U.S. Senate: Jerry Joslyn

Name: Jerry Joslyn

Age: 60

Hometown: Scottsdale

Office running for: U.S. Senate

In district: Statewide

Political experience: I worked in several campaigns in college and in my 20s but I got tired working for candidates whose focus was on winning rather than on solving problems.

Family: 1 Wife, of 35 years, no kids

Party: Green

Please describe your platform:

The middle class now pays higher taxes than billionaire investors. In 2007 Warren Buffet earned $47 million dollars and paid 17.7 percent of it in taxes. His secretary made $60,000 and paid 30 percent. I want to ease in a flat tax so that every taxpayer gets the same $20,000 deduction and pays the same 28 percent rate. Mr. Buffet’s secretary would then pay 18.6 percent and Mr. Buffet would pay 28 percent. This flat tax would balance the budget and boost the economy by eliminating the jobs-killing payroll tax, while increasing middle class disposable incomes.

If elected, what is your first priority?

The  economy and jobs.

Who do you think is your biggest challenger and why?

John McCain is my biggest challenger. Although fewer than 50 percent of Republicans approved of Mr. McCain at the start of the year, he spent $21 million on the primary, $75 a vote, to beat J.D. Hayworth and Jim Deakin. He still has tens of millions in a slush fund left over from his 2008 campaign, eight of his top ten contributors were major Wall Street banks, which is why he voted for the bank bail out.

What do you think sets you apart from your opponent(s)?

One of the great things about running for office with a new political party is that you can start with a blank sheet of paper. None of my ideas necessarily conform to the old parities or to the demands of the special interest groups that finance their campaigns. I’ve never taken money from corporate PACs or labor unions and I never will. In fact I’m for ending all the special deals, all the multi-billion dollar give-a-ways hidden in the tax code and treating all of us taxpayers the same.

What would you do to achieve more transparency in government, and should government officials be in charge of managing those efforts?

I will do a town hall every two weeks when Congress is in session, over the Internet, so Arizona voters don’t have to wait six years for me to show up in their town.

Public notices are regarded as one important way for the public to find out what is really happening in government. Newspapers currently not only print public notices but also operate a free, consolidated, online, searchable database. Some people advocate that public notices should be available only on government websites. Do you agree that the Legislature should change the current law to mandate that public notices be available only on government websites?

That’s a state issue but my background is in newspapers and I know how important public notice advertising is to local newspapers. I don’t think the legislature should change the current law.

What do you think is the biggest challenge right now facing Yumans, and Arizonans?

The economy. Certainly immigration and jobs are part of that. I’m the only Senate candidate with a real plan to balance the budget with my flat tax proposal. It will also increase the number of jobs by eliminating the payroll tax, and increasing demand, by increasing middle class disposable incomes.

What would you do, if elected, to help change that?

Once we get the tax and budget situation squared away we need to look at getting the economy growing again. Our economy grew the most in 1960s with the creation of the Interstate Highway System and the 1990s with the creation of the Internet. The next big thing will be alternative energy. We’ll save $1 billion every day on foreign oil plus the trillions of dollars we spend on foreign wars. That’s why I’ll sponsor a plan from Microsoft’s Bill Gates to rapidly develop clean energy alternatives: an Apollo Project to economic prosperity.

What is one of your strength? Weaknesses (something you’d like to improve upon)?

One of my strengths is that I’m not a politician. I have friends who are unemployed, and I have friends who are underwater on their mortgages. Sure hindsight is golden, but they mostly did what they were supposed to do. The people who haven’t done what they’re supposed to are the politicians in Washington, both Democrats and Republicans. They were supposed to leave America in better shape than they found it; instead they’ve given us the worst economy since the Great Depression. They were supposed to work together for the good of the country. Instead they spend half their time arguing and pointing fingers at each other and the other half raising money from special interests to finance their next campaign. Of course that’s also one of my weaknesses, I don’t have any special interest money to campaign with.

What is one thing that you want voters to know?

We spend over twice what other advanced countries on health care, about $7,200 per person, per year. I want to expand the VA, America’s most efficient health care provider. Over a period of years as many as 100 million low income Americans could come under VA care, at an average cost of $3,500 each. With no change to Medicare benefits we can still cut costs and expand coverage.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

How many times have you wanted to send a message to Washington? This is your chance, because nothing will send a message like electing a member of the Arizona Green Party to the U.S. Senate. Go to my web site www.joslynforsenate.com for more information. I’m Jerry Joslyn. I ask for your support and your vote, thank you.