Kansas 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 believe that abortion is wrong, but I understand the need for exceptions in cases of danger to the mother's life or for rape. I believe that abortion in the third trimester is unnecessary and I would support additional restrictions as allowed by the law in that scenario. I believe the best way to reduce abortions is to increase support for women's health and birth control to avoid unwanted pregnancies in the first place, and I would support groups that believe that also.

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 believe that in order to balance the budget, we need to be willing to look at all options. Balancing the budget will require hard decisions and needs to be a bi-partisan approach. I believe balancing the budget needs to be a priority of the next Congress, as continuing to run budget deficits will have long term negative impacts. We cannot continue to borrow from our children and grandchildren. As an example, the recent tax cut is estimated to increase the national debt by $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years, and I believe that is irresponsible.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that most people agree that there is too much money in politics and that this money has reduced the effectiveness of our government and led to greater polarization. I believe a good starting point to fix campaign finance laws is to fix the Citizen's United Supreme Court decision. There are other possible solutions, such as a campaign contribution tax. The goal should be to reduce the impact of donations from large donors, giving smaller donors more of a say. The end goal of campaign finance reform should be to reduce the amount and impact of money in politics.

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 believe that federal spending and lowering corporate tax rates can be effective means of promoting economic growth. However, I feel that these approaches should be used only in exceptional situations, such as a response to large scale economic issues, like recessions and high unemployment rates. In most situations, I believe that using the power of the federal government to promote economic growth is unnecessary. I also feel that these approaches are unlikely to pay for themselves like some claim and therefore should not be used when there is not an economic need.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I believe that public education is primarily a state level issue, but I do believe that education is one of the most important services that our government provides. I believe that federal education standards to set a minimum level of academic achievement will help ensure that all children in America are given a fair chance at a quality education. However, I feel that most education decisions are best left at the local level with the people who are closest to the local school district and the education needs of their children.

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
- In general I feel that federal support of specific industries is unnecessary, but can be warranted when the industry is anticipated to have significant future public or economic benefit. I believe that renewable energy will have a significant future impact and therefore is worth of government funding. Our country should be at the forefront of this industry if we want to remain competitive in the global market. I believe there is enough scientific evidence to prove that greenhouse gas emissions have a direct impact on global warming, and is therefore worthy of federal regulation.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I am a supporter of the second amendment, but I also believe that there is some common sense gun control solutions that we should be able to agree on as a country. I support solutions such as universal background checks and additional restrictions on specific accessories such as bump stocks and high capacity magazines. I do not support broad restrictions such as an assault weapon ban. I think the most important thing on this as on other issues is that we work together as a country to come up with solutions that actually help solve the problem without unnecessary regulation.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Initially I was not a fan of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), because it was primarily a partisan solution. However, I believe there are pieces of the ACA that the majority of people in our country agree with, such as coverage for pre-existing conditions and coverage for essential health benefits. But there are also issues that need to be addressed, such as whether the restrictions for a qualifying plan is too strict. I believe the individual mandate is necessary if we want to cover pre-existing conditions. We need to work together to fix, not repeal, the ACA.

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
- I think it is important to approach immigration reform with a sense of empathy instead of treating all immigrants as criminals. While I am not against deportation in all scenarios, I believe that immigrants that have been in the country for 5+ years have earned the right for legal status and be given a path to citizenship. I do not support building a border wall, as I believe it is too expensive with no guarantees of effectiveness. It is a better use of our time and money to simplify the immigration process which would make the border wall unnecessary.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support full federal legalization of marijuana for industrial and medicinal purposes. As far as recreational use, I believe consenting adults should have the option to use marijuana just as they have the option to use alcohol. That being said, just as with alcohol I believe there should be restrictions on when and where you can use it. Also, similar to alcohol, I believe the states should have the option to enforce their own laws similar to how states have done since the relaxation of the marijuana enforcement at the federal level.

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
- I support the use of military force when absolutely necessary to avoid hostile governments from possessing a nuclear weapon. However, I believe that all opportunity needs to be given for diplomatic solutions prior to utilizing military force. I also support increased intervention in Middle Eastern conflicts, as long as they are done carefully and with full support of all of our allies.

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.
- My top priority would be to balance the budget, including tax reform. While I feel we should target eliminating loopholes in the tax code first, I would support increasing taxes if necessary, as I believe balancing the budget should be our top priority. My second priority would be to implement some sort of campaign finance reform to reduce the impact of money in politics. My third priority is education and workforce development as an alternative to welfare, as I believe this is key to helping grow wages and improving the lives of middle class workers and families.