Wisconsin Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test

Abortion

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe abortion is a tragedy best prevented by access to preventive care. I believe the government has no role in a doctor-patient relationship. It frightens me that 100% pro-life candidates believe that all forms of birth control should be discouraged. This belief will only lead to unexpected pregnancies and more abortions.

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?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Too many of our elected officials demonstrate that their primary loyalty is to the special interest groups who fund them. Allowing unlimited soft money donations from corporations and unions sets the stage for corruption. We have no way of assuring that our politicians are truly representing their constituents when such a huge conflict of interest exists. I am a doctor. I do not even use a pen with a medication's name on it to avoid giving my patients the impression that I am a pawn of the drug companies.

Economy

1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No

2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- Lowering corporate taxes is already proving to be a powerful stimulant for job growth and for business expansion. Our community banks have more money available to support small business loans, our businesses are able to expand and/or increase wages. Because of the success of the corporate tax cuts I am focussing on workforce development in order to fill the surplus of jobs created in my district. There is no government program that will ever be as successful as the power of stable, well compensated employment.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- Education should be locally controlled. Federal standards only result in a shift of attention from education to test performance.

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
- As a country we are blessed with plentiful natural resources that provide fuel. Developing all forms of energy will lead to cheaper energy which drives our economy, industry and lifestyles. I believe that before we introduce any new greenhouse gas regulations we need to make sure we are fully enforcing the existing rules. It is counter-productive to introduce more regulations when we are not funding the enforcement of current regulations. More is not better if it means less enforcement.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support expanded background checks, red flag laws, funding for gun violence research, a 21 year old age restriction for semi-automatic rifles, banning bump-stocks and limitations of magazine size.

Health Care

1. Do you support repealing the 2010 Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare")?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- The ACA is flawed. It is contributing to skyrocketing healthcare costs and threatening the affordability of healthcare. I would like to develop a replacement plan that incorporates partnering of payer and provider to maximize quality while reducing costs. Programs that focus on preventive care and population health combined with cost transparency and expanded HSAs will lead to consumer driven price reductions. Everyone, including the providers, the payers and the patients, need to have skin in the game. I believe this is the number one issue threatening the financial security of our country.

Immigration

1. Do you support the construction of a wall along the Mexican border?
- Yes

2. Do you support requiring immigrants who are unlawfully present to return to their country of origin before they are eligible for citizenship?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support increased security at our borders. In places this will be best provided by an actual wall, in other areas technological approaches will make more sense. I support a pathway to a legal status for those people who, while here illegally, have been productive and otherwise law-abiding participants in our economy. This will be far less expensive and socially disruptive than ongoing attempts to deport these people. This is overdue for the DACA recipients.

Marijuana

1. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe this issue is best left up to the states. I do support the legalization of CBD for medicinal use and would welcome the development of a regulated and FDA approved CBD based medication. CBD products show promise in the treatment of anxiety and also as an alternative to the highly addictive opioid pain medications.

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?
- Unknown Position

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

3. Other or expanded principles
- Both of these questions are very situation based and there is not enough information provided for me to give a yes/no response.

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.
- I would like to develop a sustainable bipartisan healthcare plan that focusses on reducing healthcare costs. Such a system would save money.I would like to expedite proposed changes that would curb the opioid epidemic. The cost of these programs would be more than recouped by the resultant savings.I would like to promote programs such as Dual Enrollment that guide young people into stable, living wage jobs in tech and trade. Establishing a path to gainful employment for our non-college bound students will reduce the numbers of those students who flounder after high school and will pay for itself.