Taxes:

Every day families in this country live off of a budget. They work to tighten their belts to ensure they can pay their bills, provide for their children and put money into savings for college and retirement. They chart out a spending plan for the week … for the month … for the year. They decide on their spending priorities and work to balance their budgets based on their income.

It is a simple math equation that families across the country make work. They spend within their means and balance the “must haves” from the “nice to haves.”

Government should do the same. Sadly, however, that often is not the case.

Many elected officials who were once good fiscal stewards of taxpayer money and focused on balanced budgets, have now fallen prey to special interest groups and spend taxpayer money on wasteful programs that do no benefit the average American. They have their own priorities that include expanding the size and reach of government – giving more handouts instead of hand ups.

As government grows and spending exceeds revenues, elected officials look to others to pay their bills – they look to the taxpayers of this country. Instead of reducing spending plans or cutting wasteful programs, they put together budgets that include massive tax increases on hard-working Americans to pay government’s bills. Instead of recognizing that Americans are already taxed too much, they want to put forth proposals to increase the Personal Income Tax and the Sales Tax and make people give more of their paychecks to government. And, instead of understanding that people work hard to pay for their necessities like prescriptions, diapers and clothing, many elected officials want to broaden taxes to tax new items.

The bottom line … out of control government spending with massive tax increases hurts the bottom line of every American.

More taxes = less jobs.

More taxes = less take home pay for hard-working American families.

More taxes = less prosperity for this nation.

Government leaders must be answerable to the taxpayers of this country. No more smoke and mirrors … it is time for truth. It is time for elected officials to understand the impact of their decisions. It is time for government to enact policies that benefit American families – not ones that harm them.

Education:

There is no greater gift we can give to our children, than access to a quality education. It is the foundation for their future, and it is the foundation for our country’s economic growth for generations to come.

Every child in the United States deserves access to a great teacher in every classroom, a great school and a great educational system that focuses on achievement and academic excellence.

The evolving national debate on education is critical to determining how to reform our educational system to best meet the needs of the students and parents it serves.

We know that a good education starts in the classroom with a talented teacher. Countless studies have shown that an effective teacher can make all the difference in a student’s life. That is why we need to fight for policies that not only value and reward effective teachers, but also provide support and additional resources for those teachers who may be struggling. Policies that provide for meaningful educator evaluation systems, merit-based pay for teachers, improved tenure provisions, enhanced teacher continuing education programs, and moving from seniority-based layoffs to teacher performance-based layoffs are all important pieces of a stronger American educational system.

On the issue of school funding – we need to invest more dollars, more wisely into our students’ education. When we invest wisely, we achieve better results. Every school deserves the chance to be A+ school for their children. By enacting spending plans at the local level that are focused on student growth, results and achievement, we can be sure that every child across this country has the chance of a great future. Programs like school report cards – or school grading systems – and grant programs focused on academic growth are examples of what is working to help improve our public education system. State and federal governments must continue to work with local school districts to design funding streams that focus on the individual student and his or her success.

Individualized student learning also means that our elected leaders need to empower parents to have choices in their child’s education. The country has a strong fabric of public school choices that should be nurtured and grown. No child should be bound to a failing school because of his or her zip code. The debate needs to continue to focus on policies that reward good public charter schools and shut down bad ones. It also needs to ensure that every child has the choice of a great school, led by a great teacher.

All Americans – parents, taxpayers and children – need to have their voices heard in the national education debate. With a strong educational system, there is no limit to what our children can achieve. We must fight for the gift of a great education for every child.