Tyler Burnette is an Independent who finds himself walking the line between both sides of the political spectrum. His primary philosophy is that, all people should be able to conduct their lives in a manner of their choosing so long as their actions do not infringe upon the rights of another person. In short, "live and let live". All people are different. We have different cultures, different life experiences, and different points of view. Life is often more grey than it is black and white. We should all take firm stances on matters of right and wrong, but need to have the flexibility to understand why there might be exceptions to every rule. The two political parties today are too rigid and divide us rather than unite us. We have been indoctrinated to believe that the only way forward is to align ourselves wholly to one side or another even when the candidates chosen to represent our parties are terrible. Affiliation to one party or another does not make a person good or the correct choice. Our system is broken and it is tearing communities apart because we are unable to find any middle ground between us. We are not Republicans or Democrats, we are Americans. We need to remember it and start acting like it, because partisan politics is just a tug of war of identities. Half of our country shouldn't be devastated after every election just because we're incapable of moving past these ingrained identities we're told to adopt. Your neighbor that voted for Trump isn't an evil fascist and your neighbor that voted for Harris isn't a horrible communist. You're both just Americans in a split party system that doesn't allow for any middle ground and those in power use it to push you further away from one another. We have more in common than we realize and need to work together for the good of all of us.
The Issues
Jobs/Economy
We must improve the access to funding, education and mentoring to rural communities so that small business can thrive in underserved areas.
- Small business growth and local ownership of the companies that serve our communities improves the quality of life of our residents, creates job opportunities, and creates an avenue to close the gap of wealth inequality in our country.
- Approximately 90% of Tennessee is rural and either does not attract large corporations or its residents are taken advantage of by corporations in the form of lower wages.
- The reliance on these large companies can devastate an entire community if these companies go out of business or choose to relocate operations. Great workers can be laid off in an instant by a company that chooses profits over people.
- Businesses owned and operated by members of the community have a greater stake in the welfare of everyone in their local community and should be given priority access to the resources necessary to thrive.
Healthcare
Education
The public school system should be improved upon with more resources invested into teacher salaries, facilities and equipment, and educational materials.
- School voucher programs remove funding from public schools and reallocate that money to private institutions. This program only benefits higher income families and decreases the opportunities to a quality education for students in middle and lower income families.
- Teacher salaries should be increased to account for cost of living expenses and their roles in our children's development and educational outcomes warrant a higher salary. An increased appreciation for these services and access to resources would improve quality of education.
- Each school should have a fund for educational materials and classroom supplies that is distributed to each classroom, each year. A teacher should never have to come out of pocket for classroom supplies other than for personal preference items or decorations not necessary for the course being taught.
- All tax-based funding should be allocated to classrooms and education materials, necessary technology improvements, nutrition programs, special education programs, teacher/staff training, and the immediate needs for students.
- Non-essential programs and sports teams should be funded solely through surpluses of funding or local fundraising efforts. This prioritizes education outcomes over extracurricular activities. Teachers having to purchase their own class supplies while a new sports field is being built is unethical and irresponsible. We must refocus our priorities.