Together, we can demand better.
I chose these five words to be the slogan for our campaign
because I believe them to be a necessity. The first two words evoke plurality: together, we. It is not I, you, or me—it
is we, together. I can’t do this without you.
Together, we can demand;
we have to make our voices heard. We have to make our votes count.
Together, we can demand better. We aren’t saying that the system is broken, but
neither are we pretending it is perfect. We have a chance—a duty—to make
improvements.
Together, we can demand better for schools. As a substitute
teacher in my second year with the Union County School District I have seen
firsthand what underfunding has done for our students. I realize that the
solution is greater than simply throwing more money at the problem, but I also
believe we consistently get short changed when money is allocated from
Columbia. While larger districts understandably get a bigger piece of the pie,
we are left having to do more with less. When other districts are buying new
iPads for each of their students, we are left with cuts to the budget and
consolidation of our buildings. I’ll be the biggest cheerleader for Union
County Schools, and if you’ll help me, we can demand better.
We can also demand better for our taxpayers. I recently
signed the South Carolina Association of Taxpayer’s Pledge to oppose any and
all new taxes, and yes, that includes a gas tax hike, which I have consistently
opposed. I also joined the Balanced Budget Amendment Taskforce, vowing to use
the Article V Convention of States method, if we have to, to amend the US
Constitution to force the federal government to operate on an annual balanced
budget and begin to seriously pay down our debt.
We can demand better for drivers. I’m committed to repairing
our roads. We had a 1.3 billion dollar surplus last year, and we didn’t use it
to fix our roads. We must stop spending money on non-essential projects until
our infrastructure is improved. I’m prepared to roll up my sleeves and do what
we have to do.
We can demand better for workers and their families. Our
state has succeeded in bringing new business to South Carolina, and while we
will see some of the results of that here, what we really need is to see is
these jobs come to Union. I’ll work with our local officials to make Union
County open for business.
We can demand better for people of faith, especially
employers. We need to pass a form of the Pastor Protection Act that is now law
in Texas and Georgia, but we can expand it to cover all business owners,
including those bakers, florists, photographers, and others who are being put
in a tough position of compromising their convictions or suffering a public
backlash. It’s happening here as we speak.
We can demand better for the unborn. Pain Capable was a
great start, but frankly, it will save only 28 babies a year; I won’t rest
until we save the other 6,600 babies aborted each year in our state. Some have
suggested that I not talk about abortion as much, saying it’s a national issue.
But I am talking about it today because 18 South Carolinians were aborted
today, in our state. This is a local issue. It’s also my most personal issue. I
have vowed to author and introduce the Life Begins at Conception Acts, where we
can tell our tiniest citizens that they are entitled to not only the right to
liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but to the right of life and liberty and
the pursuit of happiness.
Together, we can demand better—better schools, better roads,
better jobs, better finances, better lives, and a better future. I can’t do it
without you, but together we can. Together, we can—and will—demand better.
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