Rich Robertson

Strongly Agree

I believe that life begins at conception. Jeremiah 1:5 tells us that God knew us before He formed us in the womb. I am unapologetically Pro-life and I will support legislation that protects the unborn and work to eliminate any federal funding that either directly or indirectly funds abortion. Taxpayers should not be forced by their government to pay for procedures that kill unborn babies in opposition to their most fundamental and sacredly held beliefs in the right to life.

Strongly Disagree

I believe in the sanctity of life and do not believe so called "aid in dying" laws should be supported through legislation.

Because I believe that life begins at conception, I do not believe the killing of unborn babies in the womb should be allowed anymore than the killing of babies outside the womb. Even in the evil and rare case of conception through rape or incest, I believe in a just punishment for the perpetrator but I do not believe it is right to kill an innocent unborn life. I believe that life is a fundamental right granted by God and it is wrong in the eyes of God to take innocent life.

Strongly Disagree

I do not believe in taxation for the purpose of wealth and income redistribution. I do believe in low to moderate taxation for the limited purposes of a National Defense, protection of our borders, actual critical infrastructure, K-12 education and other limited but essential purposes. I also do believe we need to have a healthy middle class but I believe the best way to achieve that is through de-regulation that allows small businesses to flourish in our country.

Strongly Agree

Absolutely I believe the government should cut spending in order to reduce the national debt. Our national debt is at an unsustainable and dangerous level of over 30 Trillion dollars. George Washington, in his farewell address, warned of the dangers of too much debt for our country. I will fight to promote a more limited and less costly Federal government while pushing all other authority down to the state and local levels where government officials are more accountable to the people.

I think the tax code should be simplified and I would like to see an overall reduction in taxes, which could be achieved with a smaller federal government. I would also seek to eliminate any state and local tax (SALT) deductions and force high tax blue states to fully live with the consequence of their big government state programs without the benefit of relief at the expense of red state taxpayers. Red state taxpayers end up unfairly paying for a greater share of the federal taxes when SALT deductions are in place.

Strongly Agree

I absolutely believe religious liberty is under threat. A radical LGBTQ “anti-discrimination” bill called the “Equality Act” came extremely close to becoming law for the entire country last year. If this bill were to become law, it would eliminate a church or religious institution’s ability to hire personnel and practice their religion in accordance with their religious doctrine. Additionally, so called "hate speech" laws and "conversion therapy" laws also threaten religious liberty.

Strongly Disagree

Individuals and businesses should be free to provide services in accordance with their religious beliefs. The Founders deemed this principle so fundamental they put this protection in the very 1st amendment to the bill of rights. "Congress shall make no law...prohibiting the free exercise (of religion by the individual)."

The relationship between church and state should revert back to the original intent of the Founders in the 1st amendment. The purpose of the 1st amendment as it relates to religion is two-fold: 1) it was to ensure there would be no creation of an official State religion (State religion meaning one where the individual would not be free to practice anything other than the prescribed official State religion as was the case in a tyrannical England, and 2) it was also to ensure the individual right to freely practice one's religion without interference from the government.

On COVID vaccine mandates, I proudly support medical freedom. No more mandates, period. Your healthcare choices are for you and your doctor to make, not the government. I will seek legislation to expressly state that OSHA has no authority to impose vaccine mandates on individuals or businesses or for hospitals that receive federal money. I also want to bring back any military members who were kicked out of the military for refusing to take the experimental COVID vaccines. I do not believe individuals should be forced to have a medicine injected into their bodies. I think it should be up to the individual to make their choice based on the known and unfiltered flow of information regarding the risks and benefits on whether to take a vaccine or not.

I would say I best align with answer C) Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary. That said, I believe the scope of Medicaid and Medicare should be further limited and certainly not expanded. Healthcare must be focused on the patient, and based on a free and open market. We need to get the government out of health care, not involve it more. A takeover of healthcare by the government would lead to rationing of health care and much longer wait times for both lifesaving and non-lifesaving care and treatments. I strongly support efforts to create transparent pricing and to open up competition across state lines which will lower healthcare costs for Georgians and encourage new providers to operate in our small towns.

I most closely align with answer C) The United States has become too involved in others' policies and should remain focused on issues regarding our own sovereignty unless in imminent danger. I do believe America should honor our commitments and alliances such as NATO. That said, we should be very careful regarding what commitments we make and if we are going to be a part of an alliance such as NATO, it must be contingent on other nations paying their fair share and other nations committing their troops to the same level as the U.S. I do believe armed conflict should be a very last resort after all other means of economic and diplomatic means have been exhausted. I also strongly believe in peace through strength and a strong military serves as a deterrent, which prevents conflict.

