Economy & Fiscal Responsibility

Americans are optimistic, but broke.  We are nine trillion dollars in debt and the figure just keeps rising.  With its relatively small population and abundant natural resources, Alaska is one of the few governments in the world with a yearly budget surplus, and money in the bank instead of mounting debt.  As an Alaskan, I am proud to be socially liberal, but fiscally conservative.

Alaska is uniquely poised to advance its relatively stable economy with sound and innovative business development.  By planning now for transportation, procurement and industry opportunities that a northern sea passage is sure to provide, we can secure a solid economic future.  Value-added industries and green technology can be federally encouraged, and will add to our business future and economic security.

I am a firm believer that wasteful spending is not a partisan issue. Our federal government was set up to provide for not only the protections of its citizens, but also to facilitate effective interstate commerce and that includes such infrastructure as roads, ports and canals.   

Yet in the last several decades, things have somehow gotten away from us.  We have mounting inflation; the dollar continues to slide against every major world currency; we are either in the midst of a recession or on our way depending on one’s definition of the word.  As one presidential candidate said, we borrow from the Chinese to go fight in Iraq.  We can’t afford many of our policies, yet every year Congress and the President pass ever-larger federal budgets.  As an Alaskan who has had to fight for every nickel and dime I earned, who has had to change blown out tires in sub-sub-freezing weather to earn my daily bread, I am ready to say that the buck stops here.   

I believe the way to fight our ballooning budget is to start with accountability and good-ol’ American thrift.  As your Congresswoman, I will do everything possible to eliminate fat from the federal budget, freeing up more money for vital programs.  I pledge to: 

• Work with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate and eliminate outrageous federal contracting fiascos, such as why the government continues to pay through the nose for ordinary contracts and commodities;
   
• Call for increased oversight over  federal defense contracts and use of federal assets;
   
• Bring the Federal Tax Code in line with American values, by relieving the tax burden of small businesses, and lower and middle-class Americans and eliminating corporate welfare.  The Federal Tax Code is the most complex piece of legislation ever devised by humans.  It must be revised and simplified;
   
• Ensure that Federal Infrastructure Legislation includes provisions supporting small businesses in Alaska, and that Federal gas pipeline legislation expands alternative energy programs in Alaska without added costs to taxpayers.