Illegal immigration is one of the biggest challenges we face as a nation. According to most estimates, between 12 and 16 million illegal immigrants are currently in our country and over 700,000 enter America illegally every year.

1. Secure our borders. We must triple funding for the U.S. border patrol to stop the flow of those entering our country illegally.
2. No amnesty. I oppose any effort to reward illegal behavior with amnesty or American citizenship without punitive measures. Dick Durbin's amnesty-first approach would cost taxpayers over $2.6 trillion.
3. Deport illegal aliens who commit felonies when they finish serving their prison sentence.
4. All legal immigrants must learn to read and write English. We are a melting pot of many cultures bound together by a common language, and success in our schools and our economy depends on being able to communicate by using the same language. Those who immigrate to the United States should understand the importance of our history and civics and respect the values of our democratic society.
5. Share our vision. Impart the knowledge that America is a land of opportunity and optimism for those pursuing a better life through hard work and hope.

These are all the positions that Dick Durbin has voted in favor of:

• No Border Fence - No Border Security.
• Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants
• Taxpayer-Funded Tuition for Illegal Immigrants
• Social Security Benefits for Illegal Immigrants
• ** Dick Durbin was even the prime sponsor of legislation that would reward a convicted criminal and illegal immigrant with amnesty!!

In order to revitalize the econony, we must:

1. Make the 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts Permanent and Continue Saving the Average Illinois Taxpayer Over $2,200 Every Year. With the recent volatility in both the stock and housing markets, we must cut taxes for hard-working families, individuals and seniors. Steve Sauerberg will make the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which have saved the average Illinois taxpayer over $2,200 every year since their adoption, permanent! Making these tax cuts permanent would not only put more money in the pockets of Illinois taxpayers, but it would also add over 33,000 new jobs every year to the Illinois economy for the next six years.
2. Enact the summer holiday gas tax. This will not only decrease the cost of gas, but it will also decrease the cost of food and products whose prices are affected by rising gas expenses. This will enable hard-working families to keep more of their money in their wallets rather than in their gas tanks.

Terrorism poses a real threat to American security at home and abroad. Al Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist groups declared war on us well before 9/11 by bombing the USS Cole, murdering 241 American service men and women in Lebanon and attacking our Embassy in Kenya, in addition to other atrocities. We must stay on offense to defeat the global terrorist threat.

Steve Sauerberg's Plan to Keep Us Safe:

1. Stay On Offense Against the Terrorists Who Want to Destroy Our Way of Life. Terrorists have declared war on us. We must vigorously oppose all regimes that harbor terrorists and fight terrorists abroad so we don't have to do so here at home.
2. No Timeline for Withdrawal in Iraq. Telling our enemies when we will leave Iraq is the surest road to defeat, which will increase the chaos in the Middle East and give terrorists an open haven in which to train and plan more attacks against us in America.
3. Support Military Spending and Increase Funding for Covert Intelligence Gathering Operations. To prevent terrorist attacks against us, we must properly fund our military and spy agencies so they can gather the information we need to keep us safe and secure.
4. Secure Our Borders.
5. Keep Weapons of Mass Destruction Out of Terrorists' Hands. Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons and we must ensure that terrorists do not gain access to Pakistan's nuclear weapons.
6. Support Israel. Israel is our strongest ally and the only true democracy in the Middle East. We must vigorously support Israel.
7. Fight for the Benefits Our Brave Soldiers Deserve. Our veterans and active duty military personnel deserve top quality healthcare and increased funding for their education when they return home.
8. End Our Dependence on Foreign Oil. We must develop alternative energy technology, such as clean coal, solar, wind and natural gas to end the stranglehold that hostile foreign dictators possess over our energy supply and policy.
9. Protect Afghanistan. We cannot enable Taliban forces to allow Afghanistan to degenerate into an open haven for terrorists.

Liberal Senator Dick Durbin Has a Dangerous Record on Homeland Security:

• Voted to Immediately Surrender and Withdraw From Iraq, which would leave the Middle East an open haven for the Islamic terrorists that want to kill us and destroy our way of life.
• Voted Against a Pay Increase for Our Brave Soldiers
• Compared Our Military to the Nazi, Soviet and Pol Pot Regimes on the Senate floor!
• Voted Against Giving Our Border Patrol Officers the Equipment and Support They Need.

Basics of the Sauerberg Your Healthcare - Your Choice Plan

In order to promote coverage for every American man, woman and child through the private sector, the government must encourage portability, competition, accessibility and individual ownership of quality medical insurance. My plan will decrease healthcare costs and make coverage available to all Americans.

