The economy is a general concept used to describe a variety of activities that all Americans and their families engage in, from their jobs to their health care to their security. 

The federal government plays a role—and it is not always a positive role—in what Americans do in capacities as workers, producers, savers, investors, consumers, and builders of families and wealth. The government taxes, spends, and regulates.  But those government functions are not always done well and are often inefficient, duplicative, wasteful, and they often produce adverse incentives that actually punish work effort, thrift, families, and those in need. 

Increasingly, the United States and American families face global economic forces.  It is imperative that the federal government reform existing policies that don't work, scrap waste and inefficiencies, and ensure that American families, our children, and our grandchildren enjoy increasingly better standards of living and qualities of life. 

Americans are blessed with rich endowments and accumulated abilities to work and prosper in a bountiful land.  Kansans have entrusted me with the responsibility and obligation of stewardship: to carefully and responsibly work in the Senate to preserve America's precious resources and promote a better tomorrow for our families, our children, and our grandchildren.  Applying stewardship toward policies of the federal government that influence the economy, I advocate:

• Increased Employment: More and Better Jobs for Americans
• Pro-Growth Tax Policies: Policies to Grow the Economy and Jobs and Create Wealth
• Low Personal Income Taxes: Allow Americans to Keep Their Hard-Earned Money
  
• Low Corporate Taxes: Remain Globally Competitive With Low Domestic Taxes
  
• Simplify Taxes: Reform the System to Establish a Simpler, More Balanced Tax Code
  
• Fiscal Prudence: Slash Waste and Inefficiencies in Federal Spending
  
• Financial System Reform: Reform and Rewrite the Existing Tangled System of Regulation of the Financial System to Protect Consumers and Prevent Future Systemic Failures
  
• Social Security Reform: Keep the System as a Retirement Security Insurance Program and Put the System Back on a Sustainable Track
  
• Medicare and Medicaid Reform: Rein in Growth of Health Care Costs
  
• Affordable Health Care: Reform the Broken Health-Care Tax System and Use Market Forces to Harness the Power of Consumers
  
• Energy Policy Reform: Promote Alternative Fuels and Other Domestic Supplies, Promote Conservation and Efficiency in Energy Use
  
• Helping the Poor: Provide Assistance Coupled with Incentives for Work, Family Formation, and Wealth Building
  
• Support the Family: Change Tax and Federal Policies that Discourage Marriage and Family Formation
  
• Improve Education: Through Advancements  in Math, Science, and Other Education Initiatives to Help American Families Enjoy Higher Standards of Living and Qualities of Life
  
• Promote Trade: Open Foreign Markets to Our Goods Through Fair and Free Trade

Mirroring developments in the national economy, the economy in Kansas is feeling the effects of sluggish credit flows, cutbacks in job creation, increased unemployment, and reductions in stock market and housing wealth. I continue to work hard to represent families in Kansas and give them a voice in how the Nation works through our current economic and financial challenges.  Read More