Lee Anderson on the Issues
My name is Lee Anderson. I am a conservative farmer and family man who is running for Congress for two simple reasons – to balance the budget and send John Barrow and Barack Obama back home. It's time to get back to the basics and get America back on track. Barack Obama is a socialist who is destroying our great country and John Barrow, despite all his political spin, is one of Obama's biggest enablers. If we return to the common sense, conservative principles that made our country great, we can restore the American Dream once again. If you believe in common sense, conservative, hometown values, I ask for your support.
- Balancing The Federal Budget & Eliminating Wasteful Spending
- Getting America Back On Track With New Jobs and More Opportunity
- Repeal & Replace ObamaCare
- Real Tax Reform Now
- Supporting Our Farmers
- Protecting the Sanctity of Human Life
- Defending Our 2nd Amendment Rights
- Term Limits
- Stopping Illegal Immigration
- Supporting Local Control of Education
- America First - Relying On Our Own Energy
- A Strong, Safe and Free America
Balancing The Federal Budget & Eliminating Wasteful Spending
It has always seemed like common sense to me that when you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. Washington politicians of both parties have been on a spending spree, digging a hole so deep that getting out will be hard to do. Their reckless spending has led to huge budget deficits and a soaring national debt that, if not corrected, will destroy our economy and our country. We must return to fiscal sanity by cutting spending, capping spending, and balancing the budget.
I support the Cut, Cap & Balance plan. I believe we can start to get back on track by cutting federal spending across the board by 5%, with the exception of defense, and reducing the number of government employees by 10% within 1 year. Within the balanced budget, we must also include significant debt payments to start the process of paying down our national debt. We can and will protect Medicare and Social Security for our seniors by reforming these programs for younger generations.
Did you know that the State of Georgia has a better credit rating that the U.S. Government? That is because Georgia has a requirement in our Constitution that the budget be balanced. Getting America back on track will require a Balanced Budget Amendment to keep the politicians from continuing the spending spree. I know it will work, because I have seen it work first hand. I am the only candidate in this race with a proven record of fiscal responsibility and balancing a budget – on the Columbia County School Board, the Columbia County Commission and most importantly in our Georgia House of Representatives.
It's time to stop the wasteful spending, budget shell games and political posturing. John Barrow and Barack Obama do not have the guts to make the tough decisions and do the right thing. I do. They claim to support sham votes for fiscal responsibility while maxing out our country's credit cards and bankrupting the American Dream. Enough is enough. I will demand a Balanced Budget Amendment and do everything possible to pass it. Period.
Getting America Back On Track With New Jobs and More Opportunity
There is an old saying, "God gives every bird a worm, but he doesn't throw it in the nest." America was founded by people who wanted to work hard to succeed without being dependent on the government for handouts. It is that same spirit that drives our economy today, which is why it is crucial that we allow our nation's job creators to keep more of their hard-earned money so they can buy inventory, and retain and expand their employees.
In the Georgia General Assembly, I have a 100% rating from the Georgia National Federation of Independent Business. I've worked to reduce taxes and end needless regulations that are strangling our businesses like weeds taking over a garden. Free market policies are what made this country great and are what this country needs to get growing again. Barrow and Obama just need to get out of the way.
Repeal & Replace ObamaCare
Everyone knows you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. There is no question that we need reforms that make health care more accessible and affordable for all Americans. But socialism and bigger government don't work. Freedom and free markets work.
It is vital for our economy and our citizens that we repeal Obamacare and replace it with common sense, market-based solutions. The first step to bringing common sense back to our health care is sending home Barrow, Obama, and anyone who believes more government is the solution. Then, we can promote choice and competition through insurance market reforms. Simple changes, like removing market barriers to interstate purchasing of health insurance and expanding insurance pools, would increase access and bring down costs.
These kind of common sense, conservative approaches will lower costs, protect the doctor-patient relationship, and prevent taxpayer funds being used for abortions.
Real Tax Reform Now
Growing up, I used to hear that a fine is a tax for doing wrong, and a tax is a fine for doing well. Why is it that when people do well, Barrow and Obama want to fine them for their success? We know that every dollar the government takes from us in taxes is a dollar that can't be used to hire employees and grow our economy. Higher taxes on our job creators is not the answer. I support real tax reform. Regardless of the tax reform plan, I support a simpler tax system that is easier and less burdensome, where everyone pays their share, and we balance the budget.
I have signed the Americans for Tax Reform Pledge, promising to oppose any and all attempts to increase income tax rates for individuals and businesses. I also have a record of supporting lower and simpler taxes, and I will continue that fight in Washington. The contrast could not be clearer. John Barrow and Barack Obama wouldn't know low taxes from a hole in the ground.
Supporting Our Farmers
John Barrow and Barack Obama say they are for farmers and support agriculture, but I've found them to largely be all hat and no cattle. Having served as President of the Columbia County Farm Bureau for 27 years and on the House Ag Committee, I have a proven record of supporting pro-agriculture legislation. I live it every day in my farming business, and I am committed to supporting Georgia's largest industry.
Our current policies were created in tough times to assist poor family farmers during the Great Depression. We need to determine whether they still make sense. I strongly believe that we should be governed by policies that allow farmers to base decisions on demands in the marketplace and not on government subsidies and burdensome regulations. Farmers would much rather be farming than filling out forms and permits to do what they like to do.
Protecting the Sanctity of Human Life
In Jeremiah, God said "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." All life is precious, and I will fight with every ounce of my being to be a strong and effective voice for those who cannot speak for themselves. I have been endorsed by Georgia Right to Life in the Georgia General Assembly and in this race for Congress. I have a long, proven record of defending the sanctity of life, and I will not waiver in Congress.
Defending Our 2nd Amendment Rights
Gun control is like trying to reduce drunk driving by making it tougher for sober people to own cars. Our founders gave us the right to own a gun, and I'm sick of people trying to take them away. I have an A rating from the NRA in the Georgia House, and I will strongly defend our Second Amendment Rights in Washington. Period.
Term Limits
Mark Twain once said that politicians are like diapers: they must be changed often and for the same reason. I agree. I support term limits for members of Congress, because too many of them go to Washington and forget why they went in the first place. I'm not running to make a career in Congress. I'm running to clean up the mess, and then, I'm coming home. In my view, 8-12 years is enough for anyone, and I will work to make term limits in Congress a reality.
Stopping Illegal Immigration
On the farm, keeping what you want in and what you don't want out is important. Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong in order to do their job. Over the past several decades, immigration policy has gotten horribly off course and now threatens our national security and our economy.
I welcome any law abiding person to our country who comes here legally and embraces the American culture. But for the sake of our national security, we must secure our borders immediately. Somehow the greatest country on earth, who put a man on the moon, can't build a fence along the border with Mexico? The time for political games is over.
A border fence should be erected immediately. Those here illegally should be sent home. We should enact a common sense guest worker program that allows people to come here for a short period of time to work in jobs such as agriculture and then go back home.
I voted for Georgia's new immigration law, which has been called one of the toughest immigration laws in the country, and I have a consistent, proven record of opposing illegal immigration. Barrow and Obama want to give illegals amnesty, free health care and free welfare. When elected to Congress, I will support policies that secure our borders, protect our national security, and reform legal immigration. I will never support amnesty.
Supporting Local Control of Education
A teacher once told me that as long as the federal government is involved in public education, it will always be mediocre for the same reason that in large kitchens, the cooking is usually bad. I served on the Columbia County Board of Education, and my wife was a teacher and principal in our public schools for three decades. We know first hand that the federal government needs to get out of education. We need to let parents and teachers educate our kids and stop these crazy mandates from Washington. I support strong education reform that reduces mandates from Washington and gives states and local communities the flexibility they need to develop the programs that work best for our teachers and our children.
America First - Relying On Our Own Energy
For decades, we've been talking about reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Well, talk is cheap, because supply usually exceeds demand. America needs, once and for all, an all of the above energy policy that promotes economic growth. However, John Barrow and Barack Obama are promoting policies that stifle economic growth and let Washington decide what energy we should use and how we should use it. This approach lacks common sense and leads to high prices, energy shortages, and dependence on foreign sources of energy.
When elected to Congress, I will demand an energy policy that is based on the free market and trusts in the imagination and entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector. I supported the Keystone pipeline for that very reason. It would have created thousands of jobs and would have allowed us to work with a friendly country willing to supply oil. Obama just doesn't get it. So, now China gets the oil, and we are once again relying on Iran and others to provide our energy.
Georgia is leading the nation in the national nuclear renaissance, and the 12th District is playing a vital role. We must make nuclear reactor permitting faster and less burdensome so that other communities across our nation can share in the benefits of nuclear energy.
We must also stop the Obama attack on our coal plants. Our nation's coal plants still provide the bulk of America's electricity, and we need to protect them from the bureaucrats at the EPA.
A Strong, Safe and Free America
There's an old saying that the object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his. I believe the single best investment in protecting our country is investing in technology and research in our military. I don't believe in fair fights when it comes to protecting our country and our families. We must have the best equipped, best trained, most technologically advanced military in the world. We must stand with our allies like Israel and defeat the threat of radical Islamic terrorism. Iran, North Korea, or any nation that threatens the world with weapons of mass destruction must be stopped, because it is always in our interests to protect ourselves from attack.
America is the greatest country on earth because we are committed to the principles of freedom and liberty and have the courage to stand up for those principles even in the face of evil and oppression. We must protect our country from all enemies, support our troops by continuing to invest in them, and we must always honor those who have served and sacrificed for our country. Our troops and our veterans have a rock solid friend in Lee Anderson.