Strongly Disagree

I strongly disagree with the anti-Semitic BDS movement. The Palestinian charter still denies Israel's right to exist and countries like Iran continue to call for "death to Israel." I fully support the only democratic country in the Middle East, which is Israel. As conservative commentator, Dennis Prager, says, if Hamas and the Palestinians were to lay down their arms, there would be instant peace in the Middle East. If Israel were to lay down its arms, Israel would be instantly destroyed.

Strongly Agree

We need to be laser focused on an ever increasingly aggressive China. They have made it their express goal to overtake the U.S. as the world’s dominant power. China has an aggressive program of espionage against the U.S. and is engaged in military escalation, economic warfare, and intellectual property theft. We must be prepared to confront China’s aggression. They shut down domestic travel to Wuhan after they knew about the Corona virus while keeping International travel open - Inexcusable!

We must speak boldly and truthfully about this threat and when needed, do as Trump did with Isis, take the gloves off when fighting terrorists. Trump opened up the rules of engagement and decimated Isis in short order after becoming President. Also, not handing over $85 Billion+ in U.S. military equipment to a terrorist organization like the Taliban, as the Biden administration shamefully did in August 2021, would be a good start as well in helping to eradicate the threat of Islamic terrorism.

Strongly Agree

Ronald Reagan once said, “A nation that cannot control its borders is not a nation.” We must stop the flow of illegal immigration. Our border with Mexico is a disaster. At a time when our nation is already struggling to provide quality education, health care and good paying jobs for its citizens, the Biden administration is deliberately allowing our border to remain open to illegal immigrants leading to a record two million immigrants crossing our border just last year.

Strongly Agree

I will seek to end federal funding for states like California that thumb their nose at our federal immigration laws by allowing “sanctuary cities.” We need to completely end illegal immigration using every tool at our disposal: reinstate the remain in Mexico policy for pending asylum applications, erect physical walls, increase surveillance technology, keep Title 42 restrictions in place, and add thousands more border patrol agents.

We need to rework our legal immigration system too. When so many already existing Americans are struggling, it’s not clear that we need a million new legal immigrants every year, much less the approximately two million illegal immigrants that crossed our border in Joe Biden’s first year in office. We must reform our heavily abused asylum system, which has incentivized Mexican gang human smugglers to re-use the same children over and over in smuggling efforts to present as a “family” at the border. At this point in our history, immigration should be based primarily on U.S. needs for immigrants that would contribute to our country's needs, not the other way around. I do think there is a place for asylum laws to protect those truly being persecuted around the world but this system under current law has been widely abused and needs serious reform to comply with the original intent of asylum.

Strongly Disagree

A protected class status for LGBTQ would be weaponized against Christians and other faith groups. Militant LGBTQ activists, radical secularists, and the Democrat Party are seeking to force Christians into affirming LGBTQ ideology or be forced to shut down or be silenced. In other words, it is militant LGBTQ activists, radical secularists, and lawmakers in the Democrat Party who are being intolerant towards Christianity and religion in general, not the other way around.

Strongly Disagree

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is based in the evil of Marxism and rests on the lie that America and all of America's institutions in 2022 are systemically racist (that said, by denying alleged systemic racism, I am not denying that there is some level of racism that exists at the individual level). The purpose of CRT is to delegitimize the Founding documents and reassert a "re-imagined" government based in Marxism and equal outcomes by force based on group identity vice equal opportunity for all.

Religious liberty is a central aspect to the founding of the United States. In the very first amendment to the Constitution, the Founders placed a restraint on the government saying, Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion. Founding Father John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” I will fight to preserve the fundamental right of religious liberty in this country. I became a Christian in 2012 after a long journey that began with me reading the entire Bible while deployed to Iraq, having a pastor that I respected take the time to meet with me, and reading many books including C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and Screwtape Letters, Lee Strobel’s Case for Faith and Case for Christ, and Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict. Today, my faith significantly shapes my worldview to include the belief found in the Declaration of Independence that we are ALL created equal (created in God’s image) and that our rights come from God, not government; and the whole purpose of government is to secure those God given rights. I also profoundly believe that life begins at conception and we have a duty to protect innocent unborn life. Nobody goes to Washington D.C., or enters a classroom for that matter, with a neutral set of values. Whether we believe in God or not, we all have a worldview and set of values that shapes how we think and what we advocate for. My faith and my worldview, based on that faith, will instruct the way I approach policy priorities. I will seek to promote that which is morally good, to protect the innocent, to promote true justice, to promote what is in the best interest of the nation, to promote what is good for the family, and to expand the liberty that rightly belongs to the people.

