Disagree

Planned Parenthood provides more than just abortions, and most federal money does not go toward it. Abortion is legal and it is an important health service for women. Money should be given to organizations that are involved in women's health.

Agree

As a country, we spend a great deal of resources on end-of-life care over the last few months of a person's life. This money is not being well-spent, and amounts to a giveaway for insurance and pharmaceutical companies. There should be more options available to people who are terminally ill who want to end their lives on their own terms.

To protect the health and well-being of the mother, and within the first trimester

Disagree

I believe that the US remains a country where people are free to practice the religion of their choice, or to not practice a religion, without interference from the government.

Neutral

I believe that individuals have a right, speaking for themselves, to express themselves and to conduct business in the way they want. I think it is different for a larger business or organization. The entities are allowed to exist and often get tax benefits because the US government allows it. Because the government holds regulatory authority over these larger entities, they should be required to provide services to all.

People should be allowed to worship in the way they want, so long as it does not impact other people's freedoms and safety. The government should not favor any one religion, and should remain out of the way of religious activity. This includes a separation between church and state when it comes to public education. It also means churches should refrain from political activity. However, having participated in forums at churches, I believe that religious institutions have a role in promoting civil discourse and should be allowed to be involved in politics, so long as no party or candidate is favored.

B

Disagree

I support the right of organizations to try to influence policy, whether it is on Israel-Palestine, the environment, or any other cause. However, I do not support this movement as it singles out one country for focus when many countries around the world have worse human rights records. It is counterproductive to the cause of peace to be on the extreme of the issue, and as a legislator I will look for solutions that bring us closer together rather than divide us.

Agree

China presents a challenge to us because they are innovating faster than us and are making a greater effort to engage the world. The solutions being proposed by legislators are wrong. They emphasize military might, when what we need is greater leadership to build alliances and develop partnerships with countries. The world would rather do business with the US than China, but our foreign policy has pushed people away rather than draw them to us.

The first thing is making clear that the US is not an enemy to Islam, but is pro-peace and opposed to violence. A military approach to combating terrorisms has not worked the way we wanted. We should continue our surveillance operations and continue to disrupt terrorist operations as much as possible, because they threaten the safety of the US, but we should do it in a way that engages the local governments to help us while avoiding direct engagement in conflict.

There has to be some ability of those who control public spaces such as governments, schools, and employers to mandate certain behaviors (such as mask-wearing) if they believe it is in the interest of public health. As for mandating vaccines, I would want there to be specific guidance on when it is acceptable to require vaccines, based on case load or virulence, which vaccines are mandated and for which populations. One of the problems with the government's response to the coronavirus is that they failed to establish clear guidance for people, which made it seem like the government was making it up as they went. This eventually caused people to lose faith in the government and not trust it.

B. I want to make things as easy for people as possible, and many people with private insurance do not want the disruption to their service that would come with a new program. However, Medicare is a taxpayer-funded program that should be available to all people who want to be part of it. Medicare is not a retirement program like Social Security. it is healthcare insurance, and we may have health problems at any age. We pay taxes each month for Medicare, and we should be able to access it. It should also be a comprehensive healthcare plan requiring no other add-ons, that is paid for in a single-payer model through the tax system.

Agree

I do not like the term "redistribution" as it sounds like taking money from one person and giving it to another. Instead I favor a fair tax code with limited deductions and credits, and tax rates that increase with income so that the wealthiest are paying a larger share in taxes. This will raise revenue to pay for priorities that benefit all Americans such as improved healthcare and education.

Neutral

There are areas of the budget that could be cut. The military budget is already far higher than any other country, and it should not increase when we are not fighting wars. We also spend a great deal more on our healthcare than we should, due to much of it going to company profit. I do not favor cutting spending across the board because many services provided by the government such as healthcare and education are already at a low level.

All income should be taxed in the same manner, with no special exceptions for capital gains or pass-through income. Deductions in the tax code that have been carved out to lower the tax rates for businesses should be removed. Tax rates should rise progressively on income in a way that taxes the highest incomes at a rate that is considerably higher than the low rates paid now. It is unfair and drives resentment of the government when billionaires pay lower tax rates than working class Americans.

Disagree

I believe that our border security is adequate and building a wall is not necessary. We need more staff to process migrants who are trying to cross the border.

Strongly Disagree

I do not support tit-for-tat type of activities that punish an entity or state for taking actions that it believes are correct. If we punish one city for its immigration policies when one party is in charge, then it would be OK to punish another city for its abortion or education policies with a different administration. Federal officials are tasked with implementing federal laws, and if cities break those laws there are legal means to sue them without using the budget for leverage.

We should have an immigration system that is fair and gives people from across the world an opportunity for citizenship in an evenhanded and nondiscriminatory way. The number of immigrants allowed into the country should be enough to support the growth of the population. Additionally, immigrants with skills that are needed by our country, such as doctors and engineers, should be given visas and pathways to citizenship. Refugees fleeing persecution who are screened at the border and allowed into the country should be allowed to stay until conditions stabilize in their home countries. If those people put down roots in our country, they should be offered citizenship after some period. I support pathways to citizenship for DREAMers and others who are in the country for a considerable time and part of our economy and society.

Disagree

People who act out of willful negligence or in violation of their duties can be prosecuted, whether they are police officers, doctors, or lawyers. Being a public servant as police officers are carries responsibilities to act in the best interest of the public.

