The president is correct, in order to lower prices, competition is the way to go.  This is why we need to open up competition between health insurers by encouraging free and open competition between states.  Our people should have the freedom to decide which health insurance options are right for them.   We also need to let small groups come together to access group healthcare rates and policies that make no exclusions for pre-existing conditions.

We should also promote healthy living and reward those individuals that are committed to being healthy.  This is America and we are free to do as we please, for now. However, if an individual is going to choose to participate in activities that are unhealthy, he/she should expect to pay higher premiums for those choices.    Insurance companies concerned about patients rushing to the doctor for "every little thing" could offer slightly higher co-payments. For our younger, healthier people, insurers need to offer plans with higher deductibles and higher co-payments as well as low cost catastrophic policies.  

To lower the cost of health care for everyone, there needs to be a system in place where physicians are able to practice preventative instead of defensive medicine. This will only be achieved through tort reform. We also need to overhaul Medicare and Medicaid focusing on the elimination of fraud, which government admits is driving up the cost to taxpayers.

Finally, we need to reform our tax codes so that poorer individuals and families will get tax credits towards the purchase of health insurance.  For anyone that can not afford insurance, we need to be able to let them know about their Medicaid options.

For further information on my stance on health care bills that are currently being presented by Congress, please see my BLOG section. Here you will also see more of my ideas on ways to fix these problems.

The most important role of government is the protection of the American people and our homeland. Strong leadership on National Security is a must.

The pre-eminent threat that our nation faces today emanates from radical Islamic terrorists, but there are many other challenges  to our national security as well. All sober-minded Americans must understand that Al Qaeda remains committed to attacking us on our own soil, and desires greatly to use weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to cause massive casualties. We must never forget the lessons of 9-11, and we must do everything in our power to stop these terrorist organizations from carrying out such an attack on our homeland again.

In addition, there are evolving threats around the world; from Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, and other rogue regimes that we need to take very seriously. These regimes continue to traffic in virulent Anti-American rhetoric, and they are militarily aligning themselves against us. We must also not give back the forward positions we have taken or the humanitarian efforts that we have made in both Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which remain important fronts in our global war on Radical Islam. We must show the world we have not only the means, but also the will, to fight and stop these evolving threats. If we show weakness to the world- in word or in deed- we will only encourage further attacks. To those ends I am committed to supporting:

• A more robust, modernized military with an emphasis on quick-strike capabilities that can defeat terrorists, deter adversaries, defend the U.S. homeland and our interests abroad, as well as, adapt to the challenges of a new century with new threats.
  
• A missile defense system that can protect the U.S. and our allies from long-range ballistic missiles- an increasing threat as more nations develop or acquire nuclear weapons.
  
  
• A more effective and streamlined approach to homeland security that will protect our nation from terrorists, both foreign and domestic, and WMD.

What we need most now from Members of Congress is leadership on matters of national security, a quality which has been sorely lacking from Congressman Wexler. We need to talk to the American people honestly about the threats we face as a Nation- both domestic and international - and map out a clear vision and strategy for dealing with these threats accordingly. I firmly believe that National Security is the most important issue of our time, and the partisan doublespeak that we have come to expect from Congressman Wexler on numerous issues pertaining to National Security needs to be held to account.

The answer to our energy "crisis" is a "use it all" approach, which will not only lessen our dependence on foreign sources but create quality, high paying jobs for our citizens.

A vast majority of our energy resources presently come from outside of the United States, with our largest imports coming from Canada and Mexico. However, an ever increasing percentage of our resources are obtained from the Middle East, where many governments are extremely anti-American despite the hundreds of billions of dollars in oil sales to them every year.

As we found in the 1970's, and again in 2007, reliance on oil from these countries can be extremely hazardous to price and availability of the energy supplies we use every day. Therefore we need to lessen our dependence on foreign oil supplies while increasing our domestically produced energy. Currently, our federal government has set a goal of obtaining 20% of our energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2020. While this is a noble goal that I applaud, there would still be 80% of our energy that will be coming from non-renewable sources. We must begin to use the vast renewable and non-renewable resources this country contains to end our dependence on foreign oil and create high quality high pay jobs here in the United States. We must allow further drilling for oil and natural gas, increase our utilization of nuclear energy and further the production of clean coal technologies.

