Texas Congressional Election 2018 Political Courage Test

Abortion

1. Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
- Pro-life

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that life begins at conception and that no abortion is acceptable.

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?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that we do not have a revenue problem, rather a spending problem. I also believe that the tax reform that has just gone into effect will have a huge positive effect on our economy and on federal revenue, so no tax increases should even be considered. As far as spending, we must constrain spending in every area at this time except for the military, which needs building up after almost a decade of neglect.

Campaign Finance

1. Do you support the regulation of indirect campaign contributions from corporations and unions?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe in transparency, so that all citizens can see which special interests are contributing to which legislator or candidate, and can make judgments about that person's positions and legislative record as a result.

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?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- The federal government has a horrible record of attempting to promote economic growth. The true engine of growth is the private sector, and by maintaining a reasonable regulatory touch over that sector, and making taxes reasonable -- as we have seen the newly enacted tax reform attempting to do -- we can allow the private sector to put its magic to work in enabling growth.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- The beauty of the American system is in its federalism, although that has been endangered in recent years. As we allow the various states to implement standards and practices appropriate to their populace, we not only have government closer to the people where it belongs, but we end up with a laboratory in which it is easier to see which approaches work and which do not.

Energy & Environment

1. Do you support government funding for the development of renewable energy (e.g. solar, wind, thermal)?
- No

2. Do you support the federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- Federal subsidies for renewable energy have accomplished little. I welcome these green technologies and want them to succeed, but they need to be able to do this on their own, and prove themselves in the market. As to greenhouse gas regulations, I would look at this on a case by case basis rather than a blanket opposition, but I would always strive for minimal government regulations rather than heavy regulation that can choke off an industry.

Guns

1. Do you generally support gun-control legislation?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support the Second Amendment and believe that our problem is not that there are too many firearms, but that they are used too often by the wrong people. We need to be serious about enforcing current laws and jailing those people who use firearms in crimes. Adding more laws that burden the law-abiding gun owner accomplishes nothing.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Health care is an area where the heavy hand of government can only make things worse. Where there is real competition, in areas such as laser eye surgery, we see superb results at reasonable prices. When government intervenes too heavily, it distorts and market and causes misalignment between the supply of health care resources and the demand for those resources.

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?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- I do believe a wall is necessary to restrict unauthorized border crossings. In my immigration reform plan, those who are here illegally would be given the opportunity to follow a clearly prescribed path to legal status. This would not involve returning to their home country, but it would involve self-identifying and going to the back of the immigration line in order to be processed in a legal manner.

Marijuana

1. Do you support the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes?
- No

2. Other or expanded principles
- I do however support making room for the use of marijuana for legitimate medical purposes.

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
- Both of my "yes" answers are conditional. Military action that risks American lives must always be carefully considered. There must be a clear evaluation of American interests. We should always emphasize non-military options to the extent that we can do so without compromising our citizens' safety. I have seen war and I despise it, but there are times that you must fight when the alternative is living in fear or subjugation.

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.
- My first priority would be legislation that requires all members of Congress to be subject to the laws that we pass in the same way that individual citizens are, without exceptions for healthcare, pay during government shutdowns, or other reasons. Those who represent us are not a privileged caste nor should they be treated as such. My other priorities are reducing federal spending, the national debt, and the size of the federal government.