Washington Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test

Abortion

1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-choice

2. Other or expanded principles
- With limited government funding.

Budget

1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- No

2. In order to balance the budget, do you support reducing defense spending?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- Lowest tax bracket need the most public support, so there should still be a threshold for non-taxed income. Defense spending is important, and maintaining the strongest military in the world is important, but there are certainly areas worth considering to make cuts to spending.

Campaign Finance

1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- I am fully supportive of comprehensive campaign finance reform to limit the monetary amount of contributions and spending significantly by corporations, unions, and individuals.

Economy

1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- Corporate taxes are essential to provide the social services we need to keep America healthy and safe. Spending does promote growth as a result of basic economics, but we can spend smarter. Infrastructure and incentives need to be disseminated to the consumers, not the corporations.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- Assuming the funding falls in line, yes. We need a high educational standard across all 50 states, but we need to provide the resources necessary to achieve those standards.

Energy & Environment

1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- Yes

2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- Renewable energy is the future and the responsible direction, even if it is more costly than fossil fuel consumption. Investing now in the technologies that will improve our future may be financially painful in the short term, but will pay off handsomely in the future.

Guns

1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- Common sense legislation such as bans on assault rifles, universal background checks for any purchase, demonstration of proficiency in handling/use, and accountability for incidents and accidents (if your weapon is used in a crime, you are culpable). The 2nd Amendment is sacred, but 2018 is a different time than 1791 and America has different needs.

Health Care

1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- With over 330 million people, and an epidemic of health care and pharmaceutical costs, we need to move in the direction of a single-payer system of health care. Nobody should be priced out of necessary medical care, and incentives should be considered for healthy choices and lifestyle changes.

Immigration

1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- No

2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- Immigration. The hottest issue right now. Despite my mostly liberal beliefs in other issues, I strongly believe that this illegal immigration crisis needs to be addressed with an America-first approach. We have immigration limitations and laws. If they aren't working, we should change them (I do think we need to make the pathway to citizenship more streamlined), but we have laws and they must be obeyed. Period.

Marijuana

1. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- Aside from the research that shows that it is less harmful than alcohol, it would be a boon for tax revenue, and would alleviate the criminal justice system's overload in terms of cost and physical space. It would also alleviate some of the racial biases in the prison system, and give individuals a chance to live a productive life as a contributing member of American society.

National Security

1. Should the United States use military force in order to prevent governments hostile to the U.S. from possessing a nuclear weapon?
- Yes

2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- Promoting human rights, economic development, Democracy, and freedoms abroad is something that America must embrace as a responsibility of being a capable global peacekeeper. Sometimes that involves boots on the ground, and as the most advanced and highly trained military in the world, we are best prepared for most circumstances.

Administrative Priorities

Please explain in a total of 100 words or less, your top two or three priorities if elected. If they require additional funding for implementation, please explain how you would obtain this funding.
- Campaign finance reform - there are billions of dollars spent every election cycle that are not only wasted, but perpetuate the plutocracy we live in. Corporations, the wealthy, and unions should not decide elections; the populace should. Congressional term limits - we have discovered over the history of time that power corrupts. Congressmen need limitations to reduce self-interests and get the position back to its intent: a public service, not a career. Balanced budget amendment - our national debt is in crisis mode. Congress needs to be held accountable to balance the budget annually.