Disagree

This is the zero-sum thinking that has gotten us in trouble, that we can either fund the police or mental health agencies. The money is there to do both, if our leaders in Washington had the political will to implement a fair tax code. Mental health and community workers should work with at-risk people and use the police as a resource.

Guns should not be in public places and I oppose open-carry and concealed carry laws. Guns should stay at home and be secured from inappropriate use, and people whose guns are used for violence should be liable and prosecuted for failure to protect the public. I would ban high-capacity weapons that are not needed for hunting or self-defense, but instead are used to inflict maximum damage on people and have been used in most mass shootings. I support background checks and waiting periods to make sure everyone who has a gun is a responsible user, and licensing to keep track of guns.

Agree

People should have the right to sue companies if they manufacture their products in a negligent way that gets people hurt or killed. However, if the gun manufacturers are following the laws, it is unlikely such lawsuits will succeed. The laws should be revised to protect the public by mandating safety measure onto guns. If manufacturers then fail to implement those measures, they can be sued.

Choose not to answer

I don't want to be argumentative, but these labels do not help our debate. I am an independent. I have the freedom to be wherever I want to be on the political spectrum. People can judge me by my actions. I have served the public good as a scientist, and have stood up in defense of people and for my values. That is what I am doing in this election.

I appear at the 1 hour mark of this candidate forum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBO9L1yBNf0&t=209s

No

I got into this race because I worked in the pharmaceutical industry. I saw the greed of the industry and how it cared more about money than doing the right thing for patients. I also saw scientific misconduct, data being fabricated in clinical trials. I am a fighter, and I fight against injustice, and it is an injustice that pharmaceutical executives and investors were making tens of millions of dollars, money that came from the pockets of regular people like me, while cheating and gaming the system to their advantage. I also saw how the Food and Drug Administration, the agency that our tax dollars pay for to advocate for people against the drug companies, does not stand in their way, and instead enables the industry to make money from us while delivering poor medicines. Because incumbent Scott Peters is supported by the industry and voted against drug pricing, I decided that the way I would fight the industry was by challenging one of their agents in Washington. My top domestic priority is fixing a broken government that is not working for the American people. The problem with Washington is not about which party is in charge, but about who those parties answer to. The parties answer to their wealthy donors instead of to the needs of the American people. The day after Scott Peters opposed against lowering drug prices by giving Medicare the ability to negotiate on price, he was rewarded with $20,000 in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical industry. This kind of corruption needs to end if we are to improve the country. I will fight to repeal the disastrous Citizens United decision that has opened the floodgates to money in politics. I will also work to pass the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act that reins in the cozy relationships between lobbyists and Congress. The American people have lost the respect of their leaders in Washington. The result is the election of Donald Trump and a growing threat to our democracy. We need to change the way things are done in Washington to ensure a better future.

Strongly Agree

People should fundamentally be granted the same rights regardless of their outward appearance or self-identity. Discrimination based on things that are wholly personal, such as who a person loves and how they identify, should be opposed by the state.

Neutral

The term racist lacks clear meaning and is an emotional rather than a descriptive word. The same word describe someone in the KKK and a comedian who utters a slur, but they are very different. I agree that the US government and its institutions have had practices that discriminate against black people and other minorities. These practices were carried out by people acting in a way that society said was OK. The institutions were not racist but the people in them and society were.

I believe in personal freedom to determine one's own values and to find the community that shares them. I believe in the human spirit, and that we express ourselves as humans when we are granted freedom of thought and action and are free from abuse and persecution. I believe that humans do not have fixed mindsets but instead have the capacity to learn and grow.

Strongly Agree

The registrar of voters has a great deal of information about a person. Someone who wants to vote and has a name and address on file with the state should be allowed to vote. Voting records should be audited every year to make sure fraud is not happening, but the data shows that there is very little voter fraud. Providing ID should be optional, a measure to help prevent fraud but not a requirement to vote.

Voting should be easy, and I support every registered voter being provided with a mail-in ballot. Polling places should be available for several days before an election and should be conveniently located. I support same-day registration and voting so long as records can be verified. I also support reforms such as ranked-choice voting and open primaries that encourage greater participation in our elections and fight the power of the incumbency. I also oppose gerrymandering districts to lock in the power of one party, which is undemocratic. I think the electoral college system should be scrapped, and presidents should be elected based on overall popular vote. It is not fair to voters in states like California or Utah that are solidly for one party that their votes for President are essentially worthless. It is also a problem that a President is being chosen for the entire country based on individual states that have their own election practices. I believe in fairness, and the most fair system of government is one in which the person who gets the most votes and is the most popular candidate wins, not the other person.

Disagree

I support reparations in the form of greater investment in schools and communities in historically disadvantaged areas.

There are individuals who are angry at our government and act out. Many of them are members of extreme groups that hold negative opinions about minorities. I do not think they are driven by racism but instead by a sense that their government no longer represents them. These groups pose a threat to our safety because they have acted violently in the past. I support the FBI and police monitoring these groups as potential violent enemies of the state the same way they would for foreign terrorists.

Disagree

We need to put more resources to renewable forms of energy, not continuing to drill our way to more fossil fuels that heat the planet. Companies are free to use the land they own and drill if they want, but the federal government should not be granting new permits and should not subsidize further extraction. Instead we need to put more resources toward renewable forms of energy.

B. The government has the resources to move people to new jobs. The excuses for not acting on the environment are just excuses. If we wanted to reduce our use of fossil fuels, we could put those same workers into solar or wind jobs, or working on the energy grid or battery technology. It is not the money that is the issue, it is the willingness to stand up to fossil fuel industry money.