Eighty-six percent of Americans believe the economy is getting worse – and with more than a million homes in foreclosure, it's easy to see why.

Democrats like Ed Markey propose big-government fixes to our economic problems. They want to spend more and more of our money trying to make things right. That won't work. It never does. Representative Markey has been missing the point for 32 years: big government is the source of our economic problems, not the solution.

Excessive taxation and regulation drain our economy more than any housing bubble. High taxes drain money away from where it can do the most good, in the hands of those who earned it, and instead direct it toward the pet projects of congressmen. Congress doesn't know where our money should be spent. We do.

Excessive regulations keep Americans from starting small businesses and tend to favor well-connected corporations. They make it harder for the poor to improve their lot, and they slow economic growth.

If elected, I promise never to vote for any taxes or regulations that are not in the best interest of the whole American people.