Florida 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
- Protecting the rights of women has never been so urgent. Establishment politicians strive to police womens bodies but refuse to pass legislation guaranteeing equality under the law. From reproductive freedom to Title IX protections to the gender pay gap to STEM opportunities in education, the problems facing American women are manifold, and even worse for women of color, queer and transgender women, disabled women, and other marginalized women. Women are just as much members of our society as men, and its time that Congress finally listens to them.

Budget

1. In order to balance the budget, do you support an income tax increase on any tax bracket?
- Yes

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

3. Other or expanded principles
- The Income Bracket Tax increase needs to come from Corporations and the Top 1%. Its time for everyone in our Country to pay their fair share of taxes so we can invest in our people. Working People in America is carrying the load and it is time for this imbalance to be corrected. I will target Eliminating Corporate Interest Deduction, Tax Corporations on Overseas Earnings, and reallocate some funds from our Military Spending Budgets to cover the cost.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- MONEY = ACCESS and that is why I'm 100% People Funded Only and refuse to take any contributions from Corporate PACs or from the Lobbyist tied to their industries. We need to reform our electoral system to create a more perfect democracy: This will include removing money from politics, and moving toward public financing of all congressional campaigns, etc. I will like to ban all elected officials from taking contributions from all PACs. We need to put people first over politics, profits, and corporations.

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
- Middle and working class people pay a higher tax rate than wealthy people when you add up all the sales, property, local and other taxes and fees that Americans pay. We need to lower taxes and provide tax rebates and refunds to working and middle-class people. We also need to bring U.S. corporate taxes into line with global norms and slash tax loopholes and giveaways throughout the tax code: they overwhelmingly benefit big business over small business.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- America contains some of the best schools in the world and some of the worst schools in the world. Millions of young peoples lives are being ruined in those broken schools. There is a range of evidence-based best practices covering teaching methods, teacher training, and school discipline that has been demonstrated to work over and over again. I'm advocating for: Universal Early Childhood Education in America; Federal minimum Per Pupil allocation of funds; RESPECTing our Teachers by ensuring salaries are not lower than $55,000 a year; Revamping our public education curriculum to a Pre-K to Associate Arts-Science/Vocational Degree Diploma.

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
- Our current energy system is costly, inefficient, and unsustainable. Unlike oil, coal and natural gas, the sun and wind can provide us with a virtually infinite supply of energy, millions of times more energy than we could ever possibly use. We need to protect the Environment Protection Agency and access to their "Endangerment Findings" and adequately fund and implement recommendations. We need to cut U.S. Carbon pollution by 40 percent in the next 15 years and transition towards a nuclear free clean energy system for our electricity, transportation and heating options - South Florida should be leading the charge.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- GUN CONTROL REFORM NOW - THIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE. I'm for Banning All Assault Weapons and ending all imports and exports of any new firearms in America; Increase Taxes on all Ammunition; Mandate Universal Background Checks; Raise the Age to 21 to buy a firearm; End all existing loopholes in our nations Background Check System; Provide Extreme Risk Protection Order Laws; Implement Stronger Penalties for Straw Purchasing;Mandate all Lost or Stolen Firearms be Reported; Allow the Center for Disease Control & Prevention to Research the Comprehensive Impact of Gun Violence in America; etc.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- No... But I am for PROVIDING ALL AMERICANS WITH IMPROVED AND EXPANDED MEDICARE FOR ALL: This will include high-quality general, dental, vision, long-term care and mental health coverage. Medicare is more efficient than any private insurance provider and is accepted by 95% of doctors. The pharmaceutical industry, gouges the American people because the government forbids Medicare from negotiating drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. Under our plan, this regulation will be eliminated and Medicare will be allowed to negotiate the best possible prices for the American people.

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?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support CREATING A SWIFT AND SECURE ROADMAP TO CITIZENSHIP: The idea that America would be better off deporting millions of contributors to our society and economy is ludicrous. Immigrants pay taxes and perform millions of important jobs. We need them. It is time to Abolish ICE, clear the path to citizenship, and protect the rights of families to remain together. I also support providing a safer way to reach the United States in order to undercut illicit trafficking of people and narcotics.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- It is time to support the legalization and removal of cannabis from the Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act list, in order to end this discriminatory and ineffective war on drugs.

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?
- No

2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- War and Military Force should always be our last option. America should not be in the business of destabilizing countries. Look... we may see ourselves as liberators, the world increasingly views us as occupiers and aggressors. We must bring our troops home, and ending the air strikes that perpetuate the cycle of terrorism throughout the world is a start. Remember the right to declare war belongs to the legislative body, and yet many of these global acts of aggression have never once been voted on by Congress.

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 am a champion for Education, Healthcare, and Economic Justice for all of us. To view my 27 Priorities please visit www.MichaelHepburn.com. Also if any one ask how were going to pay for the polices and initiatives that I am fighting for - tell them this. Most of the funds we already have, the remaining revenue will come from Tax Reform targeted towards Corporations and the Top 1%. A Financial Tax, Eliminating Corporate Interest Deduction, Taxing Corporations on Overseas Earnings, Re-allocating some funds from our Military Spending Budgets, Increasing the Tax on Ammunition sales for Guns, etc.