We have nearly a hundred years of oil reserves between the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and a multitude of other states across this nation. With new drilling techniques over 30 wells can be drilled from a single oil platform spread across miles of land or ocean. These very same platforms survived the wrath of Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf without causing a giant oil slick following in its path and have proven enviromental path. There is a significantly higher risk of oil spill when hauling oil over 1,000's of miles across the ocean rather than pumping it from our own reserves only several dozen miles from our coast in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to oil, there is 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas right off the coast of Florida.

Nuclear power has been used to great success by many of our European allies, France is currently generating nearly 80% of its electrical power from nuclear plants. The last nuclear plants built in the United States were last built in the late 70's, over 30 years ago. Over the last 30 years we have proven nuclear to be safe alternative to oil, coal and gas fired power plants, and equally cost effective.  In fact, Florida has been utilizing nuclear energy for many years successfully.

The United States could be considered the Saudi Arabia of coal deposits. Our coal reserves are shown to be some of the largest in the world. Coal, though inexpensive, has become known a the "dirty" word. With new clean coal technologies carbon, soot, and green house gasses can be scrubbed and recycled before being vented to the atmosphere leaving little but water vapor to fall back to the earth as rain.

While the debate on climate change or global warming (or whatever the politically correct term is today) is far from over, we can all agree we should be good stewards of the planet. To that end I fully support the use of green renewable energies. Florida has the ability to be a leader in green renewable energy however; currently we are far from it. Despite Florida being called the "Sunshine State" the City of Seattle Washington uses more solar energy than the entire state of Florida. We have millions of homes and businesses that could generate 1,000's of kilowatts of electricity every day with inexpensive solar cells supplemented by solar water heating, a technology perfected in the 70's but hardly used today. We have 2,300 miles of coastline that can be tapped for electrical generation using new tidal technologies currently being developed by FAU right off the Dania Beach coast in Broward County. The Florida aquifer sits at a consistent 55 degrees; geothermal cooling technologies allow chilled water air conditioning for Florida's homes and businesses.

The answer to our energy "crisis" is a "use it all" approach.  We need to utilize all forms of domestic energy production, which will create tens of thousands of jobs right here in Florida.  We need to stop the bans put on alternate fuel vehicles by the large oil companies and, most importantly, we need to have a congressman that is willing to stand up and will demand that our federal government listen to the will of "the people".

I believe in a single state solution for Israel and unwavering support for Israel, without conditions.

The overwhelming truth is that Israel is our staunchest ally in the middle east and any nation that is our friend deserves our fullest support.  I would like to unequivocally state that I do not support a two state solution.  I believe that the Jewish people were given the land that is now Israel in 1948 and that was that.  The Nation of Israel was, is and should remain a contiguous nation with their capital being Jerusalem....an undivided Jerusalem.  Arafat was given everything that he asked for from Israel at Camp David, yet he responded with more violence and terrorist attacks upon innocent people.  If there will be no peace, then there will be no peace with a whole, undivided, contiguous nation. If there will be peace, then there will be peace within a whole, undivided, contiguous nation.  Israel should not live with fences within their nation and they should promote peace for all inhabitants of their land. The United States would not allow a divided America, we should not promote a divided Israel.

We must also stand with Israel, and let the rest of the world know that we are doing so.  Israel's best chance of survival is having those that would seek to do Her harm understand, in no uncertain terms, that the United States will not tolerate any hostile moves towards any of our allies.  We also need to let Israel defend Herself against those that seek to do harm including taking out nuclear capabilities of nations that openly state their desire for the destruction of Israel or the Jewish people.  A nuclear Iran is not just a threat to Israel but to all humanity.

We need to aggressively cut taxes, reign in government spending, stop bailing out failing industries and get back to free market solutions to revive our nations economy.

