Richard Winfield
Democrat | Georgia
Candidate Profile
Liberal
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Richard Winfield
Party
Democrat
Election Year
2020
Election
General
Race
U.S. Senator (Special Election)
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Yale College, New Haven, BA, 1972
University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, MA, 1973
Yale University, New Haven, PhD, 1977
WORK & MILITARY
University of Georgia, Distinguished Research Professor, 1982-present
AFFILIATIONS
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
US House of Representatives in GA District 10, 2018
Race
ENDORSEMENTS
LIBERAL (1)
Public Arts Commission
REPORTED BY CANDIDATE (2)
Richard Day
Our Revolution Cobb County
SELECTED CONTRIBUTIONS
LIBERAL
GIVEN BY CANDIDATE (4)
ActBlue (2018)
Bernie Sanders (2020)
John J. Barrow (2018)
Progressive Change Campaign Committee (2018)
RECEIVED BY CANDIDATE (2)
ActBlue (2018)
Progressive Change Campaign Committee (2018)
OTHER INFORMATION
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Disagree
Abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, should not receive taxpayer funds or grants from federal, state, or local governments.
Strongly Disagree
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.
Disagree
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
Abortion should be permitted whenever a pregnant women decides not to bring the pregnancy to term. At the same time, every woman, and every parent in general, should be provided with guaranteed jobs at fair income or equivalent replacement income when needed, paid family leave, free public child care, $900 monthly child allowances, guaranteed decent housing, access to health care (including abortions and contraceptives)through Medicare For All, and quality free public education at all levels so that one can afford to have the children one wants. These policies will result in the least number of abortions that are humanly possible.
ECONOMY
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has a livable income.
Strongly Agree
Free enterprise and the right to private property are essential elements of a productive economic system.
Agree
How would you guarantee Social Security benefits for future generations?
We need to increase Social Security benefits to be at least equivalent to a fair minimum wage, which should start at $20/hr, which amounts to $41,600 per year. This expansion of benefits can be funded by fair taxation that places the burden on those most able to pay with the least impact upon their opportunities. Highly graduated income and wealth taxes can be adjusted to meet any future costs. These will end up accelerating economic growth by reducing the huge income and wealth inequality that is both a threat to political equal opportunity and a drag on our economy, allowing huge private accumulations of wealth that are too large to be spent. More equal distribution of wealth increases the multiplier effect, where increased consumer spending leads to more investment in expanded production, fueling economic growth benefitting everyone.
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
We never need to balance the budget. Deficits are perfectly acceptible when they fund public investments that uphold our rights and promote economic growth. Balancing the budget in times of a global depression through austerity measures is a recipe for disaster. We can, however,stop giving massive tax reductions to the rich and corporations, as well as curtail military spending on refurbishing nuclear weapons and other weapons systems that do not serve our security.
Under what circumstances should taxpayers help pay off existing student loans?
Student loans which saddle 44 million Americans with a debt of 1.4 trillion dollars should be forgiven. Private banks, who received trillion dollars of support from taxpayers in 2008, should absorb their losses, whereas Federal loans can be handled, if necessary, through taxation on the top 10% of wealth and income. It is estimated that student debt cancellation will increase our GDP by $108 billion annually and increase employment by as much as 1.5 million persons.
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.
No Answer
Religious liberty is at risk in the United States and deserves the highest level of protection in the law.
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?
Separation of church and state is the fundamental guarantee of religious freedom and democracy. If instead any religion is allowed to have a place in the workings of government and other public institutions, other religions are disadvantaged and equal political opportunity is destroyed. Our founders were correct in drawing a firm line between religion and state and we must maintain that division if we want to secure religious liberty and freedom in society and in politics. Religious freedom, however, is not absolute. Intolerant religious practices, which violate the rights of individuals, are not to be tolerated. For this reason, religion cannot be appealed to to deny individuals fair treatment owing to race, gender, or sexual orientation and identity.
HEALTHCARE
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has health insurance.
Strongly Agree
I support the elimination of private healthcare insurance.
Agree
How would you promote healthcare coverage that is adequate, affordable and accessible for all?
The most just and affordable solution to universal healthcare coverage is Medicare for All. It gives everyone the same complete coverage of all necessary physical, mental, dental, and long term care. It allows everyone to go to any healthcare provider of their choice (unlike private insurance plans). It eliminates all the unnecessary overhead costs of for-profit private health insurance (including executive super salaries, advertising costs, dividends for stock holders, the bloated expenses of health care providers in processing the proliferation of different private health insurance plans). Finally, it puts us in the strongest position to negotiate prices with medical care providers and drug producers to bring our medical costs in line with the rest of the developed world, who pay half of what we do per person and achieve better health care outcomes. Medicare for All can be fairly funded by highly graduated income and wealth taxation that puts the burden on those most able to pay
NATIONAL SECURITY
The best way to maintain peace is through a strong military.
Disagree
What should the United States do to help eradicate the threat of radical Islamic terrorism?
The United States should promote social justice and democratic rule in all nations, including those with large Muslim populations. We should limit our support of nations, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Pakistan, that aid and abet Islamist movements that strive for theocracy. We should promote the largest international alliance to aid governments who are combatting Islamic terrorist movements, while giving them the assistance to remove the social and political inequities that fuel the rise of those movements. In all these endeavors, we must enlist the cooperation of Muslims who support secular freedom. In no cases, should we discriminate against Muslims in general, as Trump did with his Muslim travel ban.
