Strengthen our economy

Hard work is the foundation of our society. Unfortunately many South Carolinians do not have the ability to work hard because our economy is too weak to maintain job growth and recruit high paying jobs. Economic development and job creation hinges on our ability to slash taxes, support education, and fight illegal immigration.

SLASH TAXES

We must take the tax burden off South Carolina’s working families. Putting money back in taxpayers’ pockets energizes our economy and strengthens business. As your State Senator, I will push to lower the income tax on individuals and private businesses in South Carolina. Doing so will spur small business development, the backbone of our economy, and create more jobs.

CONCENTRATE ON EDUCATION

Some experts will tell you that we have one of the worst education systems in the nation because our test scores are lower than nearly every other state. Other experts will tell you that we have one of the best education systems because we have more stringent standards and most public schools are consistently improving. Regardless of which “experts” are right, we can all agree that South Carolina will only prosper when our children succeed. Currently 85% of South Carolina’s students are educated by South Carolina’s public education system. That’s why we must concentrate on supporting and advancing our public schools.

I believe that public schools succeed when money is spent on actually educating our children. That means getting money out of bureaucracy and into the classroom. As your State Senator, I will demand that money be used more effectively and efficiently and I will hold our education department accountable for every dollar spent. I will work to get money out of administration and into the classroom to hire more teachers and decrease teacher/student ratios.

We all know that there is a direct link between education and the economy. While we try to compete in a new global economy, we must have an exceptional work force ready to meet the new demands of growing technologies. I will work to implement more workforce training programs in our K-12 schools. I will also work to get more community involvement and public/private partnerships in Aiken, Edgefield, McCormick, and Saluda public schools. Having a prepared workforce will help recruit new employers to our area, increasing everyone’s quality of life.

FIGHT ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Many immigrants come to our nation every year looking for a better way of life. It’s the principle on which our nation was founded and one I support whole-heartedly. Unfortunately, many immigrants cross our borders illegally which harms our economy. They take advantage of our health care, education, welfare, and retirement systems all on the back of hard-working taxpayers. They also put unknowing business owners in danger. That’s not right.

Because Congress has failed to secure our borders and South Carolina has some of the weakest immigration laws in the Southeast, illegal immigrants are flooding across our state borders. As your State Senator, I will work to enforce and strengthen our current laws. First, we need to allow the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to work with federal officials to investigate and arrest illegal immigrants in the state. Second, we must make it a felony to knowingly harbor or transport illegal immigrants.

Third, we must require companies doing business with state and local governments to verify their employee’s legal status. Many illegal immigrants use false identification to get jobs and we cannot expect every business to have the means to differentiate between legitimate and false documentation. That’s why we must increase penalties on identity theft.

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