Practical
Platforms
Education.
EDUCATION MUST provide both the What and the How.
It is important that students learn what is considered important, but it is critical in the way they learn. Schooling has become increasingly passive and has resulted in a decline in student performance.
In my nearly 40 years in education, I am convinced that the principle of hard work and the practice of consistent labor must be welded together.
As a rural Missourian, some of my greatest moments of learning with my children were on the farm, or at the dinner table discussing employment during their formative years.
We must connect students and employers so that they can discover both:
1. Their God-given talents and gifts, and
2. Their grit.
hEALTHCARE.
Must include:
Responsibility- the care of our health
& Financial Stability- the health of our care
as we address both needs simultaneously. I believe that:
Every citizen should have access to a Health Savings Account (HSA)
and should be encouraged by employers to practice health savings both physically and financially.
I believe the tax burden on the citizenry is unsustainable, and increases in costs threaten the peaceable society within which U.S. citizens have enjoyed so much prosperity.
Measures must be taken to put both responsibility and liberty in the hands of the citizenry.
Life, Liberty, & Security.
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
-Benjamin Franklin
Franklin spoke of “safety,” but today the term “security” is everywhere in this society. We continually hear phrases such as “keeping us safe,” or “we must secure,” “school safety,” etc., and these are genuine concerns. However, the reason security is most often threatened is because we refuse to enforce laws, not just societal, but individually and within our family and community structures.
It is evident today that in order to be safe we must hesitate to even notice the tensions between our Life and Liberty, with regard to our natural, civil, political, and religious liberties and the security measures being taken within the structures of government or even “societal norms.”
Who could have imagined even a few years ago that churches and schools would be closed for months for security, or that individuals or companies could be de-banked for the greater good of society, or even to proclaim eminent domain over a family farm in the name of Utilitarianism.
Many of our current issues stem from a misunderstanding of the balance of liberty and security, and a lack of concern for maintaining God-given rights of conscience.
Energy.
The dependence on energy to live, drive, and survive is only going to become more strained with the demands of AI and the continued depletion of power generation.
Energy costs are critical to a vibrant economy and especially difficult for those on limited or fixed income constraints. Many of our issues have deep roots in the ever-increasing costs of energy.
Missouri must have a program of energy independence
in order to meet the challenges of the fast approaching future.
Various economic incentives should be considered and implemented to spur energy production as well as preservation and storage. The entire economy runs on energy.
monetary & Labor.
It is easy to think of labor as money. But in reality, labor is a measure of time, and time is a God-given commodity that is more valuable than any of us realize.
Tax policies, budgetary management, and the distribution of money in exchange for life as measured in time are silent killers of our economy and the death of the American Dream.
“America is great because America is good,”
-Alexis Tocqueville
AND YET… the pillaging of the people by a refusal to reign in budgets, and continue to manipulate values of property, wages, and currency is an overwhelming weight on the shoulders of our citizens- especially the next generations.
If we would provide for our future generations, we must begin by disciplining ourselves. Our great state may have to take steps that other states refuse to take, as well as the Federal government. Tax policy, HSA, 401k, 403B, Farm policy.
Home ownership must be examined and steps must be taken to insure the future opportunities for our citizens.