Robert W. Patterson
Republican | New Jersey
Candidate Profile
Conservative (Conditional)
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Robert W. Patterson
Party
Republican
Election Year
2020
Election
Primary
Race
U.S. Rep., Dist. 2
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Westminster Theological Seminary, Glenside, PA, Th.M., 1982
Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, M.A., 1977
Cairn University, Philadelphia, PA, B.S., 1975
WORK & MILITARY
(Candidate did not provide)
AFFILIATIONS
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
Congress, NJ01, 2016
Race
Previous Races
ENDORSEMENTS
CONSERVATIVE (2)
Greg Quinlan
New Jersey Right to Life
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (5)
John Lehman, Ronald Reagan's secretary of the Navy
Frank Cannon, pres., American Principles Project
Jerry Regier, founding president, FRC
Nick Asselta, former NJ State Senator
Tony DiSimone, former NJGOP Committeeman
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
CONSERVATIVE
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (0)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (4)
Campaign for Working Families (2019)
Eagle Forum (2015)
Peter & Maria Zieve (2020)
TMAC PAC (2016)
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly Agree
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds or grants from federal, state, or local governments.
Strongly Agree
I support the Born Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which requires health care providers to provide life-saving treatment for infants who survive an attempted abortion.
Strongly Agree
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
To save the life of the mother. Moreover, state legislatures -- not the courts -- are the proper authorities to set abortion policy.
ECONOMY
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has a livable income.
Neutral
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Strongly Agree
How would you guarantee Social Security benefits for future generations?
The best way to guarantee future earned Social Security benefits is to reboot the U.S. domestic economy by elevating manufacturing, defense industries, and infrastructure -- and subordinating the financial sector to support those true growth drivers of widely-shared American wealth and prosperity. Such a reversal from a generation of globalization and financialization represents the best path to creating millions of family-wage jobs for average Americans, while enhancing revenues to shore up the Social Security system.
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
- Foreign aid to countries and contributions to organizations like the WHO which do not respect American values. - Dept. of Education. Education funding is better left to the states while education policy is better left to local school boards and parents. - Means-tested welfare spending across many federal departments. Unintended consequences of duplicative Great Society programs have undermined not only work incentives but also family formation, a building block of a productive economy.
Under what circumstances should taxpayers help pay off existing student loans?
We must first ensure that our fellow citizen graduates are the first to be hired by American companies, especially in the tech industry, and at prevailing American wages. We also need substantive reforms of the student loan program and higher education so that Americans don't graduate from college with the equivalent of a mortgage payment.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Governments should not discriminate against individuals, organizations or small businesses because of their belief that marriage is only a union of one man and one woman.
Strongly Agree
Religious liberty is at risk in the United States and deserves the highest level of protection in the law.
Strongly Agree
I promise to protect the freedom of Christians to share the Gospel and to practice Biblical principles.
Yes
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
Church and state each play distinctive roles in making America great. To me, separation of the two spheres means that each has to respect the other's role and function. Throughout most of our history, neither sphere has attempted to co-opt the other. However more recently, the political left -- with help from the courts -- has attempted to undermine the independent role of religion in society, particularly the efforts of conservative Christians and Jews to defend the best of American traditions. I stand with John Adams, who observed: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." As such, public policy should never impede religious vitality in American life.
HEALTHCARE
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has health insurance.
Neutral
I support the elimination of private healthcare insurance.
Strongly Disagree
How would you promote healthcare coverage that is adequate, affordable and accessible for all?
The hurdles we face in providing affordable and accessible healthcare coverage transcend those added by Obamacare, a bureaucratic nightmare that dramatically raised premiums and copays but utterly failed to address runaway costs related to prescription drugs, mega-hospital systems, and medical specialists. There is no easy solution, but we need to temper those cost drivers and put more options on the table -- including tort reform, a review of excessive state regulations, and not mandating medically unnecessary coverage — that would allow the private sector to offer more affordable and adequate plans for all citizens of working age and their dependents. But keep Medicare for retirees.
NATIONAL SECURITY
The best way to maintain peace is through a strong military.
Strongly Agree
What should the United States do to help eradicate the threat of radical Islamic terrorism?
- Following the Republican tradition established by Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge, we must recover high standards of immigration to the United States, including what TR termed a "capacity to appreciate American institutions" and a working knowledge of the English language. - End the visa lottery program. - Send visa overstayers back to their home countries.
IMMIGRATION
I am in favor of construction of a wall and other necessary infrastructure on our border that gives complete control over entering and exiting the United States.
Strongly Agree
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be abolished.
Strongly Disagree
State and federal funds should be denied to any public or private entity, including but not limited to sanctuary cities, that are not in compliance with immigration laws.
Strongly Agree
Employers should be required to use E-verify to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States.
Strongly Agree
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
Because mass immigration has been the biggest driver of inequality in America, we should scale back all forms of immigration to foster tight labor markets and family-wage jobs for the benefit of American citizens. The focus should not be who can come here but what we can to do to create good jobs, with high wages and decent benefits, for our fellow Americans. Even before the dislocations of the coronavirus pandemic, 11.4 million Americans were either out of work or confined to part-time jobs. We must do better for these Americans.
EDUCATION
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Strongly Disagree
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Agree
I support adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected classes in non-discrimination laws.
Strongly Disagree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I believe -- per the Westminster Shorter Catechism -- that my “chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.” I further believe that the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament teach all that God requires of man, and that the Ten Commandments outline our duties to God and our fellow human beings.
ABOUT YOU
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and immigration, which of the following best describes you overall?
Conservative
Please provide publicly available information validating your answer to the previous question.
My campaign websites: https://bobpattersonforcongress.com https://www.realvandrew.com https://www.facebook.com/BobPattersonSJ/
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No.
Is there anything else you would like voters to know about you?
I'm committed to policies that put America First!
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Mandatory minimum sentencing should be required and enforced for violent crimes.
Agree
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
None.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
I support BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) against Israel if they refuse to allow the creation of a Palestinian state.
Disagree
I support the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Disagree
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Disagree
The Electoral College should be abolished.
Strongly Disagree
In priority order, what three areas of legislation do you propose to author or sponsor if elected?
1. Reform trade laws and the tax code to end both corporate outsourcing and downsizing and to bring production lines, manufacturing operations, and even call centers back to the USA. 2. Amend the Defense Production Act to require that 90 percent of all supplies for our military, especially "advanced technology" goods, be manufactured here at home, employing only U.S. citizens and ensuring that all parts, machine tools, materials, vehicles, and equipment used for such purposes are also made in the USA. This would also enable the United States to counter the China threat and to regain our lead in telecommunications, electronics, robotics, and automation. 3. A House version of the current Senate “HIRE Act” to decentralize and relocate 90 percent of federal agencies (and federal jobs) from the DC metro area to the heartland, including regions like South Jersey.
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
No. Mass immigration and cheap foreign labor are key drivers of inequality in America today, or as Theodore Roosevelt warned, the factor "which gives rise to so much bitterness in American life."