The Sauerberg Your Healthcare - Your Choice Plan 10 Key Principles:

1. Portability. We must enable individuals and families to maintain their health insurance coverage when they change jobs or residences. Individuals and families must be allowed to purchase the health coverage of their choice in any state and that coverage must be portable to any job in any location.
2. Competition. To lower costs and improve healthcare quality for individuals and families, a free-market based system should be implemented to allow insurance companies to compete locally, statewide, by region and nationally.
3. Accessibility. By lowering costs and creating individual ownership, the Your Healthcare - Your Choice Plan will enable all Americans to receive affordable, high quality healthcare.
4. Individual Ownership Through Tax Rebates and Health Vouchers. The Your Healthcare - Your Choice Plan will provide an individual with a $2,000 tax rebate and families with a $5,000 tax rebate for purchasing health insurance. Health vouchers in the same amount will be given to those who don't pay federal income tax.
5. Healthy Living Tax Credits. Offer tax credits to individuals whose healthcare costs do not exceed $1,000 per year and families whose healthcare expenditures are less than $3,000 per year.
6. Simple and Uniform Paperwork. Require all insurance companies to provide only one simple, standard application form and one simple, standard claim form per each type of service.
7. Physician Disclosure and Accountability. Require physicians to publish their fees to inform and educate patients prior to their treatment.
8. Penalties for Denial of Coverage by Insurance Companies. Make insurance coverage no longer an “if” by imposing stiff financial penalties on insurance companies who deny coverage as a result of pre-existing conditions.
9. Ending Frivolous Lawsuits. Establish Administrative Health Courts to reduce the tax burden of crowded state courts, lower healthcare fees and ensure a fair decision making process.
10. Eliminating Fraud and Waste in Medicare. Create a Medicare and Medicaid Fraud Task Force to eliminate the $60 billion that Medicare and Medicaid fraud costs seniors and taxpayers every year.

Dick Durbin's Plan for America: It's Wrong! Big Government & Socialized Medicine

Dr. Sauerberg's plan, which relies on private sector solutions and individual responsibility to solve the problems we currently face in our healthcare system stands in stark contrast to Dick Durbin's plan to create a socialized, bureaucrat-driven healthcare system.

• Dick Durbin, rated America's most liberal Senator by National Journal supports socialized, bureaucrat driven health care.
• Dick Durbin wants nameless, faceless government bureaucrats to make the life and death decisions that affect you and your family. Dick Durbin has done nothing to stop the rampant Medicare and Medicaid fraud that costs taxpayers and seniors over $60 billion every year.

“It is imperative that the federal government, through a bi-partisan effort, live up to its promises and responsibility to protect both our seniors and our Social Security system. We must ensure that Social Security remains solvent for current and future generations of retirees.”

In order to ensure the solvency of Social Security, we must:

1. Create more jobs to fund Social Security benefits. The number of workers per retirees will soon drop to an all-time low of one retiree for every two workers. By creating more jobs via a low tax, business and worker friendly environment, we can increase the amount of money paid into the Social Security system.
2. Have an honest, bipartisan discussion about the challenges the Social Security faces. The career politicians in Washington have failed us on this issue. By failing to seriously discuss all options to ensure the solvency of the Social Security system, the career politicians have seriously endangered the Social Security benefits of future generations of retirees.

“As a nation, we must increase the use of alternative fuels to end our dependence on foreign oil, increase our domestic oil supply and refining capacity to lower gas prices and continually increase fuel economy standards. We cannot continue an energy policy that relies on foreign dictators and jeopardizes our national and economic security.”

1. Increase research into alternative fuels, especially ethanol, which directly benefits Illinois farmers. Further utilizing alternative fuels will lower gas prices, bolster the economy, and decrease our reliance on foreign dictators and hostile countries for oil. We can expand technology and conduct this research without funding from tax increases.
2. Lower gas prices for hard-working American families, who are feeling the impact high gas prices both at the pump and the grocery store. To accomplish this we must:

• Increase our domestic oil supply by drilling in ANWR and off-shore.
• Stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Currently, the SPR contains enough oil to supply the United States for almost two weeks should a disruption occur. By continually filling the SPR, our government is increasing America’s demand for oil and driving up gas prices.
• Increase our domestic refining capacity.

1. Pursue safe nuclear technology. Illinois is uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of research and productivity regarding safe nuclear power with its six generating stations already available; these power plants are capable of generating enough electricity to power 11 million American homes.

“Clean air and clean water can co-exist with job creation and economic growth. I support the conservation of our resources and the protection of open spaces.”

To protect the environment, I believe we must:

1. Protect Lake Michigan by restricting the amount of waste dumped into it by manufacturers and municipalities.
2. Fully fund federal programs geared toward protecting our environment.
3. Increase fuel economy standards on cars and trucks.
4. Enhance our nation's rail capacity. Trains are the most efficient means of transporting large amounts of manufactured goods, and the railroad industry has a proven safety record. In fact, trains are three times more fuel efficient than over-the-road trucks. However, rail companies should share the financial burden for the expenses associated with ensuring railroad traffic does not disrupt suburban life.

“As a graduate of the Illinois public school system and the father of two children who also went through the Illinois public school system, I understand how important it is that all our children receive a top-notch education. As your next Senator, I will work hard to strengthen our school system by taking more money out of the education bureaucracy and putting it directly into our children’s classrooms.”

1. No unfunded mandates for our public school system. With lagging test scores in the public education system, drastic changes need to be made and evaluated in an open manner.
2. Increase the amount of education funding veterans receive when they return home.
3. Despite calls for action, I do not believe we should simply throw money at the problem. We need to evaluate from the top down to make sure education is being funded the best way possible.