The Death Penalty
The death penalty is an inhumane and ineffective way of deterring violent crime. State and federal funds currently spent keeping criminals on death row and fighting their appeals would be better spent on improving law enforcement, treatment centers, and educational programs focused on respecting our fellow human beings.
"Three Strikes" Law and Returning the Right to Vote to Ex-Prisoners
Criminal sentencing should be based on the severity and circumstances of the crime committed, not on a one-size-fits-all equation. Overloading prisons with non-violent criminals is not only a strain on our resources, it also fails on both prevention and rehabilitation fronts. It is vital that we provide ex-prisoners with the help they need to re-adjust to society and lead productive lives, including restoring the rights they are afforded as citizens.
Single Payer Health Care Plans
It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that all of its citizens have quality health care. A healthy and productive economy requires that its workforce have access cost-effective medical treatment and preventative care.
Reproductive Choice
All women should have a) the right to choose when and how their bodies are used to bear children, and b) the access to information and products that will aid them in making those choices. Family planning decisions should be made by families, not by governments.
Privatization of Social Security & Medicare
Retired citizens deserve quality healthcare and a realistic standard of living after their years of contributing to our society. Social Security and Medicare cannot and should not be trusted to private corporations, because their fundamental goal is profit, not the physical and financial well-being of our seniors.
Affirmative Action
Societies are strengthened by their diversity, not hindered by it. All people deserve equal opportunities for a quality education, a job that pays a living wage, and safe and affordable housing and health care. It is our responsibility to ensure that groups who have traditionally suffered from discrimination have equal access to these opportunities.
School Vouchers
School vouchers incorrectly remove the responsibility of improving schools from state and local governments. All tax-paying citizens deserve free, high quality public schools for their children.
International Trade Agreements
Our current trade agreements hurt us because they indirectly promote the exporting of American jobs, and they hurt the countries who receive those jobs by allowing the exploitation of local labor, and thereby fail to improve the economic conditions of that workforce. Trade agreements should only be entered when the terms require living wages and safe working conditions for workers in all countries involved. In addition, they should be crafted around maximizing the strengths of the participating countries, not exploiting their weaknesses.
Environmental Protection
As an integral part of the ecosystems we live in, the human race must protect and nurture the planet and its natural resources that provide us with so much. This includes actively protecting our air, water, and forests, as well as encouraging and rewarding individuals and companies that use renewable energy and employ pollution-reducing techniques.
Electoral and Campaign Finance Reform
An elected official's sole responsibility is to represent the citizens who make up their constituencies. Elections and political campaigns should be regulated to ensure that the voice of the people is heard, and not that of corporations and special interest groups. I believe in Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), grassroots internet campaigning, and public financing of political campaigns.
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