drug users have always found ways around laws prohibiting drug use. But, just as illegal drugs are outlawed for the very good reason that they are too destructive to be sanctioned, online gambling is too pernicious and destructive to receive a stamp of approval by the federal government.

Judges, not Gerrymandering

The current practice used by many state legislatures of drawing legislative districts along partisan lines is insidious and destructive, unfairly favoring incumbents and discouraging political competition which could lead to real and regular reform. In light of the fact that each and every member of Congress writes and votes on legislation which affects all Americans, I support outlawing the gerrymandering of congressional districts, and support the drawing of the same districts by panels of retired local judges appointed on a state-by-state basis every ten years by the United States Supreme Court. The judges should be given explicit instructions to create districts evenly divided in terms of ethnicity, gender, income, and other factors which affect voting patterns.

Flag Burning Amendment

I oppose an Amendment to the Constitution to ban the burning of the American flag. Hundreds of thousands of American soldiers have given their lives for a set of freedoms which includes the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment of that same Constitution.

The Rocky Flats Cold War Museum

I support federal funding for the Rocky Flats Cold War Museum. Such a museum, the land for which has already been donated pending funding for design and construction, could not only highlight the prominent role the Rocky Flats plant and its workers played in the production of America's nuclear arsenal during the Cold War, but also highlight the dangers of nuclear technology, from the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the cleanup of contamination at Rocky Flats half a century later.

I-70 Corridor Mass Transit Funding

I support federal funding for a mass transit system running along the I-70 corridor from Denver International Airport through Eagle County. More and more Americans are using this congested stretch of I-70 running through the heart of the country, and it's imperative to deal with a looming crisis in an environmentally friendly way.

Spaceport on Colorado's Western Slope

I support federal funding for a study on the feasibility of constructing a National Spaceport on Colorado's Western Slope (perhaps named after Senator John Glenn) to jump-start the new space industry (yes, there's a lot of mountains and snow on the Western Slope, but, for that very reason, there are also a lot less people on the ground than along the Front Range). Four advantages north central Colorado has over the State of New Mexico and its private spaceport being built by Virgin Galactic near the town of Truth or Consequences: location, location, location, and location. An extra mile in elevation at your starting point over and over again adds up, north central Colorado is 500 miles further from an international border, north central Colorado is 500 miles closer to the major transportation hub of DIA, and Colorado is home to the Air Force Space Command and several other defense institutions.

Federal Term Limits

I believe that many of the problems in Congress today are a result of good people spending too much time doing one thing and doing it away from their traditional roots. I support an Amendment to the Constitution to limit US Representatives to four terms in the House, and to limit US Senators to two terms in the Senate. If elected to the US House in 2008, I pledge to voluntarily vacate my seat after four terms.

On my iTunes list:

Aerosmith, Beastie Boys, Boston, Jimmy Buffet, Glen Campbell, Tracy Chapman, Elvis Costello, Neil Diamond, Sherman Ewing ("undiscovered" friend of mine from my Manhattan days), Green Day, Guns n Roses, Jay-Z, Billy Joel, Janis Joplin, the Killers, Lemonheads, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Roy Orbison, the Outfield, OutKast, Ozzy, Phantom of the Opera, the Pixies, Poison, Queen, the Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M., Rolling Stones, Scorpions, The Shins, Smashing Pumpkins, Sponge, Bruce Springsteen, The Strokes, System of a Down, U2, Violent Femmes, The White Stripes, The Who, John Williams

"Old School"..."Running on the Sun"..."Saint Ralph"..."The Usual Suspects" (which is one of the usual suspects itself I suppose)..."Reefer Madness" (camp classic)..."Million Dollar Baby"..."Rudy" (yes, more than one person has remarked that I look and act like the leading actor)..."The Breakfast Club"..."E.T."..."Star Trek" II, IV, etc. (it's true that the evens are the better ones - and no, I do not speak Klingon nor do I have any ambitions to speak anything other than the Queen's English and maybe the King's Spanish)...the Mel Gibson "Shakespeare" (he was a classically trained actor before "Lethal Weapon")..."A Beautiful Mind"..."One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"..."Dead Poets Society"..."Little Man Tate"..."Collateral"..."Hoosiers"..."Friday Night Lights" (that was my high school - yes, they nailed it)..."Seabiscuit"..."Good Will Hunting"..."Schindler's List"..."Stalingrad"..."The Shawshank Redemption" will always be a true classic..."Match Point"..."Pride and Prejudice" (really)..."Stranger Than Fiction"..."The Departed"..."Man of the Year"...

The evening news every night (though I watch that via webcast now, so maybe it doesn't count)...Sunday morning talk shows if I'm not out running...Football in season (Go Buffs/Dallas Cowboys!)...the better episodes of "The Simpsons"..."Band of Brothers" is the best miniseries ever...Watching all of the following through Netflix: "Lost"..."The Dead Zone"..."Entourage"..."Rome"...

Sitting on the right half of my living room bookcase (i.e., the books that I've actually read):

"I Am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe..."Europe's Last Summer" by David Fromkin..."Paris 1919" by Margaret MacMillan..."Primary Colors" by Anonymous (later outed as Joe Klein, formerly of Newsweek and now of Time)..."The Plot Against America" by Philip Roth..."On Writing" by Stephen King..."The Great Influenza" by John Barry..."A History of Warfare" by John Keegan..."The Competitive Runner's Handbook" by Bob Glover (highly recommended)..."A Peace to End All Peace" by David Fromkin (again)..."Theodore Rex" by Edmund Morris..."Robert Kennedy: His Life" by Evan Thomas..."Timeline" by Michael Crichton..."Boxers for Dummies" (ie, Boxer the breed of dog)..."Meditation for Dummies"..."The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris (Bio vol. no. 1)..."The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James..."War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy..."Rabbit, Run" by John Updike..."How to Buy Stocks, Eighth Edition"..."Winesburg, Ohio" by Sherwood Anderson..."The Sermon on the Mount" by Emmet Fox..."Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis..."Only Yesterday" by Frederick Lewis Allen..."Krakatoa" by Simon Winchester

None...we're all mortals