ELECTION 2016: STATE SENATE, DISTRICT 5

Samuel Anderson

If elected, what is one thing you want to accomplish and how would you do it?

I will be your voice for your values. In the state senate, I will use the microphone to boldly speak for good and against evil. In the media, I will represent the disenfranchised voices of the silent majority, overcoming lies and deception with the truth. I will do my best to encourage, inform, and stimulate you to be a voice for truth for the sake of this and future generations. So-called public servants who simply serve themselves are the very definition of corrupt, and I will serve and defend you with all my strength if you’ll elect me state senator.

Do you support the Twin Tunnels, and why?

Our water rights and agriculture are in jeopardy with the Brown/Galgiani tunnels. These tunnels could destroy an entire agricultural region and will affect all of us if this foolish plan is implemented. Our community, which depends on our water, will destabilize. Our farming community will take a big hit. So will local jobs. Can you say devastation? Remember the ecological disaster of the Owens Valley, on the other side of the Sierra Nevada mountains? Its agriculture is gone — its people are gone — and the lack of water has resulted in desertification. A vote for Samuel Anderson will protect our water.

Do you support the highspeed rail project, and why?

Cathleen Galgiani said, “The highspeed rail bond had more accountability than any other bond measure ever in the history of the state of California.” We know this to be untrue. Cathleen Galgiani’s high-speed rail boondoggle was supposed to cost $10 billion in a state bond. Then the cost estimate for the line became $33 billion to go from Sacramento to San Diego by way of the Bay Area and Central Valley. Then, the cost was going to be $98 billion (remember, this is your money); then it went to $68 billion when the San Diego and Sacramento ends were eliminated.

Do you think prison reform has been a success, and why?

The “prison reform” of the liberal politicians has made California less safe and has put your family at risk. Prison overcrowding is no justification at all to release violent and chronic criminals back into the public. Instead, cheaper state prisons could be built by eliminating a choke-hold of expensive and unnecessary regulations and permit processes, and bringing in lowercost private-operated prisons or increasingly contracting outside the state with privately-operated prisons must be explored. For the sake of women and children, I will fight to protect you by doing everything in my power to keep convicted criminals behind bars.

Do you support the minimum wage increase, and why?

The job-killing $15 “minimum wage” mandate will ultimately hurt everybody. We live in a part-time economy. We only have part-time jobs for most of our population. The latest increase in the minimum wage only allowed for the state to stop paying out benefits to those who will be making more money. The $15/hr. minimum-wagers will suddenly get high enough wages that the state will soon say “we’re giving you less.” It’s a bait-and-switch and it happened in Washington State. The worst thing about this government socialism is that it will kill jobs.

Do you think pension reform is needed, and why?

The average public pension is several times more generous than 401(k)style plans in the private sector. This is upside down and the opposite of being a public servant. This feathering of your own pocket as a government worker must stop. Look at Lodi’s situation — the failure to do wise planning and rein in government expenses has put the city in debt. But voting to raise taxes, as Alan Nakanishi said he would do as a private citizen, is foolish and destructive. What’s putting Lodi citizens in debt? Foolish policies have created the spiraling pension debt crisis. No end in sight.

Do you think Common Core has been a success? What would you like to see changed about our education system?

Sadly, California public schools are not teaching children rigorous academics anymore. According to Children NOW, 75 percent of fourth graders are NOT proficient in reading and 75 percent of eighth graders are NOT proficient in math. This is despite California teachers being among the highest paid in the U.S. This failure of the system is sad and angering. The older, good teachers know that grammar is hardly taught anymore. And so many teenagers are dropping out before high school because classroom instruction is boring and uninspiring. Meanwhile, parents who want out of the dysfunctional government schools are doubletaxed — private schools and materials.

Where do you stand on immigration?

California must enforce the border instead of acting like there is no border and nothing special about American citizenship. When we stop the importation of illegals, we will restore sanity to the situation by letting people wait their turn to become legal immigrants and eventually naturalized citizens or permanent residents. There is no free lunch. Illegal immigration is hurting the economy and our culture. We can’t be the savior of the entire world. We must have borders and control. It is our security. Without it, you have chaos and violence and increased crime. We are both seeing the negative consequences.

Do you see affordable housing as an issue? If so, what would you do to address it?

Housing prices are artificially high because the demand is greater than the supply. We must increase the supply of houses by eliminating the onerous fees and regulations that which stifle new development. We must fight each step of the way against an immoral, corrupt local and state government that is squeezing people’s budgets with too-high taxes, fees and assessments. And we must replace the liberal Democrats who control the state legislature. They have scared away businesses where people can have a career, not just a job. Our hurting economy has been reduced to a part-time job state and lower incomes.

Do you think recreational marijuana should be legalized? If so, what, if any, regulations should be put in place on the industry?

With all my years in law enforcement and as an instructor, I see what marijuana is already doing to young people, and I wish more people would realize what full-blown marijuana legalization would mean to California. Obviously, it’s moving beyond “medicinal marijuana” and liberals want to usher in a marijuana culture to forever change society. They want the next generation to think it’s “normal” to “get high.” Studies show marijuana is a gateway drug to cocaine and meth. Teens and young adults are especially at risk from today’s potent, mind-altering marijuana, which can permanently damage their developing brains and young lungs.

What do you think is the number one challenge businesses face in California?

The Democrat politicians in the California Legislature! Cathleen Galgiani and her fellow Democrats think our money is theirs — and they are very unfriendly to businesses, whether large or small. Galgiani has voted for tax increases on businesses and on your online purchases. This is why thousands of businesses have left California. The Democrat politicians have pushed them out! You’ve heard these sayings, haven’t you? “There are only two things certain in life: death and taxes”; “Taxes are a necessary evil.” But have you heard “The power to tax is the power to destroy”?

What do you think about healthcare reform? What needs to be changed about the healthcare system?

Beyond our own healthy choices, the key to real health-care reform in the laws is to move toward patient-centered, market-based health care reform. We should make tax policy fair and rational — no more tax unfairness or lack of portability. We should promote individual responsibility — thus individual health — wherever we can, by incentivizing people to secure and maintain private health insurance rather than depending on government-run health coverage. As we pursue simple reforms to promote stability, portability, and personal ownership, we of course should give special care to addressing access issues for the hard-to-insure and pre-existing conditions.

Do you think our ADA laws need to be reformed, and why?

Small businesses that are just a little bit out of compliance with the law are slapped with an onerous $4,000 fine per infraction. Add to this the ADA abuse of you, the taxpayer.