Missouri 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
- Yes, I am 100% Pro-life. I am a Yes vote to Confirm Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and I look forward to the next appointment of a conservative constitutionalist Judge by President Trump for another Yes vote.

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
- Not sacrificing our readiness, rather our overseas commitments need to be funded more fairly by our allies.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- While not perfect, our system does work, even if at times seemingly in favor of candidates picked by the few instead of candidates picked by you. Restriction of political money by any particular group is a restriction on political speech. Money is a part of the process, but above all else is the message and qualifications of the Candidate carry the votes.

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
- Infrastructure improvements that allow for more efficient routes to market and movement of our people and economy I support. I do not support picking winners or losers in particular industries through legislation or taxation. Business should be free of government as much as possible, allowing the market to dictate what is successful.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- No. Like politics, education is local. Families gravitate towards the best education they can provide for their children and that is not a uniform idea. Federal education standards, I view as unwarranted and unnecessary and unwanted.

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
- The free market will bring about the best solutions. Federal involvement has led to Solyndra and the like with little benefit. We all want the best environment to live in and want to protect and improve on that as well. We can not legislate hope and expect results. The United States has the largest economy in the world and half the emissions of China. Common sense will not allow us to injure ourselves economically in the hopes of curbing something we produce a fraction of globally. I believe the US is doing it's part.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- The right to keep and bare arms shall not be infringed, comes to mind. Your 2nd Amendment rights are safe with me and I will fight to preserve them. Criminals with guns are the problem not law abiding gun owners.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I will vote, and encourage all others to repeal Obamacare entirely. I will support a restoration of the healthcare system prior to Obamacare and further encourage a competitive environment for insurance products making them available across state lines.

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
- Order on the border is mandatory, build the wall. Every illegal immigrant is an insult to those who have come to our country legally, to my grandfather and his time on Ellis Island. Lawlessness and lack of enforcement is not an excuse for continued law breaking. I am for strict enforcement of our laws, no compromises. Our immigration laws protect the citizens of the United States and are for our benefit, not to foreign nationals who break our laws.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- If the voters of the State of Missouri passed medical or recreational use of Marijuana I will represent the State of Missouri's wishes. I think the Federal government is behind the curve on this issue, with 30 states having either medical or recreational use approved, marijuana should be reclassified to a schedule 2 narcotic to allow for academic research to be conducted widely. We do not know what we do not know and to simply make it hard to conduct legitimate research is unnecessarily obstructive to what is becoming acceptable.

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
- Troops on the ground must have a clear mission. Our Troops mission is to win, not to nation build. The United States has committed itself around the world to our allies and self interests, we will continue to honor our commitments. Our Military is and shall remain the World's preeminent force for good in the world. Our country and Missouri voters do not want our soldiers deployed for nation building or involved in protracted engagements with little benefit. Clear Missions with Victory for our military is the goal, assisting our allies is our duty.

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.
- It has been many years since significant monies have been spent on the Mississippi River system it currently generates $4 Billion dollars of commerce and 1.5 million jobs. I will garner support of all the states with Mississippi River borders and through the appropriate appropriation process improve the infrastructure from Baton Rouge, LA to St. Paul, MN, allowing for greater traffic and efficiencies. Missouri will benefit from this significantly. At the same time I will also garner the same supporters to secure funding for the Highways, Roadways and Bridges that criss cross the Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois and Ohio Rivers.