The Economy is Job 1

By Matt W. Gray

Lawmakers have nearly killed our economy with fiscal mismanagement, over-regulation of small businesses, and excessive taxation.

Healthcare
Did you know that 25% of every dollar of your monthly healthcare costs go directly into bonuses for doctors and administrators? That is 25% on top of their salaries, and it is based upon how much money they DON'T spend on giving you tests and treatments.

Profit sharing due to denied treatment is entirely inappropriate and should be illegal.

One such example is how doctors block cancer medicine prescriptions to save profit; drugs like Finasteride and Dutasteride proven to cut prostate cancer rates by 50,000 cases/year and treatment costs just $2-3.50 per daily per person. Trade groups say "companies have taken note, saying it makes little economic sense to spend decades developing drugs to prevent cancer."

What's up with that, Doc?

Clearly people suffer and may die if they do not have adequate healthcare when it is needed. Healthcare is as much a public safety concern as police and fire services.

So why is it the responsibility of businesses to provide?

Businesses can still provide healthcare, but government should and must provide backup services that don't end up clogging up our emergency rooms as resulting in inflated costs that get passed onto members like you and me.

Corruption in the Capitol
Lawmakers have lost their way and their lack of political courage is hurting California. The lack of leadership, constant pandering to special interests, and enormous egos has replaced doing the work of the people and fixing our state's problems.

Fixing the Economy must take a priority if we are to keep out homes and jobs. But with all of the high priced fundraisers and campaign donations, lawmakers are not feeling our pain. We need greater transparency in "consulting fees" ($10,000 - $20,000 per month) paid to lawmakers by special interest groups, and their slush funds used for decorating their offices, buying lavish cars, and taking trips with their secretaries.

Fixing the Economy
There are 3.8 million small businesses in California and they provide most of our jobs. Over-regulation, excessive taxation, and abusive state agencies pocketing fines for minor technical violations is killing our job market.

We need to back off of harassing small businesses, give them room to breathe and grow, and encourage the development of jobs by making California business friendly once again.

Lowering taxes means people get to keep more money in their pockets and they can start saving money. Having savings accounts means people feel better about investing in growth opportunities which moves more products and of course employs more people. John F. Kennedy understood this proven concept, but our lawmakers today have no clue about how to run a business.

Easy as 1-2-3
In my lifetime California's educational system has gone from nearly the best to nearly the worst -- and it wasn't by accident.

Quit messing with our kids and their future!

Children are our most vulnerable population, and a reflection of our values & commitments. They deserve our full attention and protection, and no child should go to school hungry, suffer for lack of medicines, or be in abusive environments. No child should have a substandard education because decision makers shy away from their responsibilities

Our Failing Prison System
It makes no sense to lock-up a non-serious and non-violent offender with Charles Manson. But that is exactly what we do as we prepare low level offenders to become professional career criminals.

California now spends more on prisons than we do on all of higher education.

The average drug addict takes 4 times to succeed in treatment. Even if a drug addict fails drug treatment 4 times, it is still cheaper than locking them up in prison once. But our lawmakers lack the courage to publicly discuss other options and spend their time trying to pass sentencing increases because they want to appear tough on crime. They know it doesn't work, and in the end we suffer as taxpayers because we are stuck with the bill for it all AND our level of public safety suffers.

All of this, and much more, are available online at my website. Just visit http://www.votemattgray.com to see exactly where I am on issues and what needs to be done to reconstruct our economy and restore California to greatness.