Keep It Simple.

Welcome to the official campaign website for candidates Kailee Barnes and Wyatt Temples. Here you will find information on policies and special messages from your candidates.

Click here to watch a special introduction video from the candidates: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH2XwWj2fyI&feature=youtu.be

Campaign Policies

The Barnes/Temples campaign is built around the idea of "building your own America." Our platform has been based off of this vision in order to aide and inspire regular American's like you and me to do just that.
Our campaign policy will cover many different issues. These topics will be divided into three of the following categories: Social, Monetary and National Responsibility. Policy information unique to each category will be posted below. Check back for updates and additional information. 

Social

Same Sex Marriage:

The staunch conservative holds an extremely firm stance on the controversial subject of same-sex marriage. They argue marriage is a sacred bond between a man and a woman and are firmly opposed to the idea of two members of the same sex joining together in the institution of marriage. Many of the opposition proclaim that a same-sex marriage violates the integrity of marriage because the Bible emphasizes marriage is strictly between man and woman. However, it is a common misconception that marriage and matrimony are one in the same. Marriage is defined as a “familial bond that is recognized legally, religiously, or socially, granting the participating partners mutual conjugal rights and responsibilities” whereas matrimony is the “rite, ceremony, or sacrament of marriage.” In layman’s terms, marriage is recognized by the authority of the state while matrimony is recognized by the authority of God. Even if people believe marriage is sacred and limited to man and woman, then why is the divorce rate in the United States nearly 50%? Why should our opinions and prejudices deny two people the fundamental right to officially be together? According to a 2014 study, 55% of Americans are in favor of same-sex marriage and trends show that acceptance will continue to rise. We are on the cutting edge of a movement for a group of people that are equal in every other aspect besides marriage. They are equal in our workplace, they are equal in our communities, and they want equality for themselves and their families. They are not asking for the acceptance of the church, they are simply asking for the acceptance of the state for the liberties that a “traditional” married couple receives. By allowing these people the right to get married, we are giving them the ability to build their own America- something everyone deserves.

Abortion:
 A common misconception in society is that if you proclaim yourself to be pro-choice then they are automatically in favor of abortions. This is one of the biggest fallacies circulating because being pro-choice does not subsequently make you pro-abortion. Giving a woman the right to her body is not giving women the encouragement to obtain an abortion; rather it is giving them the encouragement to make the best decision for themselves. An abortion is a woman’s choice and therefore the government should not interfere. Having the choice to obtain an abortion is also a method of equality. 50% of all women who have received an abortion stated they did not want to be a single parent and thus had an abortion to evade certain hardship. If men can leave the situation and avoid being a parent, then why not give women the same ability? We want to allow women the right to their own bodies, but we do want to create guidelines by which they must abide by; abortions are unobtainable after viability. Viability is when the child has a 50% chance of living outside of the womb, which has been proven to be about 24 weeks into the pregnancy. We believe at this point the mother should have already made her decision regarding her situation. She is now not only causing the fetus pain, she is greatly endangering herself by continuing on with an abortion. However, we do understand there are medical complications and life threating events that can sometimes force the hand of the mother and these are different cases entirely. There are 42 states including Kentucky that agree with this policy. We propose that abortions be limited to the first 20 weeks of the pregnancy. Once those 20 weeks have passed, we believe that a woman should have already made her choice. Also, for the safety of the mothers in the procedure we would require all abortions to be performed by a physician (there are 11 states that do not require this currently). Finally, we want to federally mandate that a mother who is opting for an abortion must receive counseling prior to procedure and have a 24-hour waiting period to ensure that it is the decision for the situation. It would be required to have a paid counselor at all abortion clinics and if a clinic failed to comply with our regulations they would be fined. We want to protect the rights women currently have but we do believe when a fetus becomes a child we have the duty to protect its rights as well. After all, one day it will be their America too.

