Nov. 2014: State Rep. District 147: Greg Tlapek

__Name:__ Greg Tlapek

__Age:__ 57

__Place of birth:__ Cape Girardeau

__Spouse's, children's names:__ None

__Education:__ 2 years college

__Occupation:__

Mostly I make it possible for my mom to live at home. I am the Executive Director for the Missouri Libertarian Party. My principal career was as a commodity futures broker.

__Employer:__ Self-employed

__Businesses owned, all or part:__ N/A

__Public offices held or sought; give dates:__ I ran for US Congress in '94, and '96, and County Clerk in '98, all on the Libertarian Party ticket.

__Website:__ http://GregTlapekStateRep.blogspot.com/

__Email:__ gtlapek@aol.com

__Phone:__ 573-225-7187

__Do you support Medicaid expansion? Why or why not?:__

I am not opposed to expanding Medicaid if it were possible to make it absolutely clear to the recipients that they have a very short window of opportunity to get some medical conditions taken care of and that when the federal government's payment of the cost of Medicaid expansion retreats from the 90% level then they will no longer be on Medicaid. I favor deregulation of healthcare to the greatest extent possible for everyone's benefit.

__Do you support right-to-work? Why or why not?:__

I'm opposed if it restricts the right of an employer to have an all union shop. It's not as simple as "must workers pay union dues if they don't want?" At least it shouldn't contain provisions requiring unions to protect employees who don't pay dues.

It is a complex issue worthy of the talents of some good legislators as I discovered in my preliminary research. It is too complicated for voters to decide.

__Missouri is the only state without a prescription-drug monitoring database. If elected, would you support legislation establishing one?:__

Absolutely not. Good for us. Every regulation adds cost to healthcare. The greatest thing we could do for the economy in Missouri is to make Missouri the Mecca for healthcare, the most free-market place in America to get or provide healthcare. I call on the state legislature to eliminate the "Certificate of Need" requirement designed to prevent construction of healthcare facilities, and to reduce all barriers to entry. Google "medical tourism" and "Oklahoma Surgery Center".

__How would you continue to support education in Missouri?:__

Get parents invested in their children's education. Good things will happen. Ask a teacher. They may not agree on how to do it, but to me it's clear we must begin charging tuition for public schools based on a parent's ability to pay. I have a very specific proposal on my website which calls for charging means-tested tuition and reducing the state sales tax by one cent. See http://GregTlapekStateRep.blogspot.com/

__Closing remarks:__

Make "Every Vote Count" for the State House of Representatives with "proportional representation (PR)". Google it. Forty-three percent of Missourians will show up on Election Day and find only one name on the ballot for State Representative. We can do democracy better than that. PR truly makes every vote count. It adds everyone's vote to a total that will send someone to Jefferson City, even if they vote in a one-party district like Cape.