Michigan 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 work to support women and men to have their babies to raise themselves, or choose other parents to raise this child. As a politician representing citizens, each vote on a personal morality issue should considered individually, and be taken with a public morality wisdom. I favor legislation which is truly pro-life, including that which acts to convert funds from war as an industry to meeting human needs. I would not favor legislation designed to criminalize a woman who finds herself in a situation where she considers abortion, while I believe government should not be promoting abortion.

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
- The gap between the CEO and the worker of upwards of 30,000% has to be addressed, otherwise we cease to be a nation "e pluribus unum." Progressive taxation, not tax breaks for the wealthy, needs implementation. The super rich become embedded in an exclusive world view that cannot be sustained?war & climate change will ultimately not discriminate, nor maintain privilege. A defense budget of ~50% our disposable federal income tax funds over many decades has put us in severe national debt. Reagan trippled it with Star Wars, and Central American wars and bank deregulations.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I would develop legislation to move towards 100% publicly financed elections. Citizens United must be reversed, and large individual contributions removed from politics. Political war chests must be disarmed. One practical solution on the national stage is to have Congressional and Presidential races funded only by a public campaign trust. Every party hopefully multiple parties, would share an equal pot of money & media from this. All who qualify by achieving a predetermined number of voter petitions [which could only be done by volunteer petition circulators] would divide this pot, and no other funding allowed.

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
- Federal spending, as in the New Deal, which reaches the most people, is the proper stimulus for the economy.Lowering corporate taxes, as has just been done by the current administration, does not encourage reinvestment in the public services and infrastructure need to lift all boats in the general economy, but is leading to more cash buybacks of stock, mergers & acquisitions, and other financial speculations designed to make the tax windfall into even greater gains for a select few.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- There should be no national mandatory standards--too much opening for one-sided manipulation to favor privatization of public education. I support the Common Core State Standards which are being developed by members of the teaching profession along with many national organizations long dedicated to improving educational standards, and the learning environment for all students, inclusive of those with low income, and those with disabilities.

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 need escalating investment, private and public, to support wind, solar, geothermal, and hydro technology, and the infrastructure to make a complete transition to renewables. We must re-join the rest of the world in the Paris accords. Global problems need global solutions. New technologies should be given precedence for university research and private efforts, that include production to be manufactured in the USA. Environmentally sound battery storage is necessary. Fossil fuels and fracking are time-limited and harmful to health. Pollution of our Great Lakes fresh water, & extraction of this resource into private plastic water bottles, must stop.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Responsible gun ownership and controls legislation. Put into law the NRA recommendation that guns at home be kept unloaded in locked storage, with ammo apart in a different locked storage. Require universal background checks for all gun purchases; limit civilian access to high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines; make gun trafficking a federal crime; and improve access to mental health care for those who may be prone to violence. Preventing gun violence is a public health issue.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Only to re-write it into a single-payer health system. Medicare for All. Medical insurance companies will still be contracted, for much less paperwork, but all funds will benefit medical facilities staff, the country, doctors and patients. Eliminate the insurers profit motivation--their pressure to reduce the ?medical loss ratio? {money actually spent on patient care} in favor of money "saved" for shareholders--now 7 times more than ever before. More preventative care not profit, is the Rx for a healthy USA. As a Physician Assistant I paid attention to our billing departments.

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
- Wall? Ridiculous costly idea, easily bested with taller ladders deeper tunnels--a boondoggle almost as bad as the Boeing surveillance towers that cost billions and then had to be moved to the shores of the St. Clair River taking pictures of scant numbers of refugees from Canada, and once a group of Canadians mooning us. None of history's walls have given lasting protection: the Great Wall of China, the Roman Wall, the Berlin Wall, Jerusalem's Wailing Wall. The people of Central America now flee vicious violence--the result of disastrous wars fought there under Pres. Reagan's watch. Don't extradite them into death.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- We need a uniform system of government regulation of marijuana, as with tobacco and alcohol. Decriminalize it. We don?t need our jails full of small time users, and we do need to remove the illegal profit schemes of the big-time cartels that cause so much violence here and abroad. Some taxations of the product can also help local & state government funds, and having an adequate pricing level can limit overuse and abuse of marijuana. I worked over 33 years as a PA in urgent care and family practice, and have witnessed the great harm the illegal drug trade inflicts.

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?
- Unknown Position

3. Other or expanded principles
- Our major problems here, in clear sight of all nations, are the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and common sense. You can?t tell others not to build one, when you have thousands, consistently the most of all nations, and plan on renovating and improving all of them expending $100 billion?when at the same time you?ve promised as part of the treaty to take them down to zero yourself. American intervention in the Middle East should consist of initiating a world-wide total weapons embargo on the area, all parties including Israel, and as they run out of firepower, bring them to the bargaining table.

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.
- Required national service for all, rich or poor with an AmeriCorp/Peace Corps and faith-based missions option as well supported as the Marine Corps.Payment for college and trade school for all who serve helping eliminate the burden of student debt.Enact persistent methods of ending the undue influence of corporate and personal fortunes on our elections. Real democracy means one person one vote?not one dollar one vote.To fund these efforts--Audit the Pentagon, convert the unnecessary wasteful spending on unwinnable wars [fought by soldiers many of whom are discarded in the end], to meeting peoples' real needs, and ending conflicts.