Before I vote on it, I will read it


"It is not my intention to do away with government.  It is rather to make it work - work with us, not over us; stand by our side, not ride on our back.  Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it."
Ronald Reagan in his first Inaugural Address - January 20, 1981

Taxes - let's get this one out of the way.  I've never liked taxes and never will.  We survived just fine from 1776 to 1913 without an income tax.  With the passage of the Sixteenth Amendment, the government really can tax 100% of our income.  We are taxed more than enough.  The problem is that government does not spend wisely.  .  
Government- it has its place, but let's be honest, it's everyplace!  Why?  When Governor Perdue submitted last year's budget, there was an 8% growth in governmental costs.  Why?  Look, in November 2006, the Republicans lost control of both Houses of Congress, not because the Democrats had better ideas, they had no ideas!  We lost in 2006 because of spending, spending, and a little more spending.  In Georgia, the GOP held its own and faired quite well.  Apparently some folks in Atlanta took it as a green light to spend away.  This must come to a screeching halt.  If it does not, in 2008 we will lose at least one House of the Legislature, and in 2010 the Republican candidate will be placing a congratulatory phone call to Governor-elect Taylor.  How do you tell Georgians that Medicaid was cut by $65,000,000 (according to Georgia's Medicaid office) but we expanded government by 8%?  Now, if people are doing well and less are in need of physical and occupational therapeutic services, by all means allocate less money.  I know for a fact that this is not the case!  Georgia's cuts were so severe and unwarranted that national recognition was given. If a medical doctor writes a prescription for medication, it is filled with no questions asked by Georgia Medicaid.  If that same doctor prescribes physical and/or occupational and/or speech therapy, and writes a statement of medical necessity, many times Georgia Medicaid denies services.  Why is this?  Why does a bureaucrat in Atlanta have the authority to deny Georgians non-pharmaceutical treatment prescribed by a medical doctor (often a specialist)?  We have all heard about the federal government's "Medicaid shortfall".  After many many calls to Atlanta, I learned that Georgia must pay 40% in advance to the federal government, which in turn will pay Georgia 100% of the Medicaid funding (it confused me too).  Well, Georgia did not pay, and therefore it received less.  Why did Georgia not pay?  This is an example of bad government.  Send me to Atlanta to make every attempt to give you the good government that you deserve and pay entirely too much for.
People - is what my campaign is about as you should be able to see by now.  When I speak, and when I design my website (I created and monitor this site), I give you an honest and specific answer.  In short, you know what you're getting.  If you agree with my positions, great.  If not, contact me and we can discuss them.  I am one of you, plain and simple.  I do not communicate (or act) as a "politician" does; politicians do not get results...they never have and never will.  
Crime - entirely too much of it.  There was once a time when criminals were punished.  You do not fight crime by building more prisons.  You fight crime by making the penal system punitive; no weight rooms, no law libraries, no television, no temperature-controlled buildings.  Our state's government took $65,000,000 from disabled people in the blink of an eye, but it wouldn't dare take 65 cents from the criminals.  Why?  For those who feel as though we must rehabilitate the felons for they will just be committing more felonies upon their release, to this I say, we have such programs and they are called kindergarten, first grade...twelfth grade, and so on.  I will gladly vote to pay once for this, but not 2, 3, 4 times.  Give the felons lumber, nails, and a good fiberglass hammer and have them build their own lodging.  The saved expenditures will fund Medicaid, PeachCare and other worthwhile necessary programs.  Prisons are to be deterrents and places where the offenders are punished, not given better accommodations than many hard-working families.  
