Bill Rood
Other | Minnesota
Candidate Profile
Leans Liberal
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Bill Rood
Party
Other
Election Year
2022
Election
General
Race
State Senator, Dist. 25
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, BA, math, 1969
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, MS, math, 1973
WORK & MILITARY
Detroit Public Schools, teacher, 1969-74
LTV Aerospace, application programmer, 1974-77
IBM Corporation, system programmer/admin, 1977-2015
AFFILIATIONS
1st Unitarian-Universalist Church of Rochester, member, Libertarian Party (1982)
member, candidate, DFL Party (2004-08), member, delegate
Republican Party (2012), member, delegate, Independence Party
member, Green Party, member
citizens advisory group on transport (1980?), member
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
State Legislator, 1982
Race
Previous Races
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (3)
Bernie Sanders (2016)
Jill Stein (2016)
Tulsi Gabbard (2020)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (0)
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
The State should not interfere the doctor-patient relationship during the first trimester of pregnancy. After that, abortion should be allowed in cases of rape or incest (which is also rape) or to save the life of the pregnant woman. Once the fetus becomes "viable," all reasonable efforts to save the life of the fetus should be taken.
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive funds from federal, state, or local governments (including Title X grants).
Agree
Government is too involved funding private entities. In cases where abortion is legal, Medicaid should treat it the same as any other medically necessary procedure.
I support 'aid in dying' laws which legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Neutral
Doctors should not participate physically in a patient's suicide, even knowingly through prescription. However, the advice a doctor may give a patient in confidence is sacrosanct.
ECONOMY
What changes, if any, should be made to the tax code?
Ideally the Income Tax should be abolished along with the military spending and wars that it finances. Barring that, it needs to be simplified.
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
Military spending, the War on Drugs, the CDC, NIH, NIAID, FDA, BARDA, FHA, funding to support licensing organizations.
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Strongly Disagree
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
Individuals and businesses should be required to provide services even if it would violate their moral and/or religious beliefs.
Disagree
Businesses should be required to treat all customers equally regardless of race, religion, sexual preference etc, but businesses should not be compelled to express support for concepts with which they disagree.
Under what circumstances can government close churches?
Only in documented cases of incitement to violence.
HEALTHCARE
What most closely matches your view on healthcare: A) Healthcare for all should be guaranteed and funded by the government with no private healthcare option. (includes "universal healthcare," "medicare for all," etc.) B) Healthcare insurance funded by the government should be available for all who want it, along with private healthcare options. C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. D)Tax-payer funded health care should be abolished in all forms, and Medicaid and Medicare should be de-funded.
The federal government should have no role in healthcare. It should be strictly a state and local matter. If a state or local government wants to guarantee universal healthcare, that should be their sovereign choice. I used to be for M4All, but CMS has pushed CDC treatment protocols on hospitals and clinics by threatening their funding. Doctors have been barred from prescribing what they believe is life-saving medication. CMS has too much power. Devolve it to the states.
Under what circumstances (if any) should a government, school, or employer be allowed to require vaccinations?
None.
NATIONAL SECURITY
What should the United States do to help eradicate the threat of Islamic terrorism?
Stop bombing people and instigating coups all over the world. The states can help by protecting their national guard units from deployment in undeclared wars.
I support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, remove the separation barrier in the West Bank, allow full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Strongly Agree
IMMIGRATION
The U.S. should do more to physically secure the southern border.
Strongly Agree
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
People who have no criminal record, speak English and have the other skills they need to obtain employment so they can support themselves without government assistance.
EDUCATION
I support school choice, including voucher programs, tax credits, charter schools, private schools, and home schools.
Agree
I support vouchers and tax credits only if they cover all the costs of a basic education. I do not support subsidizing private schools for the rich by allowing private schools to charge tuition above and beyond what they receive from a voucher. Charter and private schools should be subject to all the regulations applied to traditional public schools.
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Disagree
Many of the founding fathers were deists or naturalists. Many specifically denied the divinity of Jesus. Limited government was based on Enlightenment philosophy like that of John Locke, Adam Smith and Thomas Paine. It had little to do with religion. In fact, Jefferson was a staunch advocate for the separation of church and state.
I support adding gender identity as a specially protected class in non-discrimination laws.
Disagree
While I agree with laws barring discrimination on the basis of gender identity, the trans ideology has gone too far by subjecting school children to age inappropriate information and even threatening parental control of their minor children. Trans-women should not be allowed to compete in women's sporting events.
