Nebraska 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 find these designations less than helpful; misleading, in fact. Generally speaking, however, I believe it is past time that we leave policy and legislation related to women's reproductive health in the hands of women.

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
- I support a top tax bracket that is half of what it was during the Eisenhower years. With respect to defense, at a minimum, we should stop giving the military more than they ask for--but cuts down to the point where we are spending more than Russia and China combined, as opposed to more than the top ten largest military spenders combined, should be sufficient for the national defense.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Lumping unions in with corporations, as if there is some sort of equivalency, is silly. But yes, I fully support this, as do the vast majority of Americans. We need to turn the page on this era of corporate control of our 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
- There's a lot of context related to these questions--and that renders the "yes" or "no" responses less than accurate, possibly misleading. Federal spending to promote economic growth is necessary at times, unnecessary at other times. The same could be said regarding lowering corporate taxes, but one thing is certain, you don't lower corporate taxes in the midst of a hot economy--a critically significant mistake.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- It started out benign enough, but the "standards" movement in education passed the point of diminishing educational returns years and years ago. Now it is about large corporations and their ability to package the same tests and curricular materials, for all geographic areas, to maximize their profits. I support the curricular and instructional liberation of our teachers, monitored by concerned citizens who live in the neighborhood of a community's school, in order to maximize academic outcomes and the intellectual development of our youth.

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
- Miami isn't investing in sea walls for the heck of it. We have to prepare for the world our greed and ignorance has created.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- As a rural person, I understand the necessity of guns. But the gun-owners I know and, indeed, a majority of NRA members, support common sense gun legislation. The NRA leadership, on the other hand, puts profit ahead of lives--something I cannot do.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe the ACA needs to remain in place as we transition, with all deliberate speed, to Medicare for All. For-profit medical providers, the health insurance industry, and the pharmaceutical industry all charging what the market will bear (in matters of life and death, no less) makes our healthcare system egregiously expensive. No other developed nation on the planet subjects its citizens to a healthcare system governed by the vagaries of the market--a circumstances that promotes stress and anxiety, while stifling entrepreneurialism and volunteerism.

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. The wall is quite possibly the worst diplomatic idea ever proposed. My state, Nebraska, will be economically devastated by Mexico's reactive efforts to purchase grain from Brazil and Argentina.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support legalized medical marijuana and the cultivation of industrial hemp. In the meantime, I am studiously watching how other states have handled legalizing recreational marijuana.

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
- Again, there's an extraordinary amount of context required to answer these questions. Forced to answer one way or another in the abstract, I did so. But, generally speaking, diplomacy must precede any military intervention.

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.
- Rural Revitalization: History provides no example of a successful democracy that isn't anchored in thriving small cities and towns surrounded by independent producers of food. If we are ever to aspire, once again, to become a middle class nation, we need a prosperous countryside. That requires a major shift in two large policy arenas: agriculture and healthcare.Separating Corporation and State: Sadly, corporate power now wields power and influence far beyond what the established church wielded in 18th century England. Thus, the task our founders couldn't forsee, reining in corporate power, falls to us.