Florida 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
- A woman has the right to govern her own body, full stop. Women's rights is about more than reproductive rights though; equal pay, maternity (and paternity) leave, combating discrimination in employment practices and educational environments, and just the basic starting point this President and his party seem oblivious to: women are people. We need to do more on a variety of fronts that impact women disproportionately - domestic violence protection, teaching affirmative consent, teaching boys not to rape rather than shaming women for being raped, and so many other areas where women are failed by culture or policy.

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
- Income inequality is crushing Americans, while salaries at the upper end are climbing rapidly, wages for working families are stagnant or shrinking. We should raise income tax rates for the highest earners (such as above $300,000) and scrap the cap to make Social Security solvent. We should also clean up loop-holes. Defense spending has long been out of control and not based on the real needs of our nations security. Soldiers should be paid better and provided with all the care they need after their service. Private soldiers operating under private corporations should be only used as a last resort.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- We need campaign finance reform in many areas, including overturning Citizen's United. Corporations are not people and should not have the ability to manipulate our elections. The goal should be publicly financed elections, but in the meantime we need to put a stop to "dark money" and do more to open opportunities for elected office to those that don't have thousands of wealthy friends ready to write large checks.

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
- Cutting taxes has been the mantra for driving economic growth for decades - it hasn't worked. What we are left with is extreme economic inequality and crumbling infrastructure that fails to serve the people or the corporations. We need to invest in renewable energy, more efficient transportation infrastructure including high speed rail, and education. Education is the foundation on which our future is built - without a strong public education system, there will be no prosperity.

Education

1. Do you support requiring states to adopt federal education standards?
- Yes

2. Other or expanded principles
- This is a tough question - there should be minimum uniform standards, but we should not handcuff our teachers. They should first and foremost be empowered to teach the love of learning. There should be basic standards of knowledge and skills that can be expected at various benchmarks in a child's education.We should reduce or eliminate the burdensome testing systems driven by for-profit corporations and taxpayer dollars should never be used for for-profit/private schools.

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
- For decades our government has provided enormous subsidies to the oil & gas industry, despite enormous profits collected by the same businesses taking our money. That funding has created a market deficit for renewable energy - we have effectively increased the barrier of entry for the very technologies essential to saving our planet. Regulation of greenhouse gas and other pollutants works. We've seen these programs produce remarkable results in places like New York and Long Beach, CA. We need to rejoin the Paris Agreement. We need to lead on cleaning up as much as we have lead on polluting.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I'm proud to be a Mom's Demand Action Gun Sense candidate of distinction, supporting common sense gun safety reforms including banning assault weapons and requiring background checks for all purchases among other things. We have to recognize that the NRA's job is to sell more guns, and that they don't care how many people (including children) die to increase their bottom line - which is driven by the bottom line of gun manufacturers that fund the organization. They buy politicians and utilize terror as a marketing tool. We have to do better for our communities and particularly for our children.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Healthcare is a human right. We need to ensure everyone has access to all the care they need without fear of crippling debt. I have pledged to join the Medicare for All Caucus if elected, and will fight every day to expand access to care, lower costs, and take on the health insurance companies and big Pharma that prioritize squeezing profits out of sick and dying Americans.

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
- We already have around 700 miles of wall and thousands of miles of river and other uncrossable terrain protecting our border. Children should never be separated from their parents and our government shouldn't promote xenophobia and hatred. Until we shift the burden of criminality to the employers that exploit undocumented workers, we won't see a reduction in those that cross the border dreaming of providing a better life for their families. America benefits from diversity and growth. We need comprehensive reform with a pathway for citizenship and we need to end local law enforcement/governments getting involved in immigration enforcement.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I fully support medical marijuana and decriminalization. I'm a hesitant supporter of full legalization, but support as a result of seeing the devastating impact of decades of mass incarceration for (mostly) non-violent offenders. We have crippled entire communities, and created an industry profiting from the incarceration of (mostly) black men. We also need to pass restoration of rights laws/amendments such as Amendment 4 on Florida's November 2018 ballot.

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?
- Unknown Position

2. Do you support increased American intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts beyond air support?
- Unknown Position

3. Other or expanded principles
- No Answer

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.
- No Answer