I am running for State House District 28 in order to aid Greenville County in reducing taxes by cutting pork barrel spending. I will also help to protect private property owners from the misuse of eminent domain. Lack of immigration enforcement is another serious issue to be addressed.

Property taxes are out of control. According to my tax bills, 55% of property and vehicle taxes help to fund public schools. According to a pamphlet released by South Carolinians for Responsible Government, the school budget allots over $9,000 per student, yet the majority of this money never makes it to the classroom. The state education budget which is outlined in the House Ways and Means Committee, shows that a great deal of this money goes to needlessly high bureaucratic salaries and outrageous building costs. No wonder South Carolina has the lowest rate of graduating seniors in the United States.

A portion of these same taxes is used to fund Greenville County operations. The budget for County Council for the fiscal year 2005 was $869,166. The Summary of Services for the County Council, according to Greenville County.org, is:

Services include, but are not limited to, holding public meetings to consider ordinances, resolutions, bids, contracts, zoning changes, road maintenance and to review any and all matters relating to County business; levying taxes and raising/lowering tax millage; adopting an annual County budget; setting policies and procedures; classifying and storing legislative materials for reference and review; responding to citizens questions, requests and need for information.

There cannot be any need for $860,166 to perform these services.

Through the misuse of eminent domain, families have lost their homes that they have lived in for many years for a someday-to-be-built runway at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport. The director of the airport previously admitted that some of the land might in fact be used as a private industrial park. Most recently through the misuse of eminent domain we have seen three properties seized by Greenville City to build housing and create access ways. In these cases the city was found to have had criminal intent. These are instances of corporations benefiting from the stolen wealth of private individuals and I want to put a stop to this government corruption.

Illegal immigration is a very serious problem and is out of control. Those who come to this country illegally do not have any Constitutional rights and are not entitled to any privileges. If foreigners want to have a better life for themselves in our country, they need to cross the border legally. In Columbia I will encourage and cultivate legislation to protect private citizens from out of control and rapidly growing abuses of eminent domain and pork barrel spending and mandate that state officials uphold current immigration laws.

The Democrats and the Republicans will have you believe there is only a two party system of politics. This is not true. You have another choice. The Constitution Party wants to return Constitutional law and government at state and federal levels.

And I want to return to you, the people, your voice in government.

Thank you.