Let's be frank- the primary problem that afflicts our federal government is unrestrained government spending, and that reckless profligacy is the fault of both Democrats and Republicans. This already out-of-control spending crisis has intensified with the recent bailouts of failed companies, the so called "stimulus" plans and the recent raising of our "debt ceiling" by Congress. If we don't get a handle on our spending immediately, the consequences of our lack of fiscal discipline will be far-reaching. I was foursquare against the bailout of the banking/financial services industry, and I am also opposed to the so called "stimulus" bill, which is essentially a bloated spending bill saturated with projects that have nothing to do with "stimulating" our economy or encouraging the creation of permanent jobs within the private sector.  The recent raising of our debt ceiling so we can borrow more money on the backs of our children and grandchildren is irresponsible. 

Even before the bailouts and "stimulus" plans hit the spending craze accelerator , government spending was already out of control. It should go without saying that bigger government and runaway taxes are harmful to our nation's economy. When politicians spend money, whether the source of that money is from increased taxes or through borrowing, they are ultimately taking money from the productive sector of the economy. Politicians do not use strict cost-benefit analysis to determine if taxpayer money is being well-spent, particularly when compared with the efficiency of private-sector expenditures. Unfortunately, politicians distribute funds on the basis of political rather than economic considerations. This state of affairs was not what the Founders intentioned, and it inevitably weakens our overall economic performance.

The proponents of big government and runaway taxes such as Congressman Wexler shed crocodile tears for eight years about the deficit spending that occurred when President Bush was in office. Now that we have a Democratic President, Congressman Wexler is all too happy to vote for the most wasteful, pork-laden bill ever to pass Congress. We need a return to fiscal discipline and free markets- it was holding fast to these ideas that brought about our economic prosperity as a Nation, not unrestrained government spending.

It's a debilitating cycle- politicians raise your taxes and increase government spending, dragging our economy down in ways that never make the nightly news, in addition to undermining our nations' competitiveness in a demanding global economy. Is making America more like other European welfare states what we want to bequeath to future generations?

To save our children and our grandchildren from such a fate, we need to aggressively cut taxes and get serious about reigning in government spending to bring our fiscal house in order. To those ends, I am committed to:

• Complete transparency for all appropriations bills, and increasing the citizenry's awareness and education about Congressional appropriations process by opening every aspect of that process for all to see. Concerned citizens need to understand how our present spending rate will ultimately spell disaster for our economy.

• Voting against any bloated appropriations bill or "bailout" that comes up before the House.

• Leading and making the hard choices necessary, and joining with like-minded colleagues to cut wasteful government spending, safeguard our prosperity and security, and protect future generations from fiscal calamity.

• Fundamental tax reform built on the principles of simplicity, fairness, and growth.
• A new tax code that gets the government out of our citizens' pocketbooks, while enhancing U.S. competitiveness abroad.
• Dissolution of the IRS as we know it.

It's time to reform our tax code and work toward the dissolution of the IRS as we know it.  I believe current tax rates and complicated tax forms are a burden to the American people and a hindrance to economic prosperity. 

The U.S. tax code as it now stands is a monumental burden on taxpayers and businesses, and it cripples private sector productivity and economic growth - no American is immune from the negative effects of the a code that not even our legislators can comprehend.  The tax code is particularly hostile to both savings and investment, and taxpayers spend billions of dollars and endless hours each year filling out complicated tax returns, only to send back that money back to Washington bureaucrats who continue to spend it on their wasteful programs and the pet projects of special interest groups.  

Given the state of our current economic climate, we need to aggressively work towards reducing both corporate and personal income taxes, because ultimately companies and individuals know best where and how to spend their dollars.  I have given serious thought to several proposed structural reforms of the tax code, including the FairTax and the Flat Tax, and there are strong cases to be made for many of the aspects contained within both of these proposed reforms. We need to be just as concerned about reforming our tax structure as we are about reducing the level of taxation that we are now subject to; therefore we need to work towards both the simplification of the tax code as well as lower tax rates, the goal being a tax code that is simpler and fairer for all.  To ensure America's long term prosperity and economic security, I am committed to:

• Reform of the tax system that simplifies our current tax code and promotes economic growth, and enhances our competitiveness abroad.
  
  
• Giving taxpayers a choice whether to file under the old tax code or a newly reformed tax code structure
  
  
• Reducing our corporate tax rate, which is among the highest in the world,  to encourage companies to incorporate and start businesses within America
  
  
• Reducing marginal rates for all income brackets and the elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)
  
  
• Work towards the dissolution of the IRS as we know it.

