California 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
- Generally I think abortion is a field the government has no power over, heinous an act as we think it may be. But we can put some limitations on things like third trimester abortions, or withholding public funding from places that perform it.

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?
- No

3. Other or expanded principles
- Defense spending has been reduced enough under the Obama administration. We need to have our national defense funded at the level where we can continue to uphold our promises to our allies and not abandon them.Nobody wants to talk about tax increases or budget cuts. But if we're going to have a balanced budget, we can't rule out either.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- It sounds like a great idea. The question is how do you do it? What stops a wealthy entity from using their money to support someone they like in a manner they see fit? Too much regulation only serves to protect wealthy players with high priced lawyers from small incoming competitors.

Economy

1. Do you support federal spending as a means of promoting economic growth?
- No

2. Do you support lowering corporate taxes as a means of promoting economic growth?
- Yes

3. Other or expanded principles
- Both of these are not a simple yes/no answer. But it's true that economic growth is not a government function, and it can't spend our way out of a recession. I'm not a big fan of trickle down economics either, but if we tax corporations out of the country then we don't have an economy.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- My understanding is the federal government has done more to ruin our education system than help it by getting involved. Such matters should be left to the states.

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
- Again, a tricky question. Too many of these bills are well sounding pork barrel legislation. I would have to see a bill do real good for the nation before I voted for it. If written properly, subsidies for renewable energy would be a cheap way to get us off fossil fuels.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- This is a free country. We can't solve our problems by adding laws on what people can and can't do. Every time the Democrats talk about this, everyone's reaction is to run to the gun store.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- This was a tax on the poor young and healthy and a subsidy to wealthy health care providers. We need to redo this legislation from scratch.

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
- Again, a gray area. Maybe a wall isn't the best way to achieve border security. But I ask those who oppose it - are you at least for a secure border? All too often, the answer there is no. So a wall becomes a litmus test of commitment to a proper immigration system.I would support a bill requiring return of unlawful immigrants for citizenship well before I supported one that required their return for any legal status.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- The issue here is some states want it legal, but the federal government does not. So there's an inconsistency here. I wouldn't be spearheading any efforts to make this legal at the federal level. Decriminalizing, possibly. My priority would be to give law enforcement a consistent legal framework on this issue.

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
- Our allies in the middle east have matured and are now capable of defending and improving the region without our direct help. Our direct help only harms our interests in the region and can quickly backfire. We should use it only in case of major emergency.

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.
- I've said my campaign rested on three issues I thought were bipartisan:* support police and military* keep immigration legal* American values are worth defending.None of these issues require funding. They're simply a return to the role I see government needs to play to play a positive role in our lives.