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.
Disagree
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be abolished.
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.
Disagree
Employers should be required to use E-verify to confirm the eligibility of their employees to work in the United States.
Neutral
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
Our immigration policy should continue to stand on the four pillars that, until Trump, have so benefited our nation in its growth as a beacon of opportunity: Humanitarianism, Family Unification, Employment Needs, and Diversity. First, we need to allow entry to our fair share of asylum seekers, who should be provided due process, including legal assistance, to have their case examined within 6 months. Second, we need to expand family unification and allow parents, children, grandchildren, grandparents, and siblings of citizens and permanent residents to have an opportunity to immigrate in a timely manner. Thirdly, we need to expand immigration of people who meet our employment needs, including both unskilled and skilled workers, and permit them to have a path to permanent residence and citizenship. Fourthly, we need to continue to admit people of all backgrounds and strengthen our character as a nation open to the world.
EDUCATION
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Strongly Agree
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Neutral
I support adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression as protected classes in non-discrimination laws.
Strongly Agree
Briefly describe your spiritual beliefs and values.
I believe in the supreme value of self-determination as it applies to thought and action. This entails respect for the rights of others, which include the rights to property, to conscience, tolerant religious belief, and intellectual autonomy, to equal household opportunity as co-determining spouses, to equal social opportunity in a civil society, and to equal political opportunity through institutions of self-government. Intolerance and oppression should be combatted in all their forms, including those religious movements that interpret and apply religious doctrines to discriminate against persons based on race, gender, and sexual orientation and identity.
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?
Very Liberal
Please provide publicly available information validating your answer to the previous question.
I believe that we must fulfill all of our rights, including the social rights which have been neglected in the United States since its founding, allowing for blockages of opportunity that shackle our democracy. I support fulfilling our right to a decent livelihood with a Federal Job Guarantee, providing jobs at fair wages to anyone who cannot find employment in the market, combined with equivalent replacement income for the disabled and retirees. I support fulfilling our right to health care secured by Medicare For All (covering all necessary physical, mental, dental, and long term care with no deductibles or copays) and for a healthy environment, secured by a Green New Deal achieving 100% green house gas free energy production by 2030. I support evening the playing field between employees and employer by having automatic union elections in all enterprises with multiple employees and having 50% of corporate board seats filled by employee representatives.
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?
TO CLARIFY: I support reparations to victims of state sanctioned discrimination, but not just by race. I support a 2 state solution for the Israel-Palestinian conflict based on the 1967 borders, but not the BDS movement because it sometimes includes positions that preclude a two state solution, which is the only practical one under current circumstances. I also do not support "discrimination" against individuals, groups, or businesses because of their beliefs on same sex marriage, but I do support preventing them from discriminating against same-sex couples or anyone based on sexual orientation and identity. Please visit my campaign website, winfieldforsenate.com, for more information about me and to support my campaign. Listen to my new podcast, American Unchained, whose 12th weekly episode started streaming Tuesday, 8/18/20). Finally, read my book of political policy, Democracy Unchained: How We Should Fulfill Our Social Rights and Save Democracy.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY
Mandatory minimum sentencing should be required and enforced for violent crimes.
Strongly Disagree
2ND AMENDMENT
What restrictions on gun ownership are needed to protect public safety?
All gun owners should be required to purchase liability insurance, just like car owners. All weapons with high capacity magazines should be prohibited and those that are already owned should be bought back by our government. All private guns should be restricted to four locations: the owner's home, the owner's vehicle, firing ranges, and hunting grounds. We cannot allow private guns to invade our public spaces and put our personal safety and democracy in jeopardy.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
I support BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) against Israel if they refuse to allow the creation of a Palestinian state.
Neutral
I support the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Strongly Agree
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Neutral
The Electoral College should be abolished.
Strongly Agree
In priority order, what three areas of legislation do you propose to author or sponsor if elected?
First I propose to enact a Federal Job Guarantee wiping out unemployment and poverty income by including a new fair minimum wage (starting at $20/hr and keeping pace with inflation and the growth of national wealth) and equivalent replacement income for those who cannot work. Second, I propose to secure our health and the health of our planet through a Medicare for All public health insurance program and a Green New Deal acheiving 100% greenhouse gas free energy production by 2030. Thirdly, I propose to enact legislation to even the playing field between employees and employers with automatic union elections in all enterprises with multiple workers and employee co-determination (where half the seats on corporate boards are filled by the elected representatives of non-managerial employees).
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
White supremacists currently pose the greatest domestic terrorist threat in the United States. They have been encouraged by our president and his accomplices, as well as by the failure of the FBI and the Justice Department to target sufficiently those proliferating anti-democratic nationalist groups that are not just spewing fascist ideology but actively conspiring to attack our rights and overthrow our democracy. On the other hand, we need to eliminate entrenched racial and gender disadvantage by fulfilling our social rights to a fair liveilood, to healthcare, to decent housing, to balance work and family, to a liveable environment, and to legal representation in both civil and criminal cases. There is no domestic security when we allow sections of our population to suffer deprivation of income and wealth, of healthcare, of decent housing, of access to education, of equal treatment in the courts, and equal opportunity in politics.