I believe that education for our children should be governed locally and teachers should be allowed to teach a curriculum.  I am against "embedded assesments" programs.

I am proud to say that my children attend public school in Palm Beach County.  We are very involved in their education and, as such, we know first hand the challenges facing our education system.  We won a recent battle over the Palm Beach School Board with regard to the "embedded assessments" program which would require teachers to follow a strict daily schedule and move on the next day, regardless of whether the students are ready.  The reason this measure was not put into place was because of our parents.  Make no mistake about it, when it comes to education of their children, parents will win every time...if they get involved.

The key for better education for our children has very little to do with classroom size, standardized test scores that are used to determine the funding for schools, number of schools, etc.  If we want better education for our children, the main issue that needs to be addressed is to get parents involved in their children's education and allow teachers to teach a curriculum not spend countless weeks teaching to a test like they do now with the FCAT.

There are many ways to get parents involved but the best way is to make it a team effort with teachers and parents where both teachers and parents are rewarded for involvement. We need to focus our time and efforts, especially in economically challenged areas where parents may not have the time to attend curriculum nights due to work schedules.  When we accomplish this, all of our children will win.

No amnesty. Period.  We must secure our borders and enforce our immigration laws.

I want to be clear, there is a difference between "immigration" and "illegal immigration".  If someone is here illegally, they do not belong in our country.

Before we can address any solution for illegal immigration we must first secure our borders.  Nothing will work if we do not secure our borders, not just for the purposes of illegal immigration but for the protection of our nation against terrorism.  We need to use all resources to secure our border and by all means including actual fences, electronic monitoring and personnel.

Once our borders are secure I would employ a several tier, simultaneous approach.  First, we need to enforce our nation's laws against anyone who is breaking them.  That includes employers who are hiring illegal immigrants.  We have temporary work visa programs that are legal means to guarantee that employers will have workers available.  If anyone knowingly hires an illegal immigrant worker, they need to be dealt with according to the strictest adherence to our laws.  Next, we need to get rid of every illegal immigrant that currently enjoys the safety and security of our prison system.  If they broke the law and are in our prisons we need to send them back to their own country, immediately.  The amount of money that we would save by not having to house, feed, clothe, educate and entertain them would more than make up for the one way ticket back to their own country.  If their home country wants to allow a convicted felon to roam free on their streets instead of serving out their prison sentence according to their laws, that is their business but, we will not be affected since our borders are secure and they will not be able to come back. 

If we have a city in our nation that is considered a "sanctuary city" by allowing illegal immigrants to have the same, or more, rights as our own citizens I would make sure that not one penny in federal funds will be given to that city as long as they continue to ignore our constitution and laws. That would put an immediate end to sanctuary cities.

I get a lot of comments about my stern stance on immigration, especially since I have a hispanic heritage but I look at it like this.  If you came home tonight from a hard days work and found people in your house that you did not invite in, you would call the police to have them removed. What if the police told you that not only did they have a right to stay in your house but you would have to feed them, pay them to do work around your house and make sure they had medical care?  Well, that is exactly what happens in our nation, and our nation is "our house".  It is wrong and it needs to stop now. I would never be so cold blooded to post an immigration officer at the entrance to an emergency room but, after they were made healthy, I would definitely post an immigration officer at the exit of an emergency room.

That being said, we need to have a "legal" immigration policy that makes sense and is significantly more streamlined for those people who are willing to follow the rules and make our nation a better place to live for our families and theirs but, it will only be for people who are not currently here illegally and for people that are willing to come to our country, learn our language and act responsibly for the betterment of our nation as a whole.

Every American citizen is born with the right to keep and bear arms.

I have always been a proud and unapologetic supporter of the Second Amendment. Every American citizen is born with the right to keep and bear arms.  The Democrat party consistantly wants to limit the right of Americans to defend themselves and their families. Statistics have consistently shown that where the right bear arms is restricted, crime rates skyrocket. As the old saying goes, 'If you outlaw guns, only outlaws will have guns'. I favor the safe and legal ownership of firearms by law abiding citizens and common sense laws to prevent criminals and mentally unstable persons from purchasing them.