Issues

You can read every issue I have on this page and it means nothing if we don't get big money out of politics.

• Citizens United is legalized bribery. Money is not speech.
• We need to close the revolving doors between government and special interests.
• We need politicians who would rather speak to voters than take donor calls.

“First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end. The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought.”—Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy

Our FY2023 defense budget was $816.7 billion.  That is an increase of more than $100 billion from FY2022. To put those numbers in perspective: Ending homelessness in the US is estimated at $20 billion.  We could have ended homelessness AND increased the defense budget by over 10%.

This doesn't account for the costs of war. 20 years in Afghanistan and Iraq cost $1.79 trillion and that is estimated to reach $2.89 trillion when including Veteran medical and disability care until 2050. That did not get us stability in the Middle East. We are still bombing Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen and the establishment is foaming at the mouth for war against Iran, Russia, and China.

We have more than 800 military bases around the world. We are sending our poor and middle class youth overseas to kill poor and middle class youth there for Military Industrial Complex profit. When they are returned home in caskets, DC calls for more war to 'protect our troops' instead of bringing them home.

We haven't raised the minimum wage since 2009!!! That's 15 years. Is $15 the right number? Should it be $25? Is it the same in NY or CA as it is here in FL?

We already calculate COLA for Social Security based on inflation data and BAH (Military Basic Allowance for Housing) based on specific areas. This is done each year. We should set a baseline and tie future raises automatically to these or similar calculations. A number we arbitrarily choose today may be inadequate if it takes another 15 years, or longer, for Congress to do it again.

Sometimes the best answer is simple. People shouldn't have to have two or three jobs to survive. Unemployment is 'at historical lows', but those numbers are employer reported vice household reported. It is estimated that 16 million Americans have more than one job... 10% of the US workforce. That is simply not sustainable.

I don't care what we call it. Medicare for All, Single Payer, 'Merica Healthcare... it doesn't matter. This should not be a right/left issue.

The simple fact is: There should not be a profit motive in people's healthcare.

It is time that the richest country in the world joined the rest of the developed world in taking care of our own people. Period, full stop.

We have seen no lack of new housing developments in our area, but we've also seen a rise in investor purchases of single family homes by out of state investors. 24% of single-family home purchases nationwide in 2022 were by owners with more than four properties. These were turned immediately into rental properties. This trend pushes up both home prices and rental rates. It is also a way to siphon money out of our local economy. That is to say, those owners do not reinvest that money locally.

The tax code is also very beneficial to these investors. Home depreciation can be taken as a write off. The market value of the property can increase in a given year, but the asset still depreciates and can be a deduction. The owner does not have to invest in improvements or maintenance to get this tax break... and often they don't. If you are a renter you've likely seen this. This loophole has to be closed in the tax code. This will either entice institutional investors to perform improvements as deductions or just get out of the business.

My Fair Minimum Wage will certainly help us get closer to housing affordability and to fight the inflation caused by these investors. In addition to that, we should provide better education for first time buyers on the programs that are available and streamline the process of getting that assistance to them.

Strong labor unions were the biggest backers for a lot of policies that we take for granted: 8-hour work days to 40-hour work weeks to child labor laws. They have fought for unemployment insurance, worker compensation, on the job safety standards, and family medical leave.

Should everyone be in a union? No, not necessarily. However, their efforts help all workers. The historic wins by the UAW last year have led to raises for workers in Hyundai, Honda, and Toyota factories. Even workers who have unionized at several Starbucks locations have brought up issues about fair labor practices that affect everyone.

I believe that an employer is not doing you a favor by 'giving' you a job. You are doing them a favor by selling them your labor and time. Businesses cannot produce or sell goods and services without labor. Labor is a commodity just like anything else that a company has to invest in. There is strength in numbers, and unions are a way of focusing that in any industry.

We are all very aware that we only have two 'viable' political parties in this country. They do everything they can to hold onto that power. They can run whatever candidate they want and in most cases all it takes to win is a heartbeat and a nice (R) or (D) next to their name. They exert their power to ensure it is more difficult for opposing parties or candidates to even run. They then use the Red Blue fight to further divide the country.

The largest voting block in this country is eligible non-voters. In the 2020 election, 1/3 of voters decided to stay at home. People have lost faith in the system since neither party really cares about them. We need to change that.

Rank choice voting removes the poison pill of 'Spoiler Candidates' from the duopoly toolkit. If you support the Libertarian over the Republican or the Green over the Democrat, you as a voter rank them in your preferred order.

This is obviously done at the state level, but I will support any effort that is ongoing to make this a reality for voters. More choice is more democracy.