Mann Plan

What we need to do to get our country and Congress back on track

By Tracey Mann

Reforming Congress

The Founding Fathers did not intend for people to become career politicians.  They envisioned a government where people would leave their careers and serve by representing their constituency, and then return to their farms and businesses.  Many Members of Congress have lost touch with the rest of the country and are more concerned with winning the next election than doing what is right for America.  To reform Congress, we need to:

1.       Stop electing and promoting politicians and instead elect people with experience in business and agriculture.

2.      Make sure that Members of Congress abide by the same rules as other government employees in regards to benefits.  Congress should participate in whatever healthcare plan it passes and not receive special healthcare and enormous pensions.  

3.      Define the success of an elected official not by what they can go to Washington and bring home in terms of "pork," but instead, by what they keep from leaving their district in the first place.

4.      Pass term limits.

5.      No longer allow projects paid for with Federal funds to be named after elected officials.

Fixing Healthcare

Our current healthcare system needs to be reformed, but the healthcare reform legislation passed by Congress (Obamacare) is a disaster.  Cost and coverage are the two main problems in healthcare.  By far, the largest issue is increasing costs, which hurt businesses and make it difficult for people to afford coverage.  Obamacare does not address this.  The fact that our federal government is now requiring all Americans to have health insurance and that Obamacare is now gradually taking over one-sixth of our nation's economy is proof that the country is headed in the wrong direction.  Additionally, this legislation will add to our crippling national debt while simultaneously taking nearly $500 billion out of Medicare.  Some of the 75 Big First hospitals have as many as 80-90% of their patients receiving Medicare benefits.  Reducing Medicare will put a severe strain on rural hospitals, which could lead to closure and consolidation.   To fix healthcare, we need to:

A.      Repeal Obamacare

1.       Do all that we can to challenge the constitutionality of Obamacare to ensure that it does not get implemented, or at least slow it down.

2.      Elect a House and Senate this November that will repeal this bad bill.  Identify and support challengers throughout the country running against both Members of Congress and Senators that voted for Obamacare.

3.      Elect a President in 2012 that will not veto efforts to repeal.

B.      Replace With Legislation Addressing Costs

1.      Pass real medical malpractice liability (tort) reform to significantly reduce costs.  Many in the healthcare industry throughout Kansas have shared with me that approximately 30% of medicine practiced today is defensive.  This means that one in every three dollars spent in healthcare goes to preventing lawsuits and not healing or preventing illness.  Tort reform will result in significant cost decreases in healthcare.

2.      Increase competition between insurance providers by allowing companies to compete across state lines. 

3.      Focus on promoting living healthier lifestyles and preventing illness.

4.      Continue to offer incentives for doctors to practice in rural Kansas.  This will help ensure access for all Kansans throughout the Big First.

Stop the Growth of our Federal Government, Deficits, and Debt

Our government has doubled in size in the last 10 years.  We have a Federal debt that exceeds $12 trillion, and our 2010 deficit is projected to be $1.5 trillion.  The debt ceiling has been raised by Congress three times in the last 10 months.  Our fiscal irresponsibility is not sustainable.  We must:

1.       Reduce spending.  Washington must stop living beyond its means by borrowing from other countries that do not share our interests and leaving our children and grandchildren with the bill.  We must stop spending money on stimulus bills, bailing out private companies such as automobile manufacturers and banks, and work to curb the entitlement mentality that is becoming pervasive in our country.

2.      Eliminate earmarks or at least pass dramatic earmark reform.  Earmarks are the gateway drug to Washington's addiction to spending, and we can no longer afford to pay for pork barrel spending.

3.      Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment requiring Washington to live within its means.  This would result in no more deficits.  We could cut this year's deficit in half with repaid TARP funds and by not spending the remainder of the stimulus money.

