John Bailey for State Delegate

This is a trickier question then just describing who I am and where I have come from.  The following is what I believe and these beliefs will help guide how I vote if elected to serve in Annapolis.  If I do not address something that is important to you, please contact me and I will be happy to discuss it with you.  I am not trying to hide anything and I am going to be very honest about what I believe.

• I am a strong believer in a representative government.  I believe that the people we send to Washington and Annapolis are there to represent our views and not their own.  What is best for the community is far more important then what is best for the individual sent to represent the community.
• I believe in term limits.  I believe that our country was set up to have citizen legislators not career politicians.  If your only job has been to be an elected official then you are not a true representative of the people living in your community.
• I believe that the government was designed to provide that which the ordinary citizen could not provide for themselves.  I believe that the government has grown too large and is spending too much money.  There are people who are in need and the government should help them and provide for them, but at the same time the government does not need to be regulating individual decisions and what most people would consider common sense. 
• I believe in personal responsibility and that the government should not be involved in making personal decisions for its citizens.  The government is not here to provide for your every need or want.
• I believe in capitalism.  Business will make decisions that help their business be successful.  At the same time it is not good business to hurt the community.  Knowing that some businesses might put more emphasis on profits then on doing what is right, I think that the government has an important role in ensuring that businesses treat consumers fairly and ethically.  Some people will make a lot of money and they should not be punished for being successful as long as they gained that success legally.
• I believe that you know how to spend your money much better then the government does. 
• I am against the death penalty.  It is not the government’s role to determine who lives and dies.  If you murder someone you should be punished and punished harshly because you took someone’s life, but it is not the government’s role to determine life and death.
• I am a strong believer that everyone deserves a quality education.  As a teacher I see firsthand the difference a quality education can make in an individual’s life.  It is inexcusable to subject some students to a poor learning environment just because they do not live in the right zip code or housing development. 
• I do not own a gun and I never will own a gun, except for maybe an antique Civil War pistol I may inherit from my father.  I believe that the 2^nd Amendment was designed to allow citizens to protect themselves as well as hunt for food.  I would not vote to eliminate the 2^nd Amendment, but I do believe there needs to be restrictions on guns and we need to enforce the current laws restricting criminals from legally owning guns.
• I would be against my wife or daughter having an abortion, but I do not think it is the government’s responsibility to determine whether this is legal.  Once again I think that this is a personal responsibility decision and one that the government should not be involved with.  I would not vote to ban abortions, but I do think that parents need to be notified if their child is underage.
• I believe that the health care system in our country needs to be fixed.  People should not die due to a lack of access to health care.  Just like I believe that a quality education is essential to a successful life, so is access to preventative medicine. 
• I know that as a public school teacher I teach undocumented residents.  I do not agree with illegally entering the country and then illegally staying in the country taking advantage of the services that tax payers pay for.  If you are in the country you need to pay taxes and go through the process of becoming a legal citizen.  Children should not be punished for their families desire to have a better life and a brighter future for their children.
• I believe that we need to do everything we can to protect our planet and ensure that we have a healthy environment that will be here for our children’s children.  There are steps that we can take to make sure that building runoff does not make its way into the bay and that new developments are done in ways that protect the surrounding areas environment and landscape.  We must embrace new technology that can save energy and produce a more environmentally friendly community.
• I do not believe in party politics.  I agree with George Washington during his farewell address when he warned the country of the dangers of political parties.  “The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism.  But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.”

–George Washington, 1796

• I believe that the best person for the job is the best person for the job regardless of political party, class, social status, group affiliation/membership.  I will vote for whomever I think is the best candidate regardless of political party.  I will vote for the best legislation in Annapolis regardless of who proposed it or their party affiliation. 
• Leading is not about following a party, but following the will of the community you are there to represent.