★ Fresh Ideas ★ 

The following constitutes a sampling of Doug's ideas, focusing on the issues that matter most to Minnesotans and residents of Eagan: 

★ Returning fiscal responsibility to state government; 

★ Revitalizing the economy and fostering real job creation by reducing job-killing taxes and regulatory burdens; 

★ Promoting accountable and transparent government; 

★ Protecting Minnesotans' freedom to purchase the high-quality health care they want, when they want it, from their preferred doctors; 

★ Lowering health-care costs through free-enterprise reforms; 

★ Investing wisely in roads and bridges; 

★ Promoting quality education by fostering innovation and competition; and

★ Supporting our troops and veterans.

Returning fiscal responsibility to Minnesota government

?       Ensure that government lives within its means, just as Minnesota families must

?       Rebuild the state's budget from the bottom up

?       Review performance of all government spending initiatives

?       Cut wasteful spending and eliminate redundant bureaucracies

?       Mandate biennial, up-or-down re-authorization votes for each and every new government policy or programs that increases spending

?       Return all savings to the taxpayers by reducing tax rates

Jobs and prosperity: unleashing the power of economic freedom

?       While reducing wasteful state spending, cut Minnesotans' individual income tax rates

?       Phase-out Minnesota's job-killing corporate income tax

?       Structurally limit the size of government to make room for innovation, free enterprise,  and job creation

?       Amend the Minnesota Constitution to cap annual spending at percentage of GDP, and implement ?sunshine commissions? to generate proposals to reduce spending if and when the GDP limit so requires

?       Amend the Minnesota Constitution to limit state spending to the prior year?s tax receipts

?       Amend the Minnesota Constitution to require a three-fifths supermajority vote in both the House and Senate in order to pass any new tax or tax increase

?       Provide tax incentives to grow existing small businesses and create jobs

?       Attract new employers and jobs to Minnesota

?       Phase-in reduced Minnesota tax rates for out-of-state businesses that relocate  to Minnesota or open new locations in Minnesota

?       Cut employers' and employees' health care costs through American-style    reforms (see below)

?       Reject wasteful and ineffective "stimulus" spending proposals

?       Promote development of American energy resources

?       No bailouts

Protecting Minnesotans? right to choose quality health care

?       Promote American-style reforms

?       Promote competition amongst health insurance and care providers to reduce  costs and increase quality

?       Focus on reforms that reflect the principles and mechanisms that have made America strong and prosperous: economic freedom, American ingenuity, the entrepreneurial spirit, and free markets

?       Cut costs, protect Minnesotans' health care choices, promote competition, and increase quality

?      Cap punitive damages in medical malpractice suits

?      Ensure health insurance portability

?      Open Minnesota's health insurance market to increase the number of insurance options available to Minnesotans and their employers

?      Minnesotans should not be limited to choosing from a few, large health insurance providers

?      Make it easier for out-of-state insurers to provide coverage through Minnesota-based subsidiaries

?      Pass resolution opposing federal restrictions on interstate purchasing of health insurance

?       Oppose the quality-destroying, cost-multiplying, choice-limiting Federal Health Care Reform Act

?      States are the "laboratories of democracy"; Minnesota should lead the nation with innovative, American-style reforms

?      Encourage the Minnesota Attorney General to join the multistate lawsuit challenging the Federal health care reform act

?      Amend Minnesota's Constitution to provide Minnesotans' and Minnesota employers' with a constitutional right to purchase the private health insurance and care of their choosing

?      Allow Minnesotans to purchase individualized health insurance packages and a la carte coverage options

?      Purchasing health insurance shouldn't be significantly harder than purchasing auto insurance

?       Examine market-disrupting coverage mandates

?       Expand and promote tax-free Health Savings Accounts

Letting Minnesotans keep more of what they earn

?      Oppose all tax increases:  Minnesotans face one of the highest tax burdens in the United States.  We must re-invent the way government delivers services and reduce spending

?      Reduce job-killing state income taxes

?      Amend the Minnesota Constitution to require a three-fifths supermajority to pass any tax increase or new tax

?      Maintain strict cap on property tax increases

Promoting quality education: fair funding for suburban schools, local control, and expanded education options

?      Enhance parents? ability to control what their children are taught in school and influence choice of curriculum

?      Eliminate burdensome regulations that inhibit education innovation

?      Promote charter schools and explore means to improve education quality through competition

?      Provide tax relief for parents and students paying for higher education

?      Use performance pay to reward excellence in teaching

?      Expand education options and promote innovation by creating follow-the-student tax credits

?      Increase support for parents who choose to home-school their children

Returning accountability to state government

?      Amend the Minnesota Constitution to eliminate the practice of enacting massive "omnibus" bills that package multiple proposals into single piece of legislation

?      Require that all legislation be made available to the public, online, for a meaningful number of days before any vote on final passage may take place

Supporting our troops and veterans

?       Eliminate all state taxes on veterans? benefits

?       Improve mental health care options for veterans