Bill Greene Issues

DEFENSE/HOMELAND SECURITY
The first step in homeland security is a secure border. Congress must work to secure our borders, and then continue to build a strong national defense. I fully support a strong United States military, but I believe that there needs to be a greater effort to eliminate waste and inefficiencies within the Department of Defense in order to ensure the greatest utilization of our tax dollars. I believe that we need to establish strong independent oversight of our Veterans Affairs and military hospitals in order to maintain the highest standards of care for those who have sacrificed so much for our country.

IMMIGRATION
Illegal immigration is against United States law, pure and simple. America must secure and enforce its borders as well as block attempts from the left to water down the cost of citizenship with a clever name like ‘guest workers’. The Mexican government encourages border-crossing and condemns U.S. actions against these crossings, yet hypocritically enforces a brutal immigration policy of their own. Illegal immigrants are a detriment to the American economy and their refusal to assimilate is an affront to American culture. The pathway to citizenship must remain intact with learning English as its backbone. Above all, America’s borders must be secured. Amnesty is not an option; we cannot reward people for breaking the law and it will only encourage higher levels of illegal immigration.

SOCIAL SECURITY
There is no doubt that social security is in dire shape and the case for reform should not be overlooked any longer. However, we need to make sure that those receiving social security benefits are not pushed off of the system; a promise made is a promise kept. The younger generation whose social security future is in question should be able to have the choice to move their hard earned Social Security savings into private accounts where it will be better utilized.

MEDICARE
Medicare is a vital program for the needy. However, like most bloated government programs there needs to be greater oversight and enforcement of who is able to receive benefits. We need to get the unqualified off the program and make sure that our taxes are being used as efficiently as possible. We need members of Congress who will be brave enough to do what is best for the American people and attack the waste problems that plague our bureaucracies.

HEALTHCARE
This follows along with my stance on Medicare. There are programs in place that are very helpful to needy Americans, but we must ensure that these programs are not just throwing tax dollars away. I do believe in supplementing the healthcare system with medical savings accounts that will allow people to better meet the cost of healthcare in this nation.

WAR ON TERROR / DETAINEES / PATRIOT ACT
I support the War on Terror 100%. We did not start the war; we were attacked and now we are refusing to commit the same mistakes that led to 9/11 by being proactive and seeking terrorists out in order to keep the fight from reaching our shores. As for the military detainees, they are prisoners of war and we should treat them in such a fashion. Though terrorists wear civilian clothing and may have a day job, it does not allow them non-combatant status. The Patriot Act was a necessary step to help secure and adapt America to face the new type of war that was thrown upon us; however, some aspects of the Patriot Act do overstep our constitutional rights. I would not have voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act without these new provisions being properly, debated and addressed in the public sphere.

CHINA/NORTH KOREA
Communist China should have its “Most Favored Nation” status in the WTO revoked. Though they claim to be in transition and ‘modernizing’, China continues to practice egregious human rights violations and unfair trade practices in contrast to the other members who benefit from the WTO policies. North Korea is a terrorist state, plain and simple. Kim Jong-Il is a brutal dictator who has kept his people down trodden underneath a defunct Communist system, and they live in the most closed-off nation on Earth. Its nuclear capabilities are an alarming development due to North Korea’s stated willingness to sell this technology to the highest bidder. China is just as guilty for continuing to thwart true progress on the issue with its stubborn support of such a rogue state.

ISRAEL
I fully support Israel and will continue to support them in their struggle for existence in a hostile and unreasonable Middle East. I believe that America has an obligation to maintain this strong alliance and continue to lend the support we promised.

IRAN/IRAQ
Iran is an irrational rogue state on par with North Korea. Their attempts to gain nuclear technology should be dealt with immediately and their claim for its “peaceful use” is an obvious lie that has little merit. There should be no concessions when dealing with a nation that has such obvious anti-American agendas and makes grave statements of its intentions for Israel.

America needs to hand power over to the democratically elected Iraqi government as soon as possible, and this government must take on its responsibility for its peace and security. However, I oppose on every level the Democrat plan to cut and run. We must see to it that this newly freed nation survives and thrives as an example of democracy in the Middle East.

EARMARKS/GOV’T SPENDING
Congress is out of control when it comes to spending, and most of the problem stems from special earmarks and pork projects. One way to combat this is through the line item veto to enable the President to cut pork spending out of bills and keep Congressional spending under control. There needs to be greater transparency on where and how our tax dollars are spent (or thrown away).

LIFE ISSUES/STEM CELL RESEARCH
I am Pro-Life and will never support any legislation that allows for the ending of an innocent baby’s life. I do not support the current laws in place that have let abortion take a legal root in this country, and those laws are the fault of liberal activist judges who legislated from the bench.

Furthermore, I cannot support the unethical research on embryonic stem cells and all of the Federal money spent on this research, which has yielded not one promising result; adult and cord blood stem cell research is ethical and more promising than any of the embryonic stem cell results. I have no problem with stem cell research; my problem is with embryonic research, which ends human life, and the unconstitutional spending of Federal money on such projects.

MARRIAGE
Marriage is between one man and one woman. No matter how groups try to label it, whether it is ‘domestic partnership’ or ‘civil union’, it is still an attack on the institution of marriage. I favor the Federal marriage amendment that would seal the loophole of state decisions and the “full faith and credit” clause in the Constitution.

ENVIRONMENT/CLIMATE CHANGE
Global warming is ‘junk’ science and its alarmists purposely stir up public hysteria that the Left uses to push its socialistic plan to “level the playing field against big business worldwide”. It is made up of a ‘consensus’ that refuses to have any debate on the issue with other climatologists who support the belief of a more limited human impact or that climate change is a natural cycle. If extreme environmentalism is followed, it would destroy the American economy and send many hardworking Americans to the unemployment line.

ENGERGY INDEPENDENCE
The U.S. must seek energy independence from the volatile providers that hamstring our foreign policy. One way of addressing this need is for Congress to expand domestic oil and gas exploration. Such exploration should take place on the small allocation in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, whose lease revenue should be devoted to alternative fuel research and other renewable energy science. America cannot keep allowing itself to be held hostage by foreign oil politics and price fixing. OPEC has forced its will on the American people for too long, and our fuel purchases directly prop up scoundrels such as Hugo Chavez and terrorist states in the Middle East.

TAXES
I support the Bush Tax cuts and believe that more cuts are necessary. Tax cuts rejuvenate our economy and stimulate investment, which leads to rapid growth and job creation. The Death Tax, which makes a tragedy taxable, should be put to death as soon as possible. There is no reason to tax someone after they have passed away and to put that burden on their grieving family. I fully support any and all tax reform that lowers taxes. I support the Fair Tax initiative, as well as any tax reform that will allow us to get rid of the bulky, inefficient IRS.

EDUCATION
The educational system in this country is broken and needs systematic reform. I support reforms that put more power into the hands of parents and allow them to decide which school or program is best for their child. I support school vouchers, tuition tax credits and any reform that they allow for the least amount of government control.

UNITED NATIONS
The U.N. is a broken and corrupt organization that empowers nations of the world to try and impose their laws on Americans. They aggressively assert civil rights violations on western countries, yet the U.N. shields brutal states like China, Saudi Arabia, and Russia from criticism and intervention. Reform needs to be vigorously pursued and corruption needs to be weeded out. America needs a U.N. representative that loves his country and boldly pushes for reform. The U.S. needs a representative in the U.N. like John Bolton who was attacked by the Left for being too aggressive in his attempts at reform and showing contempt for a corrupt system. America needs to resist the pressure from the U.N. and a Leftist anti-American agenda that seeks to impose its values on Americans.

JUDICIAL
There should not be an unchecked judiciary that is allowed to legislate from the bench. Activist judges have a stranglehold over our judicial system. They are bold in their attempts to push a Leftist agenda and support groups such as the ACLU in their litigious assault on American values. The U.S. Senate is guilty of being unnecessarily hostile to conservative judges in their nominations. The use of foreign precedent in American court rulings has also been on the rise; the U.S. Constitution should be the sole source of interpretation of our laws.