David B. Collins
Green | Texas
Candidate Profile
Liberal (Conditional)
BIOGRAPHY
Name
David B. Collins
Party
Green
Election Year
2020
Election
General
Race
U.S. Senator
Incumbent
No
Links
EDUCATION
Rice University, Houston, BA, 1984
WORK & MILITARY
(Candidate did not provide)
AFFILIATIONS
First Unitarian Universalist Church, Houston, unofficial tenor section leader
Harris County Green Party, former co-chair
Green Party Houston, facilitator
Bike Houston, supporting member, community ambassador
POLITICAL OFFICES HELD
(Candidate did not provide)
POLITICAL OFFICES SOUGHT
US Senate, 2012
Harris County Judge, 2014
QUESTIONNAIRE
RIGHT TO LIFE
Human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.
Strongly 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.
No Answer
Under what circumstances should abortion be allowed?
Any time through the end of the second trimester that the pregnant woman determines that she will not be able to provide the necessary parental care or cannot find anyone else who can.
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.
Strongly Disagree
I promise to protect the freedom of Christians to share the Gospel and to practice Biblical principles.
No Answer
What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
Government does not interfere with religious institutions unless their practices cause physical or psychological harm, and religious institutions stay out of politics. Any religious organization that wants to apply for a granted should create a separate, secular entity, with a robust wall dividing its money from the religious organization's money. I am currently working on contract with the School of Nursing at a Catholic university that has received a federal grant to train and educate nurses, particularly nursing students from disadvantaged backgrounds. That would make me uncomfortable if I hadn't already seen that the curriculum funded by the grant is free of religious dogma.
NATIONAL SECURITY
The best way to maintain peace is through a strong military.
Strongly Disagree
What should the United States do to help eradicate the threat of radical Islamic terrorism?
The US should stop creating terrorists. People resort to terrorist tactics because their own oppression, or that of others like them, is so horrific that only violence can counteract it. US military aggression in the Muslim world has not made the region safer and legitimizes dictatorships.
HEALTHCARE
It is the government’s responsibility to ensure everyone has health insurance.
Strongly Agree
I support the elimination of private healthcare insurance.
Strongly Agree
How would you promote healthcare coverage that is adequate, affordable and accessible for all?
The Eco-Socialist Green New Deal prescribes expanding Medicare to all US citizens and residents, taking private insurers out of the picture completely, and enhancing it with dental, visual, psychiatric, and chiropractic coverage for all. Tax money would be substituted for premiums and save consumers a net 50% or more. Other developed nations have done something like this with varying formulas and varying degrees of success. It will be bumpy at first, as it was in the UK, but now a huge majority of Britons would never give up their National Health Service.
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.
Disagree
How would you guarantee Social Security benefits for future generations?
Make sure everyone who can work has a steady income and can contribute to the Social Security fund; cut defense spending and other forms of corporate welfare drastically, and close overseas military bases at a safe pace;
What government spending would you reduce in order to balance the budget?
It doesn't quite work that way. As indicated in other questions, I would certainly cut defense spending and corporate subsidies. What would go further toward balancing the budget would be tuition-free public college for all residents. The GI Bill demonstrated that every dollar invested in post-secondary education is returned sevenfold. In addition, Medicare for All would take the burden of providing medical insurance off employers, freeing up more taxable corporate revenue.
Under what circumstances should taxpayers help pay off existing student loans?
People should be released from the yoke of student loan debt immediately. The Eco-Socialist Green New Deal puts far less of the burden on individual taxpayers, since government would be making an investment in education that guarantees a high return down the road.
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 Disagree
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be abolished.
Agree
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.
No Answer
Who should be allowed to immigrate to the U.S. and under what circumstances?
Anyone that the government of the nation from which they are emigrating cannot identify as a violent criminal or terrorist should be able to enter the US. Immigration creates more jobs than it destroys, but not nearly as many jobs as corporations have exported to low-wage economies.
EDUCATION
Taxpayer-funded public education should be guaranteed through college.
Strongly Agree
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?
Gun owners should be trained in the proper use, handling, and storage of any armaments they choose to own. The number of weapons per household should be limited to those necessary for hunting, protection of livestock from predators, and protection against a home invasion. If only we could find a way to remove firearms from those who see every person of color as a threat to their safety, and to make sure that such people do not become police officers.
OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES
I support BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) against Israel if they refuse to allow the creation of a Palestinian state.
Strongly Agree
I support the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Strongly Agree
Reparations should be given to people on the basis of race.
Strongly Agree
The Electoral College should be abolished.
Agree
In priority order, what three areas of legislation do you propose to author or sponsor if elected?
Medicare for All Eco-Socialist Green New Deal A Constitutional amendment stating that campaign contributions are not speech and corporations do not have the same Fourteenth Amendment rights as human beings.
Is racism a threat to domestic security in the United States? Why or why not?
Absolutely. Removing systemic racism brings about a more robust citizenry, with people able to live, study, and work in situations that best benefit themselves and the nation. Our "volunteer" armed forces are filled with persons of color who see no other options and whom our racist system has devalued; why else would they serve a nation that has not served them?
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.
"Very Liberal" is not the true answer. I identify as eco-socialist. Confining the ideological spectrum to conservative, moderate, and liberal leaves out socialists (who are a quantum jump to the left of liberal), fascists (like Donald Trump and his ruling junta), and Libertarians (who are supposedly liberal on social issues but conservative on economic and Constitutional matters). My blog is publicly available: https://dbcgreentx.net/blog
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 don't recall seeing any questions about transportation policy. I am an advocate of bicycling and for making streets and roads safer for cyclists. We also need a Marshall Plan-style approach toward improved public transit within and between cities. Public transportation options help take private cars off the grid, resulting in far less tailpipe pollution and far fewer traffic deaths. I am married (second time) and have one grown son. I am an outgoing introvert. I have produced three self-published novels which, if sold in stores, would be on the Literary Fiction shelves. Find them for sale at dbcgreentx.net.
VALUES
Judeo-Christian values established a framework of morality which is necessary for our system of limited government.
Strongly Disagree
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 follow the "Wayne's World" gospel: Be excellent to each other...and party on! If there is a divine spiritual force in this world, it works through the actions of people who seek peace and justice. The Crucifixion of Jesus symbolizes the retirement of the Old-Testament God, allowing and compelling humans to solve their own problems, and a new covenant that demands brotherly love among all peoples. I suppose that belief would make me a humanist.