4.      Hold Washington accountable to its hard to comprehend spending by focusing on and talking in terms of dollars per American.  For example, with a population of about 300 million people, every trillion dollars is approximately $3,333 per American.  A federal debt exceeding $12 trillion means that each American's share is more than $40,000.  Last year's $787 billion stimulus bill cost about $2,600 per American.  We must curb spending by letting people know what it means to them.

Promote Economic Growth

This country was founded on the principles of capitalism and the free market.  It is not a coincidence that America has been both the most prosperous country in the world and also the most free as people are able to build and grow businesses.  Unnecessary regulations, bureaucratic red tape and high taxes greatly reduce the growth of our economy.  To promote economic growth, we need to:

1.      Stop burdening our businesses with needless regulations and other obstacles that make it more difficult to grow existing businesses and start new ones.

2.      Stop making business expenses uncertain by introducing large scale and damaging legislation like healthcare reform, Cap and Trade, etc.  Business owners' ability to grow is enhanced when the rules of the game are known and reduced with uncertainty.

3.      Recruit businesses to Kansas to grow our economy, provide jobs and occupy vacant buildings.

4.      Tell our young people that are growing up in the Big First that there are many opportunities to lead happy and prosperous lives in Kansas towns both large and small and that the American dream can be realized in rural Kansas.

5.      Ensure access to high-speed internet throughout the Big First.  Our rural areas will be left behind if our business owners and entrepreneurs do not have the tools to compete in the global economy.

Tax Relief To Create Jobs

High taxes prevent economic growth and slow job creation.  Jobs must be created to lift the economy out of recession and reduce our 10% national unemployment rate.  We must:

1.      Stop trying to increase jobs by growing government.  Jobs are created by businesses and on our farms, not by politicians or bureaucrats in Washington.

2.      Make permanent the Republican tax cuts of 2001 and 2003.    

3.      Cut taxes on small businesses to promote growth instead of spending money on stimulus bills that grow the size of government but not the economy.  Create an environment where our existing Kansas companies can grow so that those that employ 4-5 can expand to employ 7-8 and those that employ 150 can grow to employ 200. 

4.      Abolish the death tax so that businesses and family farms can pass from one generation to the next.

5.      Cut tax rates for Kansas families and on savings and investments.  The more money we are able to put into the hands of Kansans and not the Federal government, the more that will be able to be spent by consumers to help the economy recover.

6.      Work for a flatter, fairer and simpler tax code.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the backbone of the economy in the Big First.  Both crop production and the livestock industry are threatened by special interest groups, most notably environmentalist and animal rights activists.  To keep agriculture strong, we need to focus on:

1.      Promoting agriculture by telling our story to other Members of Congress and the rest of the country.  Kansas agriculture has a great story to tell.  When we do not tell our story, our story gets told for us in damaging and harmful ways by environmentalist and animal rights activists.

2.      Preventing legislation that is damaging to agriculture like Cap and Trade.  

3.      Make sure that Congress is exercising oversight over agencies like the EPA so that they do not overstep their bounds or authority.  

4.      Increasing the global demand for our Kansas agriculture products and seize the opportunity and role Kansas has in feeding an expanding world population.

Immigration

The immigration policies of our country need to be reformed and then enforced.  To reform immigration, we need to:

1.       Secure the border.  This is not only an immigration issue but it is also a national security issue as we need to know exactly who and what is entering our country. 

2.      Not give amnesty but develop a more efficient process and system for law abiding people to be able to come to America to work and pay taxes.

Preserve Kansas Common Sense Values

The basic, fundamental values that America was founded on must be protected and advocated for to ensure that future generations have the same opportunities that we have had.  We need to stand up:

1.      For the rights of the unborn.

2.      To protect marriage so that it remains between one man and one woman.

3.      For our 2^nd amendment rights that allow us to bear arms.

4.      To make sure that we keep the promises that have been made to our seniors.

5.      For the veterans who fought to protect our freedoms and way of life.

6.      To keep America strong, safe, and secure for the next generation.