Strongly Disagree

To ensure election integrity and credibility, I personally believe that voting should be in person and with ID only, for the vast majority of Americans, and with exceptions only for the severely disabled, infirm, or out of state active-duty military. Although very unlikely to have enough support, I would support a Constitutional amendment to this effect. Until then, I will fight to keep election law authority with the states as is written in the Constitution.

It is vitally important that all citizens, whether Republican or Democrat, have confidence that our election system is fair and secure. The Democrat controlled Congress, including Sanford Bishop, is doing its best to federalize elections nationwide. They are seeking to do away with voter ID requirements for all 50 states and institute third party “ballot harvesting” nationwide. Not only does this undermine the will of voters in states like Georgia, this would destroy any credibility in federal elections going forward and is a gross violation of our Constitutional system of government especially given that the Constitution expressly gives states the authority to determine election laws in each of their given states. Georgia recently passed the Election Integrity Act (SB 202) to ensure voter integrity. This law primarily creates an ID requirement for mail-in ballots to match the ID requirement that already existed for in-person voting and Georgia will provide a voting ID for FREE to anyone who does not possess a driver’s license or other valid form of ID under the law. The law also attempts to stiffen penalties for the illegal practice of third party “ballot harvesting.” Joe Biden and others have characterized this law as “Jim Crow 2.0.” This is an outright lie and a gross mischaracterization of the law, not to mention an insulting diminishment of the actual dehumanizing Jim Crow laws, which ironically were instituted by southern democrats in Joe Biden’s Democrat party. Again, ironically, Joe Biden compared those who do not support his plan to get rid of voter ID requirements nationwide as Democrats Bull Connor and Jefferson Davis. For anyone who is doubtful of Georgia’s new voting law based on what they have heard, I challenge that person to actually read the law for themselves and tell me where the alleged racism is. The most controversial part of the bill is a provision that prevents partisan groups from handing out water or food to voters in a last attempt to influence votes. The rule applies equally to everybody of all races and people are free to bring their own water or the polling station officials can provide water. The Democrat controlled Congress, including Sanford Bishop, is doing its best to make it easier to cheat in elections by attempting to eliminate state voter ID requirements and implement third party ballot harvesting, which invites the practice of someone being paid to collect votes for a certain party. This is wrong and a complete undermining of Democracy. To ensure election integrity and credibility, I personally believe that voting should be in person and with ID for the vast majority of Americans, and with exceptions only for the severely disabled, infirm, or active-duty military. This is the model for most of Europe because they know mass mail-in ballots significantly increase the potential for fraud. Although very unlikely to have enough support, I would support a Constitutional amendment to this effect. Until then, I will fight to keep election law authority with the states as is written in the Constitution.

Strongly Disagree

Reparations would only serve to further divide our country. First of all, it is immoral to make people pay for the sins of their ancestors. Almost every historical group has been victimized by some other group at some point in history all around the world. There is also the issue that the vast majority of white people in this country did not have ancestors who owned slaves. Most white ancestors immigrated to America after the time of slavery. There are many issues; mostly it is wrong.

No. I truly believe most people in 2022 America, as Martin Luther King, Jr. challenged us to do, do not care what color someone's skin color is with regard to how they treat people. Interracial marriage is at an all time high in this country. Our predominantly white country elected a black man to the highest office in the land not once but twice. No other predominately white country has elected someone from a minority race to its highest office. I do believe there are different advantages and disadvantages one has based on the class they are born into, the education level of their parent or parents, and based on being born into an intact two parent household or not; but I DO NOT believe the primary cause of disparities between racial groups is racism. As a believer in Christ, I believe we are all created in God's image and have equal worth and value before the Lord regardless of skin color. I believe it is a sin to hold racist sentiment towards another group or individual based on the color of skin one happens to be born with.

Strongly Agree

Fracking led us to energy independence under the Trump administration and reduced our carbon footprint because natural gas is clean energy. A strong and energy independent America could be a net exporter of energy to Europe and other countries, which would weaken the likes of Putin and the Mullahs in Iran. Instead, the Biden admin and Democrat controlled Congress is killing our fossil fuel industry at the expense of the American people, all while strengthening our authoritarian adversaries.

A) Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy. Climate change has been occurring since the dawn of time. The question is the magnitude of man's impact to climate change and the extent to which, climate change poses a threat to our existence. Despite claims to the contrary, there is no scientific consensus that man is the primary driver of climate change. I do believe that calls for climate alarmism or that climate is an existential threat are primarily politically and financially driven. Bjorn Lomborg is a climate expert from Denmark and he does an excellent job of discussing climate change and what our priorities should be regarding this topic based on scientific data. The Biden administration and Democrat Party is driving our country towards financial suicide by doing everything they can to destroy the fossil fuel industry all while China continues to build new coal plants on an almost weekly basis and enriching the likes of Putin and the Mullahs in Iran. Energy independence is critical to safeguarding our national security and our economy. We actually achieved energy independence under the prior administration and this meant cheaper costs to fuel our cars, heat our homes and also lower food prices because it was cheaper for truckers to move goods, all of which disproportionately helped those at the lower end of the economic scale. Joe Biden ended our energy independence on week one of his Presidency by closing the Keystone pipeline, stopping drilling in the Alaskan Arctic, stopping drilling permits in the gulf, and making it harder to drill on federal lands, all of which killed thousands of good paying jobs and weakened America’s energy standing in the world. I will support policies to make America energy independent again and lower costs for the people of Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District. Biden said in his debate with Trump, “I will transition from the oil industry.” Biden is signaling to the oil and gas industry that they would be unwise to invest further capital in oil and gas exploration at the risk of future adverse government policy for more “green” technologies. All of this has the effect of rising fuel costs and soaring consumer prices for the American people. It also increases our dependence on nations in the middle east and Russia that do not share American interests. The Democrat party wants to implement a “Green New Deal” that will have a severe economic impact on our country by restricting access to cheaper fuels like oil, gas and clean-coal at a time when renewable energies are not nearly developed enough to replace traditional fuel and energy sources. Biden and the Democrat Party are signing Americans up to a Globalist environmental agenda that will hurt the American middle and lower economic classes all while China is adding new coal plants on a weekly basis. China is using stolen U.S. solar technology, unclean coal energy, and reported slave labor to build solar panels that they will then sell to the American taxpayer at much higher prices. All of this while we have abundant energy that is available, but out of reach, due to the radical secularist green policies of Joe Biden and the Democrat Party. We should be good stewards of the earth, but for the sake of our national security and economy we need to continue to use clean extraction methods of traditional fuel sources, while allowing more time for technology to advance to a point where green renewables are actually cheaper and just as reliable as traditional sources of energy. I believe the fastest way for America to lead in green technology is to get government out of the way and let the most brilliant innovators on earth come up with green and affordable alternatives using the free market. Elon Musk, the inventor and CEO of Tesla, summed it up best when he said, ”It doesn’t make sense to take the job of capital allocation away from people who have demonstrated great skill at capital allocation and give it to an entity that has demonstrated very poor skill in capital allocation, which is the government.” Get the government out of the way, unleash the free-market system, and slowly transition to greener fuel sources when they are just as cheap and reliable as traditional sources. When this happens, consumers will naturally go with the greener energy and you will not need the force of government to make this happen.

Conservative

I consider myself a Constitutional Conservative. I will fight for a more limited Federal government. I will seek legislation that: 1) provides parents with school choice; 2) supports small businesses and farms; and 3) ends blue state bailouts and blue state tax credits. Additionally, I commit to vigorously fight for religious freedom, 2nd amendment rights, pro-family/pro-life policies, a secure border, strong national security and freedom of speech.

I have posted multiple public speeches of mine and I post all of the candidate forums I have been a part of on my Rumble site - https://rumble.com/c/c-1375441 This can be accessed through my website RichRobertsonForCongress.com. I believe in letting voters know at length where I stand on issues and proposed solutions, so voters know exactly what they are getting if they vote for me. This approach may invite attacks from opponents who may cherry-pick things out of context, but I think it is more important for voters to know where candidates stand on the very important issues of the day. We need to stop electing politicians that only give vague slogans and don’t really say what they stand for or against. Georgia’s Congressional District 2 has my pledge that I will vote in alignment with what I say I’m going to do. I am running to put the interests of the American people and the people of Georgia’s District 2 first.

