Michigan 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
- A woman?s right to choose should always be protected, with any decisions being made by a woman in consultation with her doctor and those she chooses - politicians have no right to interfere with the choices a woman makes about her own body.

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
- Currently, the richest corporations and the wealthiest of the 1% paying far less than their fair share of taxes, and an increase in taxes for the wealthiest in this nation would generate the resources needed to support the most important social safety net programs. The U.S. currently spends more on defense than the next seven countries combined, and most of those countries are our allies. We can ensure that we have a properly defended nation and treat our service men and women well all while reducing how much we are putting into our defense budget.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Citizens United essentially allowed the free flow of money into politics, stripping the public of their democratic voice by handing over control of elections to whomever spends the most money. For the good of our elections and good of our nation, we must reverse this decision and demonstrate that corporations are not people. This will bring the voice back to the people so that citizens, not corporations, decide who represents our values and voices.

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
- History has proven that when we give huge tax cuts to corporations, this money is then used to reward their CEOs and investors, and does not result in increased wages or bonuses for the employees. When we do collect the proper amount of taxes from these corporations, we are able to properly fund social programs that benefit all Americans, instead of giving handouts to the wealthiest of the 1%.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- While we do need to have a set of established federal education standards that apply to all states so that we can adequately measure how well the states are educating their students, we need to allow for some autonomy on behalf of the states so that they may have some freedoms in determining their own individual curriculums.

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 world is facing increasing threats each day from the disastrous effects of climate change, and we must be doing all that we can to counteract it. This includes putting greater investments into green energies and curbing the greenhouse gas emissions we allow into the atmosphere.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that we can implement common sense gun violence prevention legislation while honoring the 2nd Amendment, including instituting red flags, banning assault weapons and bump stocks, giving greater funding to researching gun violence and mental health, and implementing universal background checks.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- While the Affordable Care Act is not perfect, it provides a basis for which we can expand and improve upon our health care system. Repealing the ACA would result in millions of Americans losing their health care or seeing their quality of coverage decline while costs go up. We should be working towards better, less expensive health care for all, but repealing the ACA would not accomplish this.

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
- The wall proposed by Donald Trump is an 18th century solution for a 21st century problem. While our nation may have some problems with immigration, building a taxpayer-funded wall will not solve any of them. We should be putting our resources towards improving our education and health care systems, not an ineffective solution that will cause more harm than good.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Legalizing marijuana will allow our law enforcement officials to focus on greater public safety issues while driving millions in tax revenue to the state and creating new business opportunities.

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
- Effective diplomacy and multilateral alliances with countries that share our beliefs and values are required for a strong defense of freedom and peace around the world.

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.
- At a time when Donald Trump wants to cut Medicare and Medicaid by $2T, I'm the candidate in this race with hands-on health care experience, and I'll fight him every step of the way. Every child has a right to a world-class education, regardless of zip code. We need to invest in schools and teachers, and ensure that no taxpayer money goes to for-profit charter schools. Finally, whether equal pay, workplace conduct rules, or a person's physical well-being, we need to ensure that workers are in safe work environments and treated fairly.