Cheboygan County Drain Commissioner Dennis Lennox is running for the House of Representatives to give people more opportunity and power in their own lives. He wants to strengthen families and ensure a brighter future for Michigan's next generation.

As our next legislator, he will be a voice for all of Northern Michigan.

“Lansing is broken. The twenty-first century challenges facing our great state require twenty-first century solutions that put Michigan first and politics second. We must work together, as Republicans, Democrats and independents did in the days of Governors Romney and Milliken.” — Dennis Lennox.

Creating jobs

Michigan is at a competitive disadvantage.

Taxes are too high and there are too many job-killing government regulations and levels of bureaucratic red tape that hinder innovation and discourage entrepreneurs.

If right-to-work laws are adopted, the state’s economy would instantly become competitive with more than 22 other states.

Businesses in Northern Michigan should also receive tax incentives if they create jobs for college graduates. The next generation of doctors, scientists, businessmen, engineers, and innovators must have opportunities to stay on the main streets of their local communities.

Most importantly, government shouldn't be picking winners and losers.

When one family has left Michigan every 12 minutes, it's clear the state should be open to all job-creators.

Cutting taxes

Increasing taxes is never the answer and doesn't make sense when Northern Michigan has one of the worst economies in a state with the worst economy in the country.

As drain commissioner, and now as a candidate for the House of Representatives, Dennis Lennox signed Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform pledge not to increase taxes

He's the only candidate that has never supported a tax increase and he has pledged to never support a tax increase in the future.

To stimulate our economy, Governor Granholm's 2007 $1.4 billion tax increase — the largest in Michigan history — on families and businesses must be repealed.

Reforming government

Lansing isn't working.

Government, at all levels, must become smaller — making it more efficient and responsive to the needs of the taxpayers who fund it.

The structure of government can be reformed, consolidated and streamlined. In Cheboygan County alone, there is one politician for every 166 people. In all, Michigan elects more politicians than almost any other state in the union.

Whether it's consolidation or ensuring that the structure of government is flexible to accommodate local demands, reform must occur to bring Michigan government into the twenty-first century.

Lansing's checkbook expenditures should be posted online for scrutiny and review. Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent, and finding out should be as simple as going to a website and clicking a computer's mouse.

When the 2007 tax increases were passed, Governor Granholm and Lansing bureaucrats found a previously unknown budget surplus of $350 million.

Disclosing all expenditures would help curb over-spending and make it easier to develop a state budget in a timely manner.

Reforming the budgetary process is also fundamental.

The constant threat of government shutdowns in recent years is an embarrassment and must end.

Commonsense reforms that include requiring each chamber of the Legislature to pass a balanced budget before taking up other business would go a long ways towards creating a stable system of government.

Defending our values

Northern Michigan's pro-life, pro-family, pro-Second Amendment and pro-homeschooling values will be defended, advocated and supported with Dennis Lennox in the House of Representatives.

Improving education

The next generation won't succeed when schools are crumbling and college tuition is doubling every year.

Schools should receive equitable, per student funding instead of the current unfair funding formulas that punish children in Northern Michigan.

Education is best when the local community — parents, teachers, principals — runs the schools instead of bureaucrats in Lansing and Washington.

One size fits all mandates hurt the next generation and discourages them from finishing school, and school bureaucracy must be done away with so education focuses on each student's real needs.

When Michigan spends more on corrections than educating the next generation, it's clear the priorities aren't in order. Money spent on education should get to the classroom — it shouldn't be tied up in administrative and bureaucratic costs.