Law Enforcement - God bless each and every one in it and I support at least a "25/75" retirement plan for our law enforcement officers!  In short, after 25 years of dedicated service, an officer can retire with a 75% pension.  The current "30/60" is an insult to their desire to protect the public regardless (to an extent) of pay and benefits.  "Well Lee, how can we pay for it?"  A fair question.  Answer; trim the excessive expenditures on pork-and-prisons and unnecessary bureaucrats and the bureaucracy created by them.  Also, after many years of being trapped in committee, last session the Senate passed SB 86, a comprehensive seatbelt law that says if you drive on a public highway in Georgia, you must wear a seatbelt; pick-up trucks are currently exempt.  Regrettably, the Assembly did not pass this legislation, HB 114.  Every year we go without this law is another year we do not qualify for $20,000,000 in federal highway funds.  After I am sworn-in and assume my duties, I know that I will find additional sources of funds and irresponsible spending.  I emphatically support "no-knock warrants".  If it means that our deputies and officers have another measure of safety, record my vote supporting it.  Those in law enforcement HAVE GOT TO KNOW that every branch of our government supports them and has their backs.  In a possible shooting situation, I do not want an officer thinking in that split-second s/he has to decide whether or not to pull the trigger, "what about my pension...we have a baby on the way...I have a wedding to pay for..."  I want that officer home in time for dinner!  In a situation, if the officer is acting in accordance with training and if his/her life is in danger, pull the trigger, Representative Benedict will stand by your side.  If it comes down to it and there is a Mike Nifong in Georgia, I want the officer tried by 12, not carried by 6.  If it is a "clean shoot" and the officer acted within the limits of training and police procedure and protocol, and if Mike Nifong wishes to charge the officer, then it is my hope that the good officer's name is spelled wrong on the indictment, his/her birthday and gender are wrong...Now if it is established that the officer acted in an inappropriate manner, showed no regard for the rights and civil liberties of the accused, or otherwise was rogue and out of control, then I will do all that I can to guarantee that officer's prosecution and conviction.  
Education - I am a teacher and a student and feel as though I have a handle on this.  Could some teachers be more effective?  Yes.  However, the conventional wisdom in Washington, DC these days is to make teachers the one and only responsible party regarding the performance and success, or lack thereof, of every student.  When in fact, the teachers do their best to educate their students.  The problem is that the teachers are not with their students 24/7/365.  Since the government will not say it, I will - what about the parents?  Let me put it this way, did the government send a representative to the office of Charles W. Norwood, DDS and say, "when Johnny was 8, he had 2 cavities.  When he was 11 he had 3, and 2 at age 14.  You're not performing well and achieving the results we had mandated to you.  Therefore, you are on the 'needs improvement list'"?  Did the government send a representative to the oncology section of the Medical College of Georgia and say, "your survival rate for the past 3 years is unsatisfactory.  That being the case, we will send a highly skilled proctologist to help you get your numbers where they need to be"?  Of course this didn't happen.  I am sure that Dr. Norwood told his patients to eat properly and brush their teeth after each meal.  But if the patient does not take the instruction and the parents do not take an active personal interest, we are simply throwing oats to a dead horse.  Our teachers are fine but they are not miracle workers.  I have every confidence that our teachers will perform even better, but they need help; the students must study at home and the parents must make them.  To keep our teachers from seeking other professions, stand by them and have Attorney General Baker present the case I have just explained to Washington, DC.  Have Mr. Baker file suit with the federal government for a), overstepping its boundaries and violating our Ninth and Tenth Amendment rights, and b), I have not read all 400 - 2,200+ (depending on what you consider to be the entire text) pages of The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, also referred to as NCLB, but I know that it gives mandates to all 50 states and states that the mandates will be funded.  We are expected to implement this law immediately, but the federal government has violated its own law by not funding it.  Ask Mr. Baker to inform Washington, DC that it crossed the line, but if we are expected to implement it, we want the funding first.  No funding, no implementation, and this should buy a few years for us.  Why should property owners be given this burden?  Why should our nationally-ranked pre-kindergarten programs be reduced/eliminated because of the federal government's forcing mandates on us that it refuses to fund?  In short, leave our teachers alone and stop blaming them for a student's shortcomings.  We do not need any elaborate plan to "fix" education.  Until the masses come out of the closet and admit Dan Quayle had a few good points, pass all the laws you want, nothing will change.  
Former US Secretary of Education and chief architect of NCLB, Rod Paige, and his Chief of Staff, John Danielson, left Washington, DC and formed Chartwell Education Group.  For approximately $25,000, Chartwell will train a school district how to be NCLB-compliant.  This is what NCLB was all about...let's see if Congress makes changes to it during its reauthorization debate.  As lengthy as NCLB is, it is extremely vague...why? 
Honesty - I do not and will not have all of the answers, but please believe me when I tell you that I will ask the questions.