No

I am running for Congress because I feel a sense of urgency that our country is headed in the wrong direction and our Constitutional rights are being eroded at an alarming pace. I believe current policies are creating a situation where the American dream is slipping away for many Americans. I love my country and I care deeply about the country we are going to hand-off to my 14 year-old daughter and her generation. I will unapologetically stand up for biblical values in Congress. I will fight to promote for a more limited Federal government while pushing all other authority down to the state and local levels where government officials are more accountable to the people. I will seek legislation that: 1) provides parents with school choice through vouchers; 2) supports small businesses and farms; 3) promotes energy independence; and 4) ends blue state bailouts and state tax credits at the expense of Georgia and other red state tax payers. Additionally, I commit to vigorously fight for religious freedom, 2nd amendment rights, pro-family/pro-life policies, a secure border, strong national security and freedom of speech. I believe these primary elections are very important to ensure we get actual Conservatives elected to Congress. One of the GA Congressional District 2 Republican candidates, Wayne Johnson, said at a forum held on April 19th, 2022, "with regard to the ability to obtain healthcare, I think it's a fundamental right." Well this implies there is a fundamental government forced obligation on the part of some to provide healthcare funding to others. I fundamentally disagree with this notion that someone is owed something for doing nothing in return. Wayne Johnson also said "climate change scares the hell me." What scares me, is elites, especially on the secular left, claiming climate change is an existential threat when they stand to get rich with "green new deal" policies that will come at the expense of killing our nation's fossil fuel industry and the American middle class with it. If the likes of Obama, Mark Zuckerberg and John Kerry truly believed climate change and catastrophic sea level rise were a real threat, Obama would not have bought a $12 Million estate at sea-level Martha's Vineyard, Zuckerberg would not have bought a $100+ Million estate in Hawaii and John Kerry would not continue to fly around in private jets while he lectures the rest of us about climate change. This is more rules for thee and not for me from our globalist "elites." Wayne Johnson, when previously running for US Senate, also touted an "Opportunity Plus Plan" for student debt. While this plan did call for getting the federal government out of the student loan business, which I 100% agree with; the plan also called for $50,000 student debt cancellation for all and for a federally funded college or trade scholarship for all. First, there is no such thing as student debt cancellation. There is only student debt shifting the responsibility to someone else other than the person that agreed to take on the loan. I fundamentally disagree with this plan of "debt cancellation" and federal "scholarships" for all in acting as Santa Claus with other people's money. We need to get back to personal responsibility in this country and stop the endless flow of federal dollars to bloated colleges that overwhelmingly teach young adults to hate their country. Another candidate, Jeremy Hunt, says on his website, that he "will work hard to secure our streets, support law enforcement and end the crime epidemic in Southwest and Middle Georgia." While I agree with the notion of secure streets and supporting law enforcement, I don't think law enforcement is a proper role for the federal government. This is how we get an Obama DOJ taking over the Ferguson, Missouri police department for so called "pattern and practice" discrimination that has the ultimate effect of creating more crime and greater victimization of innocent people because the police draw back and stop proactive policing out of fear of prosecution, loss of pension or de-funding. I believe law enforcement is best left to state and local governments. I do not want Washington D.C. telling our Southwest GA law enforcement entities how to operate. So these primaries are very important to elect actual Conservatives in our Representative form of government. If you are still undecided at this point, I recommend checking each candidates website. Mine is RichRobertsonForCongress.com. I am being censored by Google so I recommend using the DuckDuckGo search engine instead of Google. I am happy to compete based on Conservative ideas.

Strongly Agree

Police officers receive relatively little pay for one of America's toughest and most dangerous jobs. Police are the primary hedge against complete lawlessness, chaos and a complete breakdown of civilized society. Because of a very few bad apples and a lot of false media narratives, police officers in general have been wrongly vilified. We must protect police from personal prosecution for conduct consistent with departmental policy while on duty. Otherwise, no one will do this critical job.

Strongly Disagree

No, police departments are already critically underfunded and undermanned. We do not need to make the problem worse by diverting more money away from police departments. Defunding police equals greater free rein for criminals and greater victimization of innocent people.

I do support the current system of background checks so long as they are not stored or collected by the federal government. I don't think people convicted of certain violent felonies should be able to purchase a gun. I will fight to keep AR-15 style semi-automatic rifles and magazines legal to purchase in the U.S. The 2nd amendment guarantees Americans the individual right “to keep and bear arms” without infringement from the government. The 2nd amendment is not merely a right to hunt or a right to self-defense, although I will vigorously defend the right of self-defense; the 2nd amendment was intended by our Founders as a hedge against tyranny. The Founders were aware of the fragility of liberty after having just fought a war of independence from a tyrannical monarchy not too long before the signing of the Constitution and addition of the Bill of Rights. Given the purpose of the 2nd amendment, I will fight any attempts to levy additional taxes on guns and ammunition and I will fight overt or covert attempts of creating federal gun registries for law abiding citizens. I will support efforts to expand gun rights for law abiding citizens.

Strongly Disagree

Efforts to allow firearms dealers and manufacturers to be sued for someone else's choice to commit gun violence are attempts to void the 2nd Amendment. We do not allow car manufacturers to be sued because a drunk driver criminally decides to get behind the wheel and kill someone. Likewise, we should not allow firearms dealers and manufacturers to be sued for acts committed by third party criminal offenders.