CLAY
COUNTY REPUBLICANS
Tennessee
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CLAY
COUNTY REPUBLICANS |
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CANDIDATES FOR
US CONGRESS 6th DISTRICT |
| LOU ANN ZELENIK | DIANE BLACK | |
| Background | Business owner, Vanderbilt Engineering School graduate |
BS Nursing Belmont Univ, Career Policitian TN Senator Tennesee State Representative |
| Family |
I support traditional marriage and oppose
alternative definitions of marriage. I oppose recognizing any other
definition of marriage. I support legislation that protects the lives of the unborn and have been a staunch supporter of issues dealing with life. I am a pro-life, pro-family candidate. I oppose taking tax money to fund abortions or abortion clinics. |
I believe the family is the most important aspect
of our society. As a wife, mother, and grandmother, I am pro-life and believe marriage should be defined as being between one man and one woman. All decisions that I make at the legislature are based on how they will affect the family. I will defend the Right to Life with every fiber of my being. |
| Economy | Believes the number one solution to our economic problems is a stronger, more vibrant small business community. Wants reform that reduces red tape and helps business grow. Will fight to keep taxes low. Believes more money in the hands of government is the wrong way to strengthen our struggling economy. Business belongs in the hands of America’s entrepreneurs, not the federal government. | ? |
| Energy | Strongly opposes the effort to raise home and business energy taxes (Cap & Trade). Believes unleashing American innovation, to encourage private sector solutions to energy efficiency will create jobs and move America forward. Thinks we should also use more of an energy source right here at home, nuclear energy. | Believes we need to unlock our American oil and gas reserves in Alaska, in the Rocky Mountain region, and off our coasts. Congress needs to lower the barriers to the permitting, approval, and financing of new nuclear plant construction. Clean coal technology must be a national research priority. The government should take the lead in this by setting aggressive benchmarks to conserve power in government owned buildings and fleets. Opposes carbon regulation. The United States’ energy policy should be driven by the economic and security objectives of our own country and not made subservient to Europe’s most radical ideas. |
| Property Rights |
Will fight to strengthen our private property
rights and to limit federal control. “Eminent Domain” laws to seize land from private citizens should only be to serve the common good, not third parties. |
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| 2nd Amendment |
Lifetime member of the NRA, gun owner, will protect our 2nd Amendment rights. Will work to remove any restrictions from gun shows and the right to carry across state lines. |
Co-sponsored “the castle doctrine”, Co-sponsored a
bill that protects the right of Tennesseans to keep and bear arms during
declared emergencies. Co-sponsored legislation to allow legal gun permit holder to carry into restaurants. |
| Taxes | A strong believer in the economic power of lower taxes. Believes Congress has allowed our tax laws to become a confusing mess of more than 2 million words that penalizes hard work and achievement. Supports repealing the Alternative Minimum Tax, simplifying the tax code and reducing rates. Believes Taxpayers deserve to have a federal government that does not grow beyond their ability to pay for it. They have a right to receive back each dollar that they entrust to the government for their retirement. We all have right to expect the government to balance the budget without having our taxes raised. Taxpayers also have a right to a simple, fair tax code that they can understand. | America’s high tax structure is choking economic growth. We need to follow the proven examples set forth in the Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush administrations – making our tax rate structure flatter and lower will generate economic growth. The first thing Congress needs to do is to make permanent the income tax rates that were in place when President Obama took office. The 2010 elimination of the Death Tax should be made permanent. We need to decrease tax rates on capital gains taxes and on corporate income. We need make our tax code simpler, flatter, and fairer to average Americans. |
| Education | Committed to restoring the civic mission of our founders in the public education system, including our culture and values. I support charter schools and home school programs. The rights of the homeschoolers should be protected without government prejudice or interference. Supports merit pay for good teachers, classroom discipline, parental involvement and reject social promotion through rewriting of our school text books | ? |
| Veterans | I support funding for additional doctors and healthcare professionals to reduce the wait for treatment and improve care. Additional counseling with special attention to combat stress injuries are a priority. I support making out of network health care available to our veterans, to reduce wait times and overcrowding. I support funding a Fischer House at our VA, for the families of those needing care. | Co-sponsored a measure that will help veterans with their property taxes. Diane co-sponsored legislation to reform the Tennessee Veterans Nursing Homes. |
| Immigration | In order to stop the flow of illegal immigrants, we must strengthen our borders through increasing border agents, building additional fences, and utilizing technology to monitor our borders. I am opposed to granting amnesty, social security and other benefits to those who break the law to get here. I support English as the official language of our nation. I support E-Verify, which provides an internet source for employers to confirm an applicant for a job is in our country legally. Does not support giving illegal immigrants government-issued identification. Believes we must reform the process for the 1.5 million people waiting in line legally, for citizenship and that we must also ensure temporary workers, and students with visas, return home after their legal time here has expired. | Voted to make it easier for illegal aliens to get driver's licenses and Driving certificates because Republicans could not get a repeal of the law allowing full driver's licenses. It was an incremental step toward full repeal. Co-sponsored legislation this year to cut off economic and community grant money to any Tennessee city that might declare itself a "sanctuary city" for illegal aliens. Co-sponsored legislation clarifying that Tennessee employers have a right to institute an English-in-the-workplace policy which passed in the Senate. Co-sponsored the “Employer Responsibility in Hiring Practices Act”, the bill would have required employers to use the Employment Eligibility Verification Basic Pilot Program to ensure that new hires are eligible to legally work in the United States. |
| Health Care | Agrees there is need for reform in our health care system. Wants reforms that will allow individuals, families, farmers, churches and small business to join together in insurance pools, to purchase health insurance across state lines and nationwide. Supports legislation to rein in frivolous lawsuits. Supports reforms that limit the power of insurance companies to discriminate based on preexisting conditions. Opposes government-run healthcare. Stands firmly against any effort that will cut half a trillion dollars from Medicare. | Opposed to a government-run, single-payer, Canadian-style system. Believes patients, doctors and health care providers should be making health care decisions – not bureaucrats in Washington. Insurance companies must become more flexible with regards to pre-existing conditions. At the same time, it must also be possible for Americans to take their insurance policy with them upon changing jobs. Believes in tort reform. Self-employed people should receive the same tax break that large corporations get for health care premiums. As we consider long-term insurance reform, we should test the concept of letting Americans buy their insurance through their churches, unions, civic clubs, professional associations or other groups not tied directly to their employment status. Believes we should Incentivizing providers and insurers to convert our records to an all-digital system. We should also improve the transparency in the payment of health care services. If we adjust to a payment system that is based on performance – where doctors make more as their chronic patients’ health care improves on transparent outcome measures. |
| Defense | There is no greater purpose for the federal government than defending our nation, vigorously and without apology. The transfer of terrorists to American facilities and the proposal to give them rights in our judicial system is unacceptable |
Believes the first and most important job of the
federal government is the protection of our citizens. Fulfilling this mandate requires strong border security, a state-of-the-art military, bold foreign policy, and a steadfast commitment to defeat our enemies wherever we find them. Once we apprehend terrorists, we must treat them as the enemy combatants. |
| Agriculture | I support policies that expand markets for our farmers, reduce their energy costs, increase their water supply and assure the future vitality of our land and our family farms. I am strongly opposed to the Cap and Trade Bill | ? |
| Federal Spending | Supports legislation that would prohibit earmarks. Believes each bill needs to be placed on the internet with the names of all involved in writing the bill. Support a mandatory Sunset Clause in all spending legislation. Believes the federal government should not use taxpayer dollars to compete with any private business. Support GAO audits and complete transparency of the Federal Reserve. | We need transparency rules that mandate that every meeting regarding unclassified policy decisions are open to the public and C-SPAN’s cameras – no backroom dealing. We need a balanced budget amendment to our Constitution and we need to make sure Congress passes its new budget on time every year. Believe it’s time to put an end to accounting tricks that base Congressional budgets on assumptions that don’t square with the real world. However, voted for $1.8 billion in spending above the state constitutional limit as Senator. |
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