Colette Rosati R.N. On The Issues
Immigration - Taxes - Spending - Republican Platform - Education - Guns - Health - Transportation - Abortion - Marriage
Immigration -- Immigration is the responsibility of the Federal government. However, the Federal government has neglected its responsibility and allowed Arizona to be inundated by a flood of illegal aliens. Arizona should demand the Federal government allocate adequate resources to secure the international borders now and if they continue to do nothing, Arizona should secure the international border and send the bill to Washington, D.C.

The state should end the financial burden illegal aliens have on Arizona citizens and law-abiding immigrants and stop providing taxpayer funded services to illegal aliens. Providing an education to the children of illegal aliens means less money for our own children’s education. Welfare given to illegal aliens takes money from our own citizens who temporarily need assistance. Treating illegal aliens in our hospitals translates into higher costs for the rest of us. Locking up convicted criminals who are in the country illegally is very expensive and it would be cheaper to prevent the potential criminals (and terrorists) from entering the U.S. in the first place. Finally, the state must reduce and quickly eliminate the financial advantage some employers gain by hiring illegals.
Taxes -- Reducing the relatively high income and property taxes that individuals and businesses pay in Arizona is vital to Arizona's continued economic health. However, big spenders in the Legislature and special interest groups have their minds set on spending your money on their unnecessary projects and resist any and all attempts at reducing taxes. High income taxes are bad for business, the people of Arizona and a negative for our state in general. It makes us less competitive when compared to neighboring states, like New Mexico, Nevada and Texas. In addition, increasing property taxes threaten people on fixed incomes. When you think about it, we are all on fixed incomes. Not many people got a 25% raise last year like the government.
Spending -- The extremely rapid growth in state spending must be curtailed. Expenditures have increased more than twice as fast as personal income and population. For the last three years the Governor and some members of the Legislature have loaded the budget with unnecessary and counterproductive spending that is nothing more than pork barrel projects. When the next economic downturn comes, the now gargantuan state budget will result in another fiscal crisis worse than the last. I have voted and would continue to vote against all unnecessary projects. Furthermore, I would work to limit the increase in state spending to a responsible level, one that is no larger than the growth in personal income and population.
Republican Platform -- I wholeheartedly support the Republican Platform and firmly believe in a limited constitutional government where our freedom, economic prosperity, and well-being are not threatened by excessive taxation, runaway government spending, and a flood of illegal aliens.
Education -- Arizona is experiencing tremendous success with its home schoolers and many of its charter schools. Sadly though, our public schools continue to fail our children, as evidenced by the high dropout rates and low test scores among public school students.

We must save and improve our public schools and we must face the reality that merely spending more money is not the answer. At the end of the day, the only thing that will force the public schools to change their culture and produce better results is increased competition, more school choice options and greater parental involvement. We must also reward our quality teachers with better pay!

We must also help our Hispanic students to better assimilate into the school programs through English immersion programs. We must not allow them to be left behind just to satisfy a divisive, liberal social agenda.
Guns -- I am absolutely committed to defending Arizonans’ 2nd Amendment rights. Furthermore, I fail to see how someone cannot understand words in our Constitution like "shall not be infringed."
Health -- The Legislature and the State must help Arizona residents provide for their own health care by lowering taxes and government fees so that people can purchase health insurance and save money in HSAs, or their equivalent, for the day when they or their loved ones need the services of health care providers. The state should also reduce the taxes and fees businesses pay so that employers will be able to provide health benefits to their workers. Finally, the state must institute tort reform in all areas of medical care, not just for emergency room physicians, by stopping frivolous lawsuits which drive up the cost of health insurance for honest hard-working taxpayers.
Transportation -- Freeway construction should be accelerated with money saved by terminating the 15 mph trolley which, if completed, will benefit a very very small portion of the population.
Abortion - I'm Pro-Life. Two things should be done immediately:
1) Taxpayer funded abortions should be eliminated.
2) Minors should obtain written notarized permission from their parents or guardians before seeing abortionists.
Marriage -- A marriage is the union of one man and one woman. It is not polygamy or two or more individuals living together. Therefore, I support the Protect Marriage amendment which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman and prohibits creating or recognizing any legal status for unmarried persons that is similar to that of marriage.