Marijuana:

Marijuana has been a growing topic in the United States over the last decade. We believe that marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes. It is most commonly used to treat the symptoms of chemotherapy for cancer patients such as vomiting, nausea, pain, and appetite loss, as well as symptoms of people suffering from HIV and AIDS and other diseases. We believe medical marijuana would be very beneficial to the medical field.

As far as recreational purposes for the drug, we are in no way opposed to the idea but we feel in today’s America it is not the right time to completely legalize marijuana. Unfortunately a limited amount of research has been done on marijuana for recreational purposes because of legality issues and currently there are too many factors to consider that are still unknown. Marijuana is a plant and each plant has a varying ratio of chemicals meaning each plant is different and sometimes has contradicting effects which has made testing the overall effect and safety of marijuana very difficult. The primary chemicals that are present in marijuana and have the greatest effect are THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabino) and the CBD (cannabidiol). However, in each plant there are nearly sixty other active ingredients as well. Various studies have been performed about the effects of marijuana reporting both good and bad. None of these results are final or can be considered complete. Lack of reliable research can be contributed to restrictions and regulations on researching marijuana. We plan on lifting some of these restrictions so more complete studies may be performed in order to determine all of the benefits and risks of marijuana so that a fair legal decision can be made about the recreational purpose of the drug.

We plan on legalizing medical marijuana in all 50 states and allowing more research to be completed for recreational purposes. We are not opposed to legalizing marijuana for recreational usage, but we must monitor many aspects of places like Colorado, Washington, and D.C. where recreational marijuana is legal before we fully commit to the complete legalization of marijuana. 

Gun Control:

The second amendment is a widely controversial topic: does the right to bear arms give the ability for citizens to obtain firearms? America leads the world in privately owned firearms with over 300 million guns in circulation; 35% of American households have at least one firearm. Recent tragedies have sparked the conversation and a considerable amount of Americans are in favor of strict gun control. However, strict gun control would potentially disarm law-abiding American citizens. Criminals would still be able to obtain guns because no matter how heavily guns are restricted, they will always be accessible. We interpret the second amendment to allow a law-abiding American citizen to acquire a firearm. Those in favor of strict gun control are not necessarily in favor of abolishing guns, but they would like to make a firearm harder to obtain. An FBI study showed that states who adopted concealed carry laws reduced rape by 5%, murder by 8.5%, aggravated assault by 7%, and robberies by 3%. According to recent studies, as gun control rises, homicide rises. The United Kingdom banned handguns in 1997 and since then violent crimes have risen. Strict gun control would threaten a citizen’s freedom of self-security. We are not opposed to encouraging a firearm education course, but we are opposed to requiring one and more intensive background checks would simply cost too much money to implement. Those who desire to protect themselves and their family should be able to get a firearm to increase safety. Those who desire to hunt should be able to get a firearm. Law-abiding Americans deserve the right to own firearms.

Social Policy to come: The death penalty.

Monetary

Minimum Wage:

While theoretically supporting the raise of minimum wage sounds intriguing, realistically it is inevitably harmful to the delicate economy we have. The undeniable fact is that over half of the minimum wage workforce is between the ages of 16-24, a quarter which are teenagers, and nearly one-third dropped out of high school. They are not the single mothers working to support three children rather they are teenagers and students working predominately entry-level jobs, a lot which are part time. Instead of raising the minimum wage which could lead to detrimental inflation, we need to promote means of higher education (i.e. Colleges and Trade Schools) to help our fellow Americans realize and achieve their potential for success. 

2015 Federal Budget:

Category:                                Percent:

Defense                                    22%

Education                                 5%

Health Care                              24%

Welfare                                     8%

Protection*                                 3%

Transportation                            3%

General Government                 1%

Other Spending**                        4%

Interest                                       5%

Pensions                                   25%

*Protection includes funds specifically intended for police training.

**Other spending includes research, fuel, energy, waste management and water supply.

This budget will cut spending by $150 billion in order to combat the trend of debt.

• Categories that will have increased spending are shown shown in green.
• Categories that will have decreased spending are shown in red.
• Categories that are staying the same are shown in white.

Taxes:
Click to view current tax bracket:
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/tax-brackets.aspx

The existing federal tax code is unnecessarily complicated and unfairly weighted. Since we have proposed to decrease federal spending by 7.5%, we have also decided to slightly lower taxes overall and implement a flat tax. A flat tax is defined as a “tax on household income, regardless of income level, at a uniform rate.” By lowering taxes and implementing a flat tax, we are eliminating a tax code that picks “winners and losers”; Americans should be rewarded for their hard work. On another note, higher taxes slow economic growth and make us less competitive in the global market. Our proposal is a 22.5% flat tax for all economic brackets in order to make the tax code simpler, give everyone an equal tax percentage, and grant everyone the opportunity to build their own America by rewarding them for their hard work. 

Women in the Workplace:

100% of the work but only 78% of the pay: does that seem fair? This is the battle most women face who have a year round job. In a 2013 study of men’s versus women’s salaries, they found the average female employee makes $37,791 while her male counterpart makes $49,398. The most disappointing fact of all is no amount of education or extra training can remedy this tragedy. Studies show even if a woman has a higher level of mastery, is more qualified for a job, and/or graduates with a higher GPA, men will still be compensated more than their female counterparts. Although we have come a long way since 1979 when women were only making 62.1% of what men made, we still have a huge gap to close. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is supposed to combat the gender gap but obviously it has not done a great job. The Equal Pay Act states “men and women are required to be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment. The jobs need not be identical but they must be substantially equal”.  The Equal Pay Act is not living up to its title. For example, in Washington DC women make 91% of what men make but in Louisiana women only make 66% of what men make. The glass ceiling must be shattered; it is unacceptable and ridiculous to let this injustice continue. We need to reward women for the hard work they do for our great nation and give them an equal opportunity in the workplace. We believe a business should be able to operate on its own with limited government interference, but we also believe in equality. If women do 100% of the work men do, they should make 100% of the salary men do. We strive to give everyone an opportunity to build their own America and we want women to have an equal opportunity; it’s time to make a change. 

National Responsibility

Energy:

Why should we spend billions of dollars importing oil when we have all the resources to become an energy independent nation? Last year alone the United States spent more than $300 billion on importing oil, nearly one billion a day. Economically it does not make sense to continue importing a good from thousands of miles away that we have at our expense in our own backyard. We should invest the money saved and create resources to produce our own oil. On another note, the United States is one of the leading nations in producing, refining, and transporting natural gas around the world. We have the world’s largest natural gas pipeline system and functioning natural gas reserves. We should seek to maximize gas production by gaining access to world markets and become the greatest natural gas exporter. This would help our economy tremendously and create more jobs for the people of America. The energy of the future is also important to invest in because resources like oil and coal are nonrenewable. Solar energy and other groundbreaking renewable methods are the future of providing energy to the world and we must continue to research and improve our current understanding. We want to encourage America to become an energy independent country and continue to be the greatest nation in the world. 

Immigration:

The Statue of Liberty proudly states,"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" We were a land established by immigrants and many people around the world view America as the land of opportunity.  However, we cannot continue to allow illegal immigrants into our country. Crossing the border and creating a new life illegally cannot be tolerated. As a country we want every immigrant to feel welcome and have the same opportunities as a citizen if they arrive here in a legal manner. We recognize that the number of foreign immigrants traveling here has enriched our country, but we want them to come here legally. We believe in warmly welcoming those who enter the country through legal methods, while devoting extra resources to keep out those who try to enter illegally. We believe that our immigration laws should be tightened not because we don’t want immigrants in our nation, but because it is vital to the safety of the American people. There are nearly 12 million unauthorized immigrants in the United States who the government has no record of. We do not know who these people are or their intentions and we need to better secure the border and immediately send those who have immigrated here illegally back to their home country. Those who follow the laws and arrive here legally should be rewarded and those who arrive here illegally should not be. 

National Responsibility policy to come: healthcare.