Indiana 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
- The government should not be able to interfere in healthcare decisions between a woman and her doctor. Abortion should be safe, legal and rare. In order to achieve that shared goal, we need legislation that supports adequate healthcare (Medicaid covers 1 in 2 births in the US), family planning services and access to birth control.

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?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- We need to have a robust military to defend our country, but we currently spend more than the next 7 countries combined. If we continue to siphon funds off for defense at the expense of other programs, we won't have anything left to defend. There should be a balance between funds for protection and funds to support economic growth, infrastructure, education, and other priorities we hold dear.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- The incredible amount of money spent on campaigns every year weights elections to those with the most money, and it also means the subsequent votes by those winning politicians are often weighted to support those who gave them the money. We have to reclaim a free and open democracy and break free from this cycle by enacting campaign finance reform.

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?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- I support lowering corporate taxes as long as there is a clear line to economic growth and it is not detrimental to other areas of growth. It is important for corporations to share responsibility when it comes to investing in the economic health of our country because they reap many of its benefits. Their tax investment helps to create their educated workforce, infrastructure to transport their goods, and so much more; and as a result, they should be responsible for helping to fund those investments.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- At a time when the need for highly skilled workers continues to grow, the nation's inability to produce an educated workforce will only widen the economic gap between the US and other countries. Due to the national economic impact, the federal government should work closely with states to ensure the overall health of our education system. While states should have authority to make decisions on what specific programs work best for their state, some standards should be universal in how we are training our future workforce and the rights granted to individual students as far as equal education opportunities.

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
- The environment is an economic issue due to the long-term financial impact of climate change and the impact on the health of the American people. It is also a federal issue because waterways and air--and the effect humans are having on those resources--don't stop at state lines. To ensure the continuing health of the American economy, we must find a balance between economic development and a healthy planet, or we won't have anything left to develop.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support common sense gun reform and I think there is a lot of room for positive movement on this issue if we start with strategies that already have broad, bipartisan support: allow federal agencies to study guns and gun legislation so we know what works and what doesn't; implement universal background checks; reduce high capacity magazines; create a registration system similar to how we handle vehicle registration and sales, etc.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- All Americans need affordable, accessible health insurance. I believe we should offer an option to buy into Medicare via the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges. By opening up Medicare as a public option, we instantly create choice on the health care exchange, especially in places where there is only one private insurer available. Adding this option will create competition in the marketplace and drive down costs. It will not only stabilize the market, but it will also drive down the overall costs of Medicare per patient by expanding the risk pool to younger (and potentially healthier) participants.

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
- No Answer

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- First, the federal government must re-classify cannabis to acknowledge its medical implications and allow research to be conducted to better understand its long-term effects. And while I believe we need to decriminalize cannabis use, the ability to use it recreationally should be left up to individual states. There appears to be a positive economic and tax benefit for the states who have already legalized it, and I see no compelling evidence of negative outcomes at this point in time.

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?
- Yes

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

3. Other or expanded principles
- The decision to intervene should be made on a case by case basis and ideally done with the support and backing of US Congress and our international allies. We should intervene in cases of direct threat to the US, large scale humanitarian issues, and potentially when asked by a country for our assistance.

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.
- 1. Address the rising cost of healthcare by strengthening the Affordable Care Act and allowing people to buy into Medicare2. Re-commit to strengthening our public school system and stop siphoning off funds from the public education system to support for-profit schools3. Invest in clean energy research and job growth to ensure the US doesn't lose its place as a global leader in new technology