It’s a little different today. Our income is taxed, our purchases are taxed, our property is taxed, our investments are taxed, and when we die, our children’s inheritance is taxed.
The federal government has grown so much that it now requires more than 25% of the average American’s income. We have lost sight of the freedoms our founders envisioned. The tax levels that led to the revolution were a fraction of what we are now paying.
Your labor is your property. As a mayor, I've fought to lower every tax and fee I can get my hands on.
Meanwhile, as Washington has been reckless with our money, they are boxing us in with more regulations than we should ever have to endure.
Federal agencies now number in the hundreds, with millions of rules and regulations being imposed on us by unelected bureaucracies. This overregulation cost employers between $10-20 thousand dollars per employee to come into compliance with, and drags down our economy almost $2 trillion.
Wouldn’t most budget-strapped employees rather see that added to their paycheck?
As Mayor, I've cut spending and regulations, we must do the same with federal spending and regulations.
While privileged Northeastern states all own 99% of their own land, Western states are much less fortunate. We can clearly see how oppressive the federal government has become with land ownership. The feds own about 40% of Wyoming and Arizona, more than 60% of Utah and Idaho, and a shocking 80% of Nevada!
This massive land grab has denied Utahns their right to self-governance and stewardship. We must fight to reclaim the land that was ours.
The federal government has no business being involved in education. It only accounts for 7.8% of the state education budget in Utah, but tells us 100% of what to teach.
More money is not the solution. The Federal government has almost $175 billion in budgeted for education in this fiscal year. Despite this, outcomes have consistently gotten worse, while the cost of higher education is averaging more than twice the rate of inflation.
We need greater accountability for schools, options for parents, and results for students. For reform to be meaningful, parents must have real options to meet their child's unique needs. Furthermore, we must end the cancer of wokeness that has infiltrated so many of our schools.
My position will always be that parents are the ones in control of their children's education.
Although the soft-on-crime philosophy is frequently couched in terms of “racial justice,” we know that the Democrats’ defund the police movement has hurt racial minorities the most.
As crime has increased, so has the desire for Americans to defend themselves. The only thing that’s gone up more than crime is gun ownership.
Given Americans’ clear desire to protect themselves, I reject the idea that the Second Amendment is outdated. Every dictator who has seized power from a free society has first seized their weapons. The people who want to take our guns are the same people responsible for our crime wave.
I will always fight for your ability to defend yourself and your family.
The cause of this cultural damage is a new religion called wokeness.
Wokeness has infiltrated almost every aspect of our daily life, fomenting hostility and anger under the false flag of “tolerance.” While many companies who subscribe to ESG guidelines “get woke and go broke,” wokeness now has the force of law under the corrupt Biden Administration.
Wokeness is a false religion with no business in our government. It must be ripped out wherever it shows its ugly head.
I will be woke’s worst enemy.
A sensible immigration policy is not what the enemies of freedom want. The globalists who hate America have made it clear that illegal immigration is the way they’ll do it. When the bad guys tell you what their evil plan is, you should probably pay attention.
We must fight to restore a sensible immigration policy so America stays the envy of the world for another 200 years.
No American anywhere should accept the crippling of domestic energy that we’ve seen since 2021 – certainly not in the name of hysterical environmentalism.
Environmental stewardship is important, but destroying our way of life is not. I'm a firm believer that technological advances have benefited mankind and the environment in the past, and will continue to do so in the future.
I will always fight for America’s and Utah’s energy independence.
The priority of American defense must be defending America. Military force must only be used in the defense of our nation, her interests, and her allies. We cannot afford to maintain 750 military bases across 80 countries for free. Other nations must provide for their own defense.
Our priorities should be to:
America can stay the world’s superpower, but not without real change real fast.