Texas 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
- Women should have agency over their bodies, and should have access to quality healthcare. Our bodies have been made into a political football, and that must stop. Texas leads the industrialized world in maternal mortality due to this politicization of personal rights. I am a fan of the Colorado program funded by the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation which lowered teen pregnancy rates by 40%, and teen abortions by more than 30%, and think we should support women in any choice they make.

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
- The wealthiest of us may pay larger dollar amounts in taxes, however the tax burden they carry is lower than the working and middle classes. I fully support progressive tax rates, and would support decreasing tax rates on the working and middle classes, and reasonable tax rate increases on the wealthy. First and foremost, I support taking care of our veterans. I don't support spending taxpayer money on equipment the military doesn't need. I don't support wars of choice, and I would support reducing discretionary spending on defense after ensuring we are accounting for our returning veterans first.

Campaign Finance

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Long term, I support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens v United ruling. Over the medium term, I would support legislation similar to Massachusetts's Disclose Act, requiring immediate transparency for superPAC expenditures and the donors who contribute to the superPAC. As a short-term measure, I would also support a reasonable limit to the amount that organizations can spend on political goods and services. While it's unlikely we could reimplement the provisions from the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act that prohibited corporate expenditures on political advertising, we should be able to implement some reasonable limitations until a constitutional amendment is passed.

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
- During economic downturns, the federal government is one of the few entities that can continue to operate largely as normal, injecting cash into the economy through jobs programs, infrastructure spending, research and development grants, and so on. It's possible that there could be circumstances where federal spending should decrease, however, that would not be typical. There may be occasional circumstances where it makes sense to lower corporate taxes, but we've cut corporate taxes without need, while recording record profits, and cutting jobs. Cutting corporate taxes should not be the go-to solution for Congress. We should increase wages instead.

Education

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- Yes, we should have a common, minimum guideline that is consistent nationwide. However, we should also ensure that teachers have the resources they need, and that they are allowed the flexibility to teach however they need to teach their students. The primary complaints I hear from teachers in the district is that they are forced to perform new and varying types of data entry, not to mention spending a majority of their time teaching a standardized test. Let's ensure that we have standards, but that we're also giving the teachers the tools they need, and the kids a real opportunity.

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
- Climate change needs to be addressed immediately. Texas, and North Texas in particular is positioned well to help tackle the energy challenges of the next few decades. Texas leads the nation in wind and solar production, and has the opportunity to grow on that foundation. America must resume its role as leader in the world. That means funding research as well as implementation of green energy, and must end the subsidy and use of fossil fuels. I support the Off Fossil Fuels for a Better Future Act, transitioning to 100% renewables by 2035.

Guns

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I think there is some low-hanging fruit that we can work on, even with Republicans in Congress. We can ban bump stocks, end loopholes that allow the purchase of weapons without background checks. I would also support additional regulation of assault-style weapons.

Health Care

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I support Medicare For All. I would only accept any repeal or replacement of the ACA after providing actual health coverage and care to all Americans through Medicare. The ACA isn't perfect, and like many states, Texas turned its back on many of its most precariously-positioned citizens when it refused the expansion of Medicaid. America should be able to take care of its people, and we should take care of our neighbors.

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
- The wall is a waste of money and resources, especially considering the declining state of America's power, water, and road infrastructure nationwide, and the existence of more pressing challenges, such as healthcare, climate change, caring for our veterans, addressing poverty, and more. I don't think it would be practical to require undocumented immigrants to return to their country of origin before beginning the citizenship process. Instead, I would support a complete overhaul of our immigration process, simplifying and standardizing the process, and including a path to citizenship for the undocumented. Also, I support a clean DREAM Act now.

Marijuana

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

2. Other or expanded principles
- I think the legalization of marijuana will happen soon, and think the first step should be decriminalization and rescheduling, allowing the states to regulate and tax. We should also allow for the use of marijuana in pain management, and to treat PTS. We should also end the war on drugs.

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
- I believe in peace through diplomacy. I would prefer to use a combination of direct diplomacy, diplomacy via neutral third parties, trade, and export of culture to mitigate the need for armed conflict. Other nations have the right to defend themselves, making the notion of an American first strike against a nation with which we are not at war something I would not support without very good reason. We have sent hundreds of thousands of our kids to fight in the Middle East. Surely we can find diplomatic solutions to the conflicts there, and provide assistance to the suffering there.

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.
- Medicare for All, implemented utilizing something similar to SB1804 to roll out over 4 years, using a small payroll tax if necessary. Given that around 40% of Americans are on government-provided healthcare, we can likely expand that with relatively predictable additional cost. Readjusting the corporate tax rate to a more reasonable rate. Other top priorities include campaign finance reform, passing the Equality Act, banning private prisons (and additional criminal justice reform), and taking care of veterans and medically fragile children.