New Jersey 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 a woman should have a choice and Roe vs Wade is very important to our society. Without it, there would be dangerous back-alley medical procedures being done instead. This would place both the mother and the fetus's health in jeopardy.I do not personally condone abortion but I am intelligent and open-minded enough to know that there is a separation between church and state, therefore, I can not/will not impose my religious beliefs on others.

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
- 1. I believe that inherited wealth, corporate incomes from successful companies like Amazon and Walmart and those who make over one million dollars a year should shoulder higher taxes to help in balancing our budget. For too many years has Washington been burdening our poor and working middle class with outlandishly high taxes while Corporate America has been paying little or next to nothing to our budget. Instead, companies such as General Electric, Ford, and Phillip Morris pay their boutique law firms the money instead. This is both offensive and unpatriotic on part of the insanely wealthy 1%.2.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- The Supreme Court Citizens United decision in 2010 has opened the floodgates to corporate and Wall Street financed elections and this must stop immediately. A 28th Amendment is needed to overturn Citizens. No longer are our candidates answering to the people, they are bowing down to their corporate benefactors who finance their campaigns. And this is why there is such incredibly massive inequality in America. Powerbrokers, especially in New Jersey such as George Norcross III, need to be reigned in and punished severely for their malfeasance and unethical quid pro quo deals with today's elected officials.

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?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- 1. The federal spending has lost its way. There are some occasions when it needs to be done but the pork barrel legislation and spending by many of our elected officials are out of control and is the reason why we are at a 17 trillion dollar budget deficit currently. 2. I think many of our corporate tax rates are fine where they are. In some states, they need to increase. It is time these corporations see paying taxes as a patriotic act and not something they are looking to defer or avoid. That is not American.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I would have to examine closer these federal standards but I do see the educational disparity in today's public schools and the difference between states and counties and this should not be. All of our children need a robust and challenging education so we can remain the competitive leaders in the industry, the arts and in science, that we have always been.

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
- I think our environment needs to be preserved in many ways. Solar, wind, hydro and thermal forms of energy have proven to be more cost-effective, cleaner and not as damaging as say, fracking or oil and gasoline. There are other successfully known forms of renewable energy but once again Corporate America has a personal investment in energy forms that are proven dangerous and unclean and this type of backward thinking needs to be changed. Greenhouse gas ommissions definitely need to be limited or else we are heading for many irreversible problems that Mother Earth will not be able to sustain.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I do generally support gun control. I believe in the Second Amendment but there are many revisions that need to be made so that automatic weapons do not fall into a terrorist, the mentally ill or children's hands. Banana clips and bump stocks also needed to be severely limited or denied to gun owners. The police need to always be able to be superiorly equipped. Hunters do not need automatic weapons for deer and other wildlife. We need to reign in these past bad decisions due to the frequency of terrorist attacks and public shootings which happen all too often.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I was against it from the beginning. The idea and concept were great but I always felt expanding Medicare and Medicaid was the route to go. We have a successful system in place for a portion of our society, why not expand it and include everybody? So much time was wasted under President Obama's term where so many other issues could have been addressed only to have it all be torn down by the inefficiency of ACA and the tearing down by the current administration. Our parties have to work together. But they NEVER do.

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?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- Many families have had upwards of fifteen years to become legal citizens but they never bothered or thought they would never need to. This sadly is why many are now being deported and separated from their families. People need to take responsibility and realize that we are safer as a Nation when everyone is legal citizens. Unfortunately, also many of our illegals are off the radar and employment books and resort to crime and street gangs to support themselves and survive. What's fair for one family should be fair to all when it concerns legal statehood.I support the Wall.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support the legalization of marijuana definitely for medical purposes and I also feel that tobacco cigarettes are much more dangerous and addictive than simple marijuana. It is absurd how many inmates are serving long prison terms for possession in our country and I feel recreational purposes are relatively harmless, unlike liquor which seems to promote anger and belligerence when intoxication occurs. Those high on marijuana are relatively harmless and reserved. Marijuana is not a gateway drug. Prescription opioids are today's gateway drug in America and Big Pharma raked in billions creating this epidemic. Why aren't those doctors in prison?

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
- We have over 110 nuclear reactors in America. Why should we tell other nations they cannot possess the same materials? This is hypocritical and bully-like. I went to Norwich and was in the Marines for three years till I was injured at Officer Candidate School but I still feel that we flex our military muscle and throw our military might around way too much. Can you imagine Canada telling us we could not have nuclear weapons and that they would invade us if we did not get rid of them? We need our military home working on our infrastructure. No

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.
- When elected I would propose legislation to make it easier for third parties to get on national, state and local ballots. This would then make our government a democracy. I would also strongly propose term limits. Like the President, all public servants would have two terms to accomplish what they intend to get done. These career politicians need to be weeded out and pushed over to the sidelines because they are in the way of progress. They are also supported by Wall Street and Corporate America. And this is why they reign so long.This needs to come to an end.