My wife and I enjoy riding our motorcycle. I am an avid fan of the hitting the open road. There is something wonderful about driving around Wisconsin with friends and not only enjoying the scenery but also the fragrances. Wisconsin’s many types of flowers and trees make riding at dusk and dawn particularly enjoyable. Riding through a pine forest instantly reminds me of Christmas time. The scenery and smells of riding simply are not the same in...

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. (ratified Dec. 15, 1791) Since Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States the federal government has continued to expand its influence over the States. Recently with the health care reform debate moving through Congress states are pushing back… and rightly so. The “powers not...

As I have been traveling around the district I have been asked on occasion to discuss my position on immigration reform. As with many issues in this election cycle, the answers cannot easily be put into thirty second sound bites. Illegal immigration is recognized by almost all candidates as unacceptable, as is all illegal activity. However, solving the problem of illegal immigration is a large complex task which, like many problems our nation is...

The brave men and women who serve our nation in the military deserve our gratitude and respect. They also deserve to have the promises made by the federal government be kept. We need to provide the best medical care, rehabilitation techniques and facilities for those veterans returning home with disabilities and wounds from service. With the extreme stress of combat many of the wounds our soldiers return with can’t always be seen on the...

“A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves, and render regular troops in a great measure unnecessary.” Richard Henry Lee, 1788 “The constitution of most of our States assert that all power is inherent in the people: that…it is their right and duty to be at all times armed.” Thomas Jefferson, 1824 I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.  I firmly believe the Constitution not only guarantees individuals...

“Faithful to the first guarantee of the Declaration of Independence, we assert the inherent dignity and sanctity of all human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed.” The words above are from the 2008 edition of the official Republican Platform. I agree with the phrasing and intent of these words. Abortion in America has separated and divided us since Roe vs. Wade. I commit...

The U.S. tax code is hopelessly complex. The complexity was highlighted recently as we watched first hand one Obama appointee after another having tax reviews that came back unfavorably. If the Secretary of the Treasury couldn’t do his taxes correctly what does that say about the system? Or even worse, right now the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, the committee in Congress that literally is in charge of writing this nation’s...

Congress has authorized over $2.5 trillion of spending to “stimulate” the economy.  President Obama told the American people that if they spent this amount of money, that unemployment rates would level off and the economy would start growing again. Now here we are, a year later, and the jobless rate continues to grow; the unemployed represent over 10% of all workers[1]. This is tragic….more importantly it didn’t need to happen. In the...

There is a continual dialogue among Americans today about the state of the US economy. What most people realize — and those in government ignore is that our current approach to handling the economy has to change and must change soon.  A single glance at the US Debt clock tells the story. (http://www.usdebtclock.org/)  National debt exceeds twelve trillion dollars and is more than 85% of GDP. When you add the unfunded liabilities of...

I have a unique perspective on healthcare and the ongoing debate over reform: that of a small businessman and also a husband, father, grandfather and patient. As a small business owner, health insurance costs have consistently been a factor in my operations, employment decisions and overall costs. But as a middle-aged gentleman and father of two I have had to deal with the health care system like millions of other Americans—from the waiting...