I support H.R. 4944, the Reuniting Families Act, by Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) to fix the current backlog in the family immigration system. Currently, it can take decades for a U.S. citizen to be reunited with even one family member. The Reuniting Families Act, cosponsored by 45 Members of Congress, would make a number of changes to expediate and increase family reunification.

Our current family-based immigration laws were born from the civil rights era, when America had the moral strength and political will to sweep away the laws that enforced prejudice. Those that have reunited with their families are happier, more financially stable, less likely to rely on government assistance, open more businesses, and own homes in greater numbers than native-born citizens. Family immigration works for our country and should be strengthened, not weakened.

Trump has claimed that one immigrant could bring in an unlimited number of distant relatives. This is not true. The truth is there are no visas for grandparents, aunts, uncles, or cousins. And, for some families, it can take decades before they are reunited with even one family member. By making fixes that will accelerate family reunification, we will be helping the economy.

I do not support expanding the border wall, an exercise that would be costly and counterproductive in a number of ways.

Trump’s wall will only force those immigrants to utilize ever more dangerous routes and increase the number of people who die in search of work to feed and clothe their families.  A wall would do little to stop migrants from crossing the border and would create lasting problems for animals and the land. 

Trump’s wall is about dividing Americans – playing upon the racial fears and anxiety he has drummed up and amplified to rally his base. Trump’s wall is a political campaign promise that he has to fulfill to keep his base happy. 

I support common sense measures to prevent gun violence.

Weapons of war have no place in our communities. Our nation requires a comprehensive assault weapons ban that prohibits the future production and sale of these weapons and provides a solution for dealing with those assault weapons that are already owned, such as a buyback program or registration.  Limiting high-powered weapons to the military has worked elsewhere to eliminate the opportunity for mass shootings.

We need universal background checks and must close the private sale loophole and make sure all sales undergo a background check.

We must fund gun violence research and gun violence prevention/intervention programs and provide the CDC with dedicated funding to research gun violence as a public health issue.

I believe we need to renegotiate NAFTA and level the playing field by adding strong labor and environmental provisions. We need to take steps to prevent the outsourcing of American jobs, protect our air and water, and lift living standards in the United States, Mexico and Canada.  I support a call from several progressive US Senators to take the following steps with regard to NAFTA: 

• Add strong labor and environmental standards with swift and certain enforcement to raise standards and wages in North America and stop corporations from outsourcing U.S. jobs to Mexico to take advantage of abusive labor laws, poverty wages and lax environmental rules.
• Eliminate NAFTA terms that promote the outsourcing of American jobs such as the Investor State Dispute Settlement system.
• Protect our public health, the environment and ensure a level playing field for U.S. businesses, farmers and workers by requiring that all imported food, goods and services meet U.S. standards. 
• Make medicine more affordable by eliminating NAFTA rules that increase costs.
• Ensure a fair playing field for American job creation by adding strong, enforceable disciplines against currency manipulation and misalignment.
• Create American jobs and reinforce improved labor and environmental standards by strengthening “rules of origin” and stopping transshipment.
• Boost the rural economy by overhauling NAFTA rules that harm family farmers. 
• Support communities of color which have been among the hardest hit by NAFTA.

I strongly believe we need to improve our national transportation infrastructure, but I would advocate to pay for these increases by reversing the Trump cuts for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations. I would also consider imposing a windfall profits tax on the major oil companies. We must end subsidies to oil and fossil fuel companies, including any direct funding or tax giveaways that rig the game in favor of fossil fuels compared to more sustainable energy sources. I also believe the Department of Defense and other agencies should prioritize the hiring of veterans for construction projects, particularly as we consider large-scale improvements to our nation’s infrastructure.

If elected to Congress, I would strongly advocate for Medicare for All and join those supporting H.R. 676. According to Physicians for a National Health Program, 95 percent of all households would save money under such a program. Patients would no longer face financial barriers to care such as co-pays and deductibles, and would regain free choice of doctor and hospital, and doctors would regain autonomy over patient care.

In the near term, I believe we must work to repair and strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I believe that President Trump’s wanton neglect of the ACA is unconscionable. Many ideas to improve the ACA must be explored, including the implementation of “public option” early Medicare coverage within health insurance marketplaces, and the hiring of new full-time federal enrollment assisters to help Americans enroll.

I will defend Medicare and Medicaid, ensure young people can stay on their family health insurance plan, prevent discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions, and ensure veterans swiftly get the care and benefits they have earned.

I believe that the American Health Care Act (AHCA), recently passed by Republicans in the House of Representatives and fully supported by Darrell Issa (who cast the winning vote), is a dangerous tax cut for the very wealthy masquerading as healthcare reform.  Independent analysis suggests that 36,400 residents in the 49th Congressional District will lose coverage under the AHCA, including 3,800 children. 

I support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented residents and will work to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation. I believe that a comprehensive approach should prioritize keeping families together and making sure businesses have the workers that they need while preventing them from abusing the visa system to outsource jobs.

Congress also needs to immediately pass a clean DREAM Act. I believe we need to do everything we can to protect young people who arrived in this country when they were children.

I do not support the border wall, but I believe we can institute smart border security by instituting measures that will actually increase efficiency and speed up transit across the border. I support funding the Container Security Initiative, which will help prevent human and narco trafficking. Smarter border security will also have the side effect of being good for our environment through reduced emissions. 

The majority of adults in the United States think that gun laws should be stricter, and yet, the gun lobby has used their money and our broken campaign finance system to stack Congress with their supporters, and block any possibility of reform, against the will of the people. More than half of women murdered with guns are killed by family members or intimate partners. Analysis of mass shootings from 2009 to 2016 shows that 54 percent of mass shootings were instances of domestic violence. That’s why I will fight to make it harder for domestic abusers to own firearms, so we can prevent assaults from turning into deadly and tragic events, including crafting federal legislation that would require anyone with a temporary restraining order to forfeit their firearm.  Currently, you are only required to forfeit your firearm if there is a permanent restraining order filed against you.

I support comprehensive federal background check legislation and more funding to enforce the laws. Everyone who purchases a gun in this country should have to undergo a criminal background check, regardless of where or from whom they purchase their gun. We need better deterrence against illegal gun trafficking and guns passing through straw purchasers into the hands of those with criminal backgrounds, histories of violence, or serious mental illness, and to pass legislation to make illegal gun sales and handovers a federal crime. I believe we need to ban bump stocks, like those used to kill and terrorize during the mass shooting in Las Vegas last year. And we absolutely need to hold gun manufacturers liable when their products are sold and used illegally. 

I’ve been so inspired by the high school students from Parkland and across the country who have stood up against the NRA, and who are fundamentally changing the politics around gun violence prevention in this country, and I know we can put in place policies that respect the rights of responsible gun owners while making our communities much safer.

Health care is a fundamental human right and we need to do everything we can to get to universal coverage. It’s an embarrassment that here in the United States we still don’t guarantee health care to all our people. Having travelled to many other countries, I’ve seen first-hand how universal coverage is an achievable goal, especially for the wealthiest country in the world. Many examples across the world show that a strong public role in health care can provide affordable, universal coverage, and as such, I would vote for Medicare for All.

Looking ahead, I'll work to find smart ways to implement and manage the transition to a public program, and I support letting Americans buy in to Medicare and Medicaid, and a strong public option, as first steps of a transition.

No, I believe reuniting immigrant families is vital to maintaining the American dream. What else can any American say. Tearing families apart is unAmerican.

I do not support expanding the border wall. This would be a colossal waste of money for the American taxpayer and do little to restrict the illegal drug trade. In terms of illegal immigration, the net migration from Mexico to the U.S. since 2005 has been below zero as confirmed by the Pew Research Center:

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/02/11/mexico-and-immigration-to-us/

Yes. 

I stand with the victims of gun violence and will fight to honor the lives lost.

I support banning assault weapons.
I support banning gun sales to those on the no-fly list.
I support banning bump-fire stocks.
I support lifting the CDC ban on research into gun violence.
I support mandatory universal background checks, including for guns sold on the internet and transactions between private individuals.

In addition, I support and propose yearly training and qualification for civilians.
No Marine carries a weapon unless they are trained and qualified, repeatedly. We need to learn from the Corps. Train and qualify civilian gun owners once a year, through mandatory weapons safety courses and tactical range qualifications from certified organizations. The purchase and sale of ammunition and reload materials must require proof of that annual classroom training and range qualification. As a member of the Marine Corps “rod & gun club,” I continue to own a firearm.

I oppose rolling back restrictions and fees on silencers.
I oppose civilians having silencers.
I oppose concealed carry reciprocity (HR38).
I oppose the rollback of an Obama administration directive allowing designated mental health providers to report names of mentally ill patients to the federal background check system.

Semper Fi,
Col. Doug Applegate

The U.S. should absolutely remain in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Reestablishing trade barriers would adversly affect the U.S. economy and cost jobs. However, NAFTA needs re-negotiation to reduce the U.S.-Mexico trade defecit, tighten rules-of-origin requirements, reforming the investor-state dispute resoulution mechanism, and updating the pact to include digital services and intellectual property, as promised by President Obama. 

Yes, however, Congress needs to focus on ending oil subsidies and allow free market forces to move us to 100% renewable energy by 2027, together with infrastructure for future technologies, like micro energy grids nationwide, high-speed mass transit, and affordable housing (co-located with mass transit terminals). We have no time for half measures.

I support Single Payer Health Care/Medicare for All and capturing efficiency through Biotech Research for Cures. 

Reform of our immigration system is critical to our national security as well as our regional economy.  San Diego’s life sciences and technology need more high-skilled workers and I support expanding H1B visas while we develop more STEM graduates in the U.S. to fill those jobs.

San Diego is fortunate to have a strong regional border in large part because we already have a wall in place.  However, there are still vulnerabilities that allow human and drug trafficking, and other criminal activities.  That is why it is important to enforce federal immigration laws, including opposition to so-called “sanctuary” laws being advocated by Sacramento politicians.  As elected leaders, we have an obligation to respect the law, whether we agree with it or not. 

I support the Constitution of the United States of America, including the 2nd Amendment and I support the strengthening of of background checks to protect our citizens.

The North American Free Trade Agreement has many avenues for renegotiation to ensure that the United States is treated fairly and that our agreements with other countries benefit the American workers as well as ensures free trade in our modern society

The GOP tax reform bill signed into law last year provides a $3,561 tax cut for the average middle-class family in the 49th District.  As CFO of my family’s small business, I learned first-hand the challenges of growing a business with unnecessarily high and complicated taxes and I strongly supported the tax reform bill.  I see the direct impact that our tax code has on families and small businesses and as a member of Congress, I will vote to make tax reform permanent.  I support the repeal of the gas tax, which directly impacts every family in the 49th District, as well as the Cap & Trade Gas Tax, which will drive taxes up as high as 73 cents a gallon.

My husband and I have built a community health care practice from one 700-square foot space to seven locations employing more than 140 people who treat more than 6,500 patients throughout North County San Diego.  As CFO, I’ve worked with patients and insurance companies and see the dramatic rise in the costs of healthcare because of Obamacare.  I support the complete repeal of Obamacare with a healthcare system that puts patients first, drives down costs, and eliminates the individual mandate.  Association health plans, insurers providing coverage across state lines, and 100% deductibility for healthcare expenses are just a few ways we can lower costs.

I support fully comprehensive immigration reform that factors skill set, family and past contributions, into a qualifying formula for work permits and future citizenship. 

I support the President and his efforts to fully secure our southern border. It's a matter of national security. 

I'm a staunch supporter of the 2nd amendment. Regulation should be addressed at the state level. 

I believe in fair trade between us our neighbors to the north and south.

No, I do not support raising the federal gas tax. Our citizens are already over-taxed and it is a regressive tax, most affecting the poorest families.

Healthcare is our single most pressing domestic issue and will be my top domestic priority.  We have walked away from the table, and we are in danger of defaulting to our  current system as our permanent healthcare system. On a scale of 1-10, it is no better than a 5.  We need to have a robust and highly competitive market driven system delivering coverage and cost options for Americans and employers.  Alongside that a core, single payer system for those requiring some type of subsidy or government oversight.  Done right, no American should lack access to healthcare. And those who were pleased with their pre-ACA care (and the vast majority of us were), will once again have reasonable pricing and multiple providers.  My top international priority will be to support foreign policy and military initiatives that maintain our status as the world’s sole superpower.

I propose expanding the ability of uniting family members. I would fold them into the work visa program. Most importantly for 42% of undocumented or and serial immigration violators, no ability to receive Medicare or Medi-Cal benefits unless they have lived in this country for 15yrs. They would be welcome to come so long as they or their family sustained them. This is exactly what most every other country in the world does.

No wall can be long enough or tall enough to help one of our largest problems; that is Visa Overstays. I propose solving those problem through market/merit based immigration reform.

Having said that, we must still have an increased physical barrier to deal with drug smuggling and human trafficking.  My work visa program will generate $27 billion per year, more than enough to fund any physical and legal barriers solutions that the experts believe will secure our borders.

I am a strong proponent of our constitutional right to bear arms.

Recent research suggests that there is a greater coraltion with gun violence and threee factors: 1) Mental Illness, 2) Broken Homes, 3) Economic Insecurity.

In California we currently have the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. I do not believe the we need more federal laws to further restrict responsible gun ownership. There is certainly room for more efficiency in federal background checks.

The bottom line is: I have seen the most deranged evil in the world “up close and personal” in my fights with ISIS. It was personal gun ownership I witnessed first-hand that stopped the evil.  It is the evil of this broken world that is the  problem with gun violence, not the implements.  Sub-Humans will do unspeakable evil and that is the reality. No amount of laws can stop this fact.

I would like to see the best parts of it preserved. Specifically, with Mexico, it is in our best interest that they have a prosperous economy for a variety of security reasons.  In general, I disfavor multi-lateral trade treaties. I much prefer bi-lateral trade negotiations. In the past, the U.S. has needlessly relinquished too much sovereignty to Globalist coalitions that do not remotely have Americas best interests at heart.

No. The Congress has proven unable to spend the money for existing gas taxes on infrastructure.  Rather, I have called on the President (on a selective basis as a demonstration) to declare in California 5 or 6 of the most important infrastructure projects a State of Emergency. This will allow the temporary waiving of the Davis-Bacon Act and reduce costs. It is a holdover from the 1930’s depression era jobs and labor dynamic that just don’t exist today. Based on non-partisan budget analysis this would result in the reduction of 22% of total costs. From the demonstration, I would move in Congress to have the Davis-Bacon Act repealed permanently.

As a Doctor and a professional, we take an oath to be a life-long learner. That is to say, when better treatment protocols are proven we have an ethical duty not only to be aware of them through continuing education, but to also implement them.

There has been an experiment going on for 30+ years that has proven a better way.

I propose to take the best proven attributes of the Singapore healthcare system an apply them to fix our system; portability, no restrictions on preexisting conditions, better infant mortality, better access, longer lifespans. The secret is to have a professional nonpolitical actuary core setting fees for catastrophic best practice based hospital and long-term care coupled with large transferable and inheritable Health Empowerment accounts.

The