Priorities

“I am deeply concerned about the financial welfare of our country. The spending in our government is out of control and has been for some time. We must face the fact that unless we make some immediate and dramatic changes by reducing spending we are going to put the burden of debt on our children and grandchildren for generations to come.”
                                                                                                                    ~Cleve Tidwell

Here are my views on several important issues:

The Constitution

America is ensured by our Constitution that we will always be a nation ruled by laws, not by men., Americans have revered the wisdom and foresight of our nation's founding documents, for more than 200 years and we must continue that proud tradition. What sets this nation apart in history is our conviction that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are not merely American rights, confined to our country, but the gifts of a benevolent Creator to all humanity.

Iwant to make it very clear that I feel government has overstepped it's duties according to our constitution. We need government out of our life. Not running departments that have damaged our way of life. We need government out of education and allow it to be controlled by our communities where our children are taught. We need government out of energy and most other departments that have been set up to create controls and regulations over the people of America. It's time we gave America back to the people and away from government controls. Read the U.S. Constitution and then let's start changing things in Washington. I expect to be a apart of leading the way in doing just that.


Fiscal Responsibility:

Both parties must come together to find the solution for less spending and a method to arrive at a balanced budget while keeping our taxes low. We have issues that need addressing now to ensure that Social Security, Health Care and Medicare can stay strong and meet the needs of our country.

It is not acceptable to be putting the burden of debt on the backs of our children and grandchildren. We must put leaders in Washington with real world business experience who know how to stand up for Americans and stop this foolish spending and help America recover not get further in debt.

Taxes and the IRS - The Fair Tax

I do support the fair tax proposal. I am a believer that a fair tax which is a consumption driven tax could prove healthy for our society based on what I have studied over the past 9 months. I have spent a lot of time going through the fair tax proposal and all the information and videos seemed well done and supported by some capable people. If all the projections are even close to being correct it seems it would be a good move for everyone. I would support a resolution for it provided we ended up with solid proof of its validity.

As for the IRS, I believe we could make great improvements to this system if not doing away with it totally while implemented the fair tax. A good step in the right direction.

I believe continued study needs to be completed to verify the validity of the fair tax projections but it looks good on the surface and could surely help Americans and American businesses.

Foreign Policy & National Defense

Iran and North Korea pose exceptional dangers because of their possession of nuclear materials. Careful relations with these nations should be a top foreign policy priority. We must be firm in our insistence that Iran and North Korea renounce any nuclear weapons programs. We must stay focused on solving this problem in this term.

We must strengthen our defense department. There are people in the world that want to hurt us and we must not allow that to ever happen again.


Protecting the Unborn

I am pro-life. If elected to the U.S. Senate I would appoint judges who don’t create law from the bench, but interpret the laws that are on the books.

As a U. S. Senator I would vote to put judges on the bench who will look closely at the Constitution for answers and leave legislating to legislators. When appointed judges overreach, their decisions undermine the public’s faith in the democratic process. Judges should follow the constitution.

Here are some important areas I support:
Prohibiting Federal Funding of Organizations that Support Coercive Abortions
Prohibiting Federal Funding of Abortion
Prohibiting the Promotion of Abortion as a Method of Family Planning
Supporting an Increase in Funding to Prohibit Minors From Being Taken Across State Lines for an Abortion


Stem Cell  Research

I believe that using any parts of science available to cure diseases and help our medical process -- adult stem cells; cord research -- those types of stem cell research that have actually been proven.

I do not support the type of stem cell research that destroys human life. I do strongly support the kinds of cell research that are proven to cure diseases, where we have tremendous breakthroughs.


Illegal Immigration

Enforcing the Rule of Law at the Border and Throughout the Nation

Border security is essential to national security.  In an age of terrorism, drug cartels, and criminal gangs, allowing millions of unidentified persons to enter and remain in this country poses grave risks to the sovereignty of the United States and the security of its people.  We simply must be able to track who is entering and leaving our country.  We need to make sure that we allow people to work here, but only if they’re legal. We need instant employer certification so employers know if people they’re hiring are legal, & punish employers who don’t. We have workers come here from around the globe and we must follow the rule of law.

I do oppose amnesty.  The rule of law suffers if government policies encourage or reward illegal activity.  The American people's rejection of a mass legalization is especially appropriate given the federal government's past failures to enforce the law.


Energy

I support the reintroduction of cost effective Nuclear Power. I also strongly support bio fuel, bio diesel, clean coal and the continued research and development of renewable energy sources like wind, solar and hydrogen.

I believe we must explore and develop the natural resources in and offshore of the United States. Sending our money to other countries is not good fiscal responsibility and we must not allow others to hold us hostage for our energy needs.

In Colorado we have some of the greatest opportunities for development of oil and gas. The time is now to have Colorado be the leader in oil and gas exploration in the United States. We must stop sending our money to offshore counties and start helping to reduce the burden of oil and gas high prices and demand here in our country. Colorado could and should be the backbone of this venture for progress in oil and gas. I believe this is a top priority as a senator.

Protecting Your Right to Bear Arms

I am committed to safeguarding the rights of law-abiding American citizens, and in the Senate I will be a consistent voice for the second amendment and fight attempts to weaken those rights that are granted in the Constitution

As a hunter and sportsman, I am a strong advocate for the Second Amendment. I believe the constitution provides law abiding citizens the freedom to keep and bear arms.


Civil Rights

I will insist that the United States Senate be a place that reflects our common sense, conservative Colorado values by supporting faith and family. It must be a place where we always remember that we are “one nation under God”, where we support the sanctity of marriage, and we strive to bring out the best in each other.

Education

“If we are to have our future generation prepared to compete in this global economy we must give immediate attention to our education system in America.
Our K-12 system must make sure every child has a chance to excel and be a productive person in society. Our math and sciences must be brought up to a level on a global standard. Teachers should be compensated based on performance that is measured on a global level of standards. We must also make sure all basic skills of reading, writing and communications are exceptional before moving on to another grade. For students entering college we should continue to look for creative ways to help them be able to afford to attend college.”
                              ~Cleve Tidwell


What I Believe:

We must rethink and decide how we will be a competitive country in the years ahead. The schools we loved were fine 50 years ago but are not prepared for today. We must have some serious change for the good of our children and our country.

The world is changing fast and dramatically and we must find solutions to handle and be a part of the change.
This is not a republican vs democrat issue.

The second greatest threat to the United States is the failure of our children to become competent in math and sciences. The world is not going to be kind in dealing with ignorance in this and future decades.

We know what we need to do and yet we are not putting the solutions into action. Let’s get to it.

We are competing against the rest of the world so the test we had in the past based on the US performance and measurement seems inappropriate.

I do support charter schools and vouchers.

Veterans and Military Personnel

I served in the United States Marine Corps and I am personally dedicated to protecting the interests of all military personnel, active and retired. The honor-bound agreement between our men and women in uniform and our nation does not end at retirement. No veteran should ever be forgotten.

We must ensure that veterans receive the health care, retirement pay, and disability benefits that they deserve.

Our military personnel have paid a debt to our society and we must do everything possible to help them improve their way of life as Americans.