Platform
I saw a cartoon in the Whitefish Pilot recently that intimated that taxes are not keeping up with inflation. That’s not true, but if it were, the solution is NOT to raise taxes, it’s to implement better policies that will not cause inflation. How do we know it’s not true? The state has given taxpayers multiple refunds for millions of dollars. Tax rates need to be lowered. Significantly!
Which brings me to my first plank.
#1. Tax Reform, Relief, and Affordable Housing
• I will advocate for lowering tax rates for individuals and businesses to improve the quality of life for Montanans, spur economic growth and job creation without spending taxpayer dollars, and enable workers to retain more of their hard-earned money, ultimately contributing to increased ability to afford housing and life’s necessities.
• I will support measures to eliminate loopholes and special interest deductions, ensuring that the tax burden is distributed fairly and equitably among taxpayers.
• I can’t make your employer pay you more money, even if you’ve been working seven days a week, haven’t had a vacation since bell bottoms were in style, and you’re just sure that it’s 5 o’clock somewhere. But if you were to keep more of what you earn, your dream of home ownership could become a reality.
Now let’s nail down my second plank.
#2. Government Accountability
• A balanced budget doesn’t guarantee a lean budget. I will advocate for a smaller state
budget in order to facilitate lower property and income taxes. I will advocate for fewer
state employees and leaner department budgets, and no new government programs.
• I will advocate for a government that refrains from using taxation as a means of “job
creation” and “economic growth”. Economic development will occur just fine on its own
without government inserting its big honker into the mix.
Now let’s saunter on down the platform to my 3rd plank, with nary a splinter in sight.
#3. Promoting Traditional Values in Education and Society
• I will advocate for policies that strengthen families, including supporting parental
rights in education and opposing efforts to indoctrinate children with ideological
agendas in schools. Why? Because I care aboutcha. You’re my peeps, my
homies. I love you, man!
• I will support initiatives to promote character education, civics instruction, and the teaching of American history and values in schools to instill a sense of patriotism and civic responsibility in future generations. Our kids should have an attitude of gratitude for the opportunities they’ve been given in this country, not an expectation that they’re owed a lifetime of financial support for gracing us with their birth.
These planks are actually starting to look like a little platform.
#4. Border Security and Immigration Reform
• I will prioritize securing Montana’s borders to prevent illegal immigration
and enhance national security.
• I will advocate for reforms to the immigration system that prioritize merit-based immigration, strengthen visa enforcement, and crack down on illegal immigration, while also providing a pathway to legal status for law-abiding immigrants already residing in the country for at least five years.
• I will not vote for extending welfare benefits to illegal aliens or allowing them to vote. Unless they promise to vote for me. Just kidding. I was checking to see if you’ve been paying attention.
Just call me Sir Planksalot, but I have another one to throw at you.
#5. Protecting Individual Freedoms
• I will protect 1st amendment rights to speak freely without government censorship
• I will advocate for the protection of religious liberty and conscience rights,
ensuring that individuals and organizations are not compelled to violate their
deeply held religious beliefs.
• I will oppose government mandates or regulations that infringe on moral freedoms, including those that coerce religious institutions to provide services or support activities that violate their religious beliefs.
Now, criminals definitely won’t like this plank!
#6. Tough on Crime
• Truth in sentencing. How often does someone actually serve their entire sentence?
Almost never. A common excuse is that jails are overcrowded. Jails should be safe, not comfortable. I will advocate for truth in sentencing, because criminals shouldn’t get off
easy.
• Restitution. All too often, criminals are fined a minimal amount, with no restitution
required, even when the crime is theft of someone else’s money. And those fines go to
the state, not to the victims. I will advocate for restitution, plus interest, to victims of
crimes.
• Stiffer fines and punishment for DUI offenders. Montana doesn’t take DUI crime seriously, judging by the light sentences and instances of repeat offenses. I will push for significant fines, jail time, and loss of privileges instead of sitting idly by while people get busted for their 13th DUI. Let me be clear: DUI is attempted manslaughter EVERY time a drunk gets behind the wheel. And just because their mama slapped their bottom when they were a kid, that’s no justification for leniency.
We’re almost there, just one more plank, and we can tie a bow on this puppy.
#7 Second Amendment Rights
• I will advocate for the protection of Second Amendment rights, including opposing any legislation that restricts law-abiding citizens’ ability to own and carry firearms for self-defense and sporting purposes (Remember, you can’t even hunt without the 2nd Amendment).
• I will support measures to enhance gun safety through education and responsible
gun ownership programs rather than through restrictive regulations that infringe on Constitutional rights.
Now that I’ve built a nice little platform to stand on, please tell me what you think.
Email me at adamsforsd2@gmail.com:
For you technologically ignorant, call me at 406-300-2053.
For those of you who haven’t mastered that 20th century invention we like to refer to as the phone, send me smoke signals.
Ask questions.
Get to know me.