Marriage is a God-ordained, sacred and legal union of one man and one woman. No government has the authority to alter this definition
Neutral
Government should issue a marriage license to any couple that applies, and civil authorities should be required to marry couples with a license without discrimination. However, religious authorities also have the right to refuse to carry out ceremonies for anything but heterosexual unions. The same laws should apply to people married in either a civil or a religious setting.
I agree with Critical Race Theory (CRT) which asserts that the institutions in the United States are fundamentally racist.
Strongly Disagree
There was a time when "institutions in the United States [were] fundamentally racist." That is no longer true, although there are vestiges of discrimination that we should all work to correct. CRT misidentifies the "oppressor class" as being all whites, rather than elites who might be white, black or any shade in between. Whites should not be shamed of the color of their skin any more than than POC should be.
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
Private.
ELECTIONS AND VOTING
People should be able to vote without photo identification.
Neutral
In person voting without photo ID is not heavily associated with fraud, though I have no objection to requiring a FREE government-issued photo ID. Registration should indeed require a photo ID and signature.
What laws would you propose to change present voting practices?
Absentee ballots must not be mailed to people who have not specifically requested them. Election officials must compare the signature on the ballot envelope against the signature of the voter completed at registration. Mismatches and the ballots of unregistered voters must be discarded.
EQUALITY
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
Only if it is funded so as to encourage it. Money is not speech.
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Disagree
Arguably, my ancestors benefited from "free" land taken from First People, but some of them stole land from other tribes. How far back do we go? My ancestors were not slavers and benefited in no way from slavery. They were in fact "wage slaves." I'm for offering a "hand up" to any person from a poor family who is struggling, regardless of race.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
Which comes closest to your view? A) Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy. B) Stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost.
Anti-pollution laws and regulations should be strictly enforced so the innocent are not harmed by "externalities," but CO2 is not pollution.
I support the use of hydraulic fracking to extract oil and natural gas resources.
Strongly Disagree
Fracking creates externalities, and it isn't feasible without government subsidies in one form or another.
ABOUT YOU
What do you think is the general purpose of government?
To protect individual rights.
When you consider your views on a wide range of issues from economic and social matters to foreign policy and religious liberty, which of the following best describes you overall?
Choose not to answer
Please provide publicly available information, including interviews and media reports, validating your answer to the previous question (other than your website).
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/Znaio9oG9FGE/
Have you ever been convicted of a felony or been penalized in either civil or criminal court for sexual misconduct? If so, please explain.
No.
What else would you like voters to know about you, including your legislative priorities?
My top priority in the MN Senate will be 1. Devolution of power to state and local governments: a. Legalize natural substances like marijuana and kat. b. Make drugs that are safer than Tylenol OTC (HCQ, IVM) c. Free doctors (and hospitals) from federal interference. d. Protect Constitutional Rights (free speech, stop the mandates). e. Protect the Guard from deployment in undeclared wars. f. Re-assert local/parental control of government education. 2. Support the 28th Amendment to override Citizens United a. Corporations are not people b. Money is not speech 3. Election integrity to prevent fraudulent ballots and tabulators. This has been a non-partisan concern since before the 2000 "hanging chad" debacle. 4. Greater ballot/debate access for alternative parties to end the Republocrat stranglehold. 5. Protect the Bill of Rights at the state level.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Police officers should be personally immune from prosecution for conduct consistent with departmental policy (qualified immunity) while on duty.
Strongly Disagree
"Qualified immunity" has been used as a "get out of jail free" card in civil lawsuits. It is an example of the judiciary usurping a legislative function, and Congress needs to reassert its authority in that area.
I support redirecting funds from police departments to mental health and community programs.
Strongly Disagree
Both police departments and mental health programs need to be funded independently according to society's needs. However, police officers should be given training in mental health.
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
Very few. Age restrictions and prohibitions on felon possession are OK.
Victims of gun violence should be able to sue firearms dealers and manufacturers.
Strongly Agree
iVoterGuide Notes:
Candidate notified iVoterGuide.com that his answer should have been, "Victims of gun violence should be able to sue manufacturers only if a product defect contributed to the injury (eg, a safety mechanism did not work as designed, or firearms dealers only if they sell to an ineligible buyer (eg, they neglect to make a background check)."
