What this Independent stands for.
It's not enough to say that I am an Independent. In our current political discourse, the parties tend to define themselves by what they are against. I have positions for defined political and economic views. They draw from all the major political philosophies, but are more closely aligned with what the Republican Party could have been had it taken different lessons from the last 40 years.
I see America as the most successful entity in history in establishing and advancing security and prosperity for its people. Government’s job is to reduce the obstacles to American inventiveness and industry — and then stop. That means free markets and open trade, honest rules that keep the largest players from rewriting them, legal immigration matched to what the economy actually needs, a safety net that lets people take risks and recover from setbacks, and investment in the infrastructure and institutions that markets won't build on their own. It means a government that is funded, focused, functional — and restrained.
Our families, communities, and businesses face many obstacles today. Some are recent, others are the products of decades, and all are self-inflicted. They include tariffs that raise costs for farmers and builders and manufacturers, debt that crowds out investment and drives up borrowing costs for every Idaho family, and the erosion of the congressional oversight that is supposed to keep all of it in check. Our first step is to stop making things worse, and then we need to correct the excesses. But returning to an earlier status quo is not the goal — there were reasons why we rejected the old way. Every day, we enter a new world, with new challenges and new opportunities to do better.
The principles below guide my view of what ‘right’ looks like. They form a framework through which individual policy positions reflect a campaign, not a checklist. Policy flows from principle, and our guiding principles need to be sound if we are to move forward with confidence.
Four convictions shape the positions I hold.
Energy lies in differences — it is the difference in elevation that makes a river flow through a turbine and produce power. It's the desire to better their economic position that drives people to work harder and accomplish more. It is the differences in perspective and experience that sees a problem in a new way and sparks invention. Without new ideas and sharp-elbowed competition, we don't move forward. But no machine works well at extreme conditions: a river turns a turbine, a waterfall crushes one. When wealth concentration allows private interests to shape the rules of competition itself, the system fails.
We accept inequality, but we demand equity — fairness. If you work hard and contribute something of value, you get fair value back. If you are an agricultural worker who helps feed America and the world, you should be able to put food on your own table. If you are a construction worker, you should be able to live in your own house. If you are a nurse, you should be able to afford healthcare. If you are a teacher, you should be able to put your own kids through college. If you take the risk of starting a business, employing your neighbors, and building something of value, you should be able to compete on the merits of your idea — not be squeezed out by a competitor with the lobbying power to tilt the scales.
Competitive markets outperform government programs at almost everything. Government's job is to ensure honest rules, fair opportunity, and a floor that prevents failure from becoming permanent — but then to get out of the way. It invests in the conditions that let people build their own security; it doesn't build it for them. It provides a safety net, not a hammock; an incubator, not a biosphere. It reflects our culture; it doesn't impose one. It protects people from predatory power; it doesn't pick winners. And wherever government starts, there must be a defined point where it ends.
Everything we do — at home and abroad — is ultimately for us. A country that lets its roads crumble, its people go untreated, and its institutions decay is not cutting costs; it is falling behind. A country that abandons its alliances, cedes global markets to competitors, and ignores or ignites instability beyond its borders pays for that choice eventually, at much higher cost. The question is never whether to invest — it is whether to invest wisely now or expensively later. We engage; we maintain; we do not neglect.
The framework exists. The common ground exists. Looking at old problems through a clearer lens can reveal solutions that partisanship has kept out of view.
Apply these convictions to the country as it is now, and certain problems stand out: Inequality has gone beyond the tipping point and high debt is crowding out progress. None of these are new problems — most have workable solutions that have simply never been acted upon. Some of the positions below are more fully developed than others. This is a work in progress, and input is welcome. What follows is where I stand, what I'm working toward, and an open invitation to help get it right.
Our institutions change over time, but the fundamentals don't. Our Constitution is still our foundation and our elections still matter. If enough Idahoans say that we want a positive change — and we outline it clearly — we'll turn the country in the direction it needs to go.
We can keep swinging back and forth between unappetizing alternatives until something happens.