You look at the legislature in St. Paul. Anything that corrupt, I want a piece of it.

At the same time, there are issues I think should be addressed. Things like outrageous child support laws that foster divorce, and other laws that don't support the notion of traditional family living: You know, one man, one woman, one lifetime.

I'd like to see a more equitable tax. I'm a CPA, and I can tell you, right now, a single working guy earning $20,000 pays a little over $2,000 in tax. An unmarried tramp with two kids, also earning $20,000 gets a refund of over $5,000, even if no tax was withheld. What kind of lifestyle does this enocourage? This needs to be fixed.

We also should stop taxing Social Security at the State level.

We should freeze property taxes, rates, valuations AND "fees", so people don't get taxed out of their homes.

What about the budget deficit? Well, the federal government has provided a $1,000-pre-child tax credit for parents. In Minnesota, though, we provide a lot of services to children and families through state programs. We need to put 1/2 of the federal credit - $500 - to our state programs for children and education; this would be done with a $500 per child surtax for people receiving the $1,000 credit.

This, and repeal of the misnamed "working family credit", which gives big state checks to unmarried people with kids, will go a long way toward balancing the budget. We might even have a surplus.

The focus of my campaign is not only what needs to be done in St. Paul, but just as importantly, what must NOT be done. Acting in compliance with the U.S. and Minnesota Constitutions, and NOT passing measures which invade the rights of Northern Minnesotans.

In past years, unfortunately, the legislature, as well as
municipalities and counties, have somtimes acted in this manner - it doesn't take a Court to know what is unconstitutional - legislators should be able to read; and it should not be necessary for a citizen to undertake an expensive court action to overturn laws that should never have been passed to begin with. Voters can count on me to watchdog and safeguard the Constitution in St. Paul.

Politically, in 1982, I first suggested needed federal tax legislation which, through Senator Boschwitz's office, was passed into law. I later designed a tax form for the Minnesota Dept. of Revenue; and, in 1993, initiated change in an overly invasive Minnesota Wetlands Act, so people could build driveways and the like on their land without having work stopped by the DNR. This effort involved meeting with several counties, including Beltrami, and enlisting their support of the Northern Tier Accord, and culminated in 17 counties joining in, leading to amendment of the Wetlands Act in St. Paul in 1996.

On tax and spending, I tend to be a fiscal conservative.