There are a great many issues of interest in both national and state politics. Here are a few of mine.
Economy: This is probably the toughest one to sum up. Everyone is aware of the problems with the national economy. If we trace it back we can link all of the problems back to 1 or 2 root laws. The deregulation of the banking system is probably the single factor that I blame over all else for our problems. When the Glass-Steagall act was eliminated and the derivatives market took hold our debt ratios began to spiral out of control. With something over 600 trillion in debt to 6 trillion in net worth it isn't hard to see how there will never be enough money to pay off our debt. Looking back we can see the Glass-Steagall act was put in place to protect our economy against the problems associated with the new money that started on March 12, 1933. If we look at the laws that created that money we come to the root of the problems with banking. Our banking system is now funded off of a series of takings whenever the debt gets too high. You may argue this but look at the wealth of the banking system and the corporations they fund versus the wealth of the average person. Colorado, as well as every other state, had to give permission to the national government to implement that money supply because it is against the Constitutional mandate of the states using "gold and silver coin". I intend to do away with the permission we have given and take back a legal banking system in this state.
Small Business: My plans on small business go hand in hand with my plans for the banking system. The same act that allowed the banking system to start using fiat money to finance itself rather than the people it pretended to support did away with the common law which allowed corporations to be chartered for only 20 years. Now corporations exist en perpetuity and overwhelm the small business community. I plan on doing away with regulations which stifle day to day business as well as simplify the tax code to a flat rate similar to what people pay. I also plan on enforcing regulations over our commodity markets that to sell within this state, because the companies on the market all buy at the same cost, that they will have to sell at the same cost. What I mean by this is that a commodity buyer won't be allowed to pass the cost of bulk discounts on coffee to Starbucks to a smaller coffee buyer, thus making a lopsided market situation.
Agriculture: My agriculture plan is very similar to the market plan for small business. I want to eliminate ALL taxes on agriculture for good and eliminate some of the bad press our farmers have gotten through the organic community. I plan to require grocers to post signs on the organic section that states the produce may contain chemicals which have not been tested for safety so that uneducated people don't put undue pressure on our farmers. I also intend to increase the amount of loans available to starting farmers so that a new generation can take over. I wish to issue something closer to bonds than a loan.
Forests: I read the Constitution quite a bit and have never seen forests or BLM land in the enumerated properties our national government can own. I intend to take the control over these lands back to the state and implement logging and other use programs which will help both the local economy and the sustainability of our forest. The dead trees will be sold and used under my leadership. What is more our mining and oil industry won't be able to be punished for imagined crimes in another state on public lands. Currently our president only needs a signature to shut down these activities on public land. Under local control it will be left up to the voters here which are much more informed on the issues.
PERA (Public Employee Retirement Accounts): Colorado currently has guaranteed benefits for its public employees. I disagree with this since the investments have has zero return in the last several years but those employees still receive tax dollars to fund their retirement. I will implement a slow switch to a guaranteed contribution plan which will save tax payers millions.
Education: I see each school district as having its own unique challenges so I disagree with national solutions such as no child left behind. I also disagree with tenure since it protects teachers but not students. I will work to ensure that our kids come first. As for post secondary education I feel the original intent was to ensure locals were educated first so I will make sure out of state and undocumented students pay their fair share. I support an education system similar to Germany's which places kids in the college program best suited for them. Some people are destined to learn a technical skill so why waste their time encouraging them to pay for an education they won't use? Instead focus them on the technical skills they will need to function in the job they want.
Drugs: We currently have a drug war which is killing citizens on our border with Mexico. It didn't exist prior to making drugs illegal. Why is it a war though? It took a Constitutional amendment to make alcohol illegal. I intend to end that war and tax the manufacture and sale of drugs. We are loosing revenue in a multi billion dollar industry that won't go away just because we don't like it. When drugs are controlled through the state the safety also goes up because people know what dose they are receiving and know it is pure.
There are many more topics which I will focus on another time. I hope this has given you some insight into who I am.
Robert Petrowsky
candidate State House district 61
"...signs on the organic section..."? How does this help the farmer? Do you not consider owner/operators of organic farms "farmers"? Or do you only support farmers that choose to spend their revenue on products that poison and destroy the land, ecosystems, and crops they are trying to grow? I know you have a childhood background in farming, but it sounds like you're stuck in one model of farming (granted, so am I, but on the opposite end of the spectrum).
ReplyDeleteWhile we're discussing signs/labels, how about labeling on "conventional" products that inform the consumer if the product contains genetically modified organisms that have not been tested for human or ecological safety?
Obviously you didn't read my other posts about agriculture or much of this would have been answered. It doesn't protect the farmer. It protects the consumer and the land. To understand my point we need to define 2 things. A farm is something that mines the soil and generates revenue. A sustainable farm is one that replenishes the soil and generates enough revenue to be self supporting.
ReplyDeleteThere is a greal of misinformation leading to a belief that organic food is somehow safer than conventional food. False flags have led people to spend more in the organic section in recent years despite their complaints of high food prices. Most that I have talked to about this say they make their purchase based on teh fact that the organic food doesn't have pesticides. This is simply not true. They just use other pesticides. UC Berkley has a nice study out on the various organic pesticides that have not been safety tested since they are organic and assumed safe. They found they are about the same as conventional products in terms of carcinogenic effects and toxicity.
There are also multiple studies out on soil poisoning due to organic phosphates. Once the heavy metals have been removed from rock phosphate it is no longer organic. Unfortunately without this our organic farms are experiencing leaching of some very dangerous metals in the water such as uranium. These are also being taken up into the plant. There is a good study online from Germany that documents these problems.
Organic food can also contain human feces if it is imported from some countries. How many times have we read about E. Coli or Salmonela in our food sources because of organic farms using unsafe methods? The point is that one side isn't unsafe while the other is. Both sides have things that need to be phased out in favor of more sustainable practices.
As for GMOs I have never once said that I am a supporter of them. My farm has been forced into using them because we simply can't buy enough non GMO seed to plant our fields. I would like to see Monsanto tried for a many different economic crimes but as I mentioned in some other posts, they are protected by license. I want to ban all trans-species GMO products and severely restrict all gene sequence and gene activation GMOs.
I hope that answers some questions.
Robert