Minnesota 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
- I believe we need to provide affordable birth control and reproductive health care and education to reduce the need for abortion. However, abortion is legal and I believe the decision to access this form of health care must be a decision made by a woman and her healthcare provider.

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
- President Eisenhower warned of the rise of the military industrial complex. We have been at war for 17 years. I believe we must focus our efforts on diplomacy and war should only be used as a last resort. While ew can use our wealth to assist nations I believe we must also focus on nation building here at home.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Citizens United must be overturned. Big money must be removed from our politics. Rather than spending up to 30 hours a week dialing for dollars from complete strangers candidates should be out listening to those we hope to represent. Monied interests should be checked, when it comes to installing a fair and just government.

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
- I do not believe in the concept of trickle down economics. Economic growth begins and ends with fair wages of the workers who build our country. We must stop building walls around the working poor and provide opportunities to expand the middle class. Well paid consumers are the best antidote to a declining economy.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- The quality of our education should not depend on the zip code where a family lives. Education is the great equalizer. If we are to build the workers who will support our success in the 21st Century we must educate our future workers. That must begin with a strong public education system beginning with pre-school and beyond. Affordable access to our trade schools, vocational and technical schools and public colleges and universities are necessary if we are to compete on the world stage.

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
- We must break away from our dependence on fossil fuels. There is no planet B. I believe that climate change/global warming is real and that we must work to reduce our carbon footprint. I believe we must do everything within our power to become responsible stewards of our environment on behalf of future generations.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I am a responsible gun owner. I have taken classes and my gun is secure. It is my opinion that we must have universal gun registration and support red flag legislation that will allow authorities to temporarily confiscate guns from those who are a threat to themselves and others. I support the ban of bump stocks, high capacity magazines and noise supressors. I believe military assault style weapons should be in the hands of those who are sworn to protect us and not in the hands of those who want to harm us.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I would take this a step further. I support a single payer health care/medicare and if elected would sign on to legislation and work to ensure that it benefits all Americans. Catastrophic illness is the number one cause of bankruptcy in American. We are the wealthiest county in the world, yet people are dying for the want of affordable healthcare. We are better than 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
- President Ronald Reagan signed off on legislation which provided amnesty to law abiding immigrants who contributed to their communities. We need to bring these folks out of the shadows and at who are at risk of abuses and provide a pathway to citizenship. I also believe the Dreamers, (DACA) should also have a pathway to citizenship. We should not be playing politics with people's lives. Furthermore, the current administration's policy of removing children from their parents at our southern border is inhuman. No child should be ripped from their parents arms and placed in what amounts to a prison.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe marijuana should be removed from the Class 1 schedule of narcotics. Multiple states have legalized marijuana and it is only a matter of time until all states follow suit. We need to provide funding for study, regulate and tax marijuana as we now do with alcohol.

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
- Military force should only be used as a last resort. Diplomacy, use of economic efforts have been effective in the past. I support the mission of the United Nations.

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.
- Medicare for all, affordable education and rebuilding our infrastructure are critical to the continuing success of our country. Building out broadband/high speed internet to our rural areas is essential. Closing tax loop holes for corporations, increasing taxes on the top one percent and a reduction in military spending would be the first sources of funding I would examine in order to fund these priorities. When funded, the economic gains would more than pay for themselves by jumpstarting the economy with an increase in small business creation and consumers who are better education and well paid.