North Carolina 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
- My platform is ProFamily, so I am Pro Life. If Planned Parenthood can spend $30M on mid-term elections, they should be defunded from federal funds. Also, federal government should relinquish abortion legislation to the states and that alternative social programs need funding to consult pregnant women who may not want to be a part of the 60 million abortions since 1973, or 20,000 North Carolina abortions per year. However, if federal government must continue to intervene, they need not fund abortions.

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
- As strong military is a deterrent to opposition and it enables peaceful and diplomatic negotiations. The defense has been ill-financed for a decade reducing its status as the gold standard in military might. Planes, ships and ground supplies have not been maintained. Currently, Generals estimate that the USA could engage in one war and multiple skirmishes; so, until the military readiness and preparedness is improved to engage in multiple wars in multiple locations, we must continue to invest. Once readiness is achieved, then efficiencies and cost savings can be weighed and introduced. Until then, no defense cuts.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe in transparency as to where contributions are derived. Even though current $2700 individual campaign contribution limits and no contributions from corporations needs to be reformed, regulations must be in place that would enable all contributions to be disclosed given to PACs or other indirect committees, so that voters can truthfully vote for or against corporations of choice.

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 live in NC and we are the "poster child" for the national Tax Cut Act. The Republican assembly lowered personal taxes by 30% and corporate by 60% of which resulted in a reversal of a -$4B deficit to a surplus and all rainy day line items being funded in less than 18 months. These have to parallel spending cuts to be effective so I also endorse spending cuts with tax cuts. That said, no private industry is large enough to impact market behavior. As such, only the government has the clout to change economic indicators and directions.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Absolutely not. We have a crisis in education and we can't have 11% (federal) of the educational budget mandating how the 89% of the funds are spent or what the curriculum is to obtain excellence. Besides, the common core standards incent passing grades to students only scoring 5 out of 10 to ensure school funding! We need a revolution in education because our students are lesser equipped and lesser educated than most global countries. Plus, the federal standards are leaning secular progressive and less historically, morally or constitutionally appropriate.

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
- Until solar, wind and thermal energy is comparable in price to that of current energy sources, government and private sector investments are needed to subsidize research and development of alternate renewable energy. However, I don't believe in forced usage when government has to subsidize the affordability (e.g., wind) of more expensive alternatives. Free markets will establish the supply and demand once alternate technology is affordable. For example, small generators will enable off-grid participation by 2020 for many homes. Meanwhile, carbon offset programs, such as Urban Offsets, are monetizing the use of trees enabling capital-based incentives to reduce city carbon footprints.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- The 2 A states that the right to defend oneself is not to be infringed. That means it is a God-given right. Over 90M gun owners are law-abiding and either collect, hunt or compete. Statistics show that of the 34 mass shootings since 2010, half were conducted by 1st or 2nd generation immigrants who don't respect our country. However, the remaining shooters were young, white males who have been disenfranchised from society or prior schools. This means that we can profile potential killers and provide mental help before killings. No legislation will prevent a bad person from killing.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- What America didn't realize is that the ACA initially robbed Medicare reimbursement to fund it (2010-2012) causing health systems to lay off hundreds of the very clinicians that provide care! Plus, small business owners between 1-4 employees making more than $40K had to pay, by law, the cheapest premiums cresting $900/month with a $7K deductible for an individual and $1700/month for a family. That's $19K-$25K/year before any benefits are realized. If they couldn't afford it, they were penalized on their taxes. Draconian. I propose local PCP Concierge services with a cross-state major medical program to pay for hospitalization costing $300/month.

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
- Too broad of a question. I oppose sanctuary cities and believe that illegal aliens do not deserve American taxpayer paid rewards (e.g., education, welfare) and should be returned home. However, we are a nation of grace. So, I am for providing a legal status (not citizenship) for DACA applicants as well as TPS if they want to live in America (w/green cards) AND have not been convicted of any crimes. I also am against chain migration and the lottery system. If we can stop 200,000 crossings (8.5% of estimated 1.7M) and eliminate rewards, the wall will pay for itself ($18B)!

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support cannabis for medicinal purposes. However, 60% of Americans believe that marijuana should be legalized for recreational use giving representatives a choice of either truly representing their districts or their own conscious. A true representative must represent the voice of the people and I can see the tax-generating benefits for North Carolinians. However, Carolinian's have seen the health hazards of our initial prize crop, tobacco, and that didn't trend well in the long run. Even though fertile tobacco fields could produce top-grade cannabis, we should debate the long run "feeder drug" ramifications against the short-term financial windfall.

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
- When protecting American interests, it is hard not to place boots on the ground to train alliances, build local support, rescue the oppressed, prevent collateral damage and to clear/maintain taken territories. Drones are good alternatives and missiles can eliminate enemy capabilities, but trained personnel ensure and SEE the ultimate success of operations. That said, the type of military support depends on the interests. If Israel is attacked, the full broadside of American military should be utilized. On the other hand, civil wars are not our business as long as international atrocities are not committed or if nuclear armament is imminent.

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.
- Increase Prosperity - 1.) Create Economic Empowerment Zones (Tax Act doctrine allocating re-patrioted offshore money) in 4 congressional district 1 cities impacted by offshore outsourcing; 2.) Create Black Wall Street Angel Fund in Durham (private money) to encourage black commerce; 3.) Ensure business incubator, entrepreneurial and startup programs are inserted at every community college (private/govt partnership). 4.) Able-bodied welfare work requirement; 5.) End sanctuary cities! Healthcare Reform - 25% of the nation's primary care physicians have Concierge services that cost $75-100/month to provide wellness services. As such, I will introduce legislation that couples Concierge services with major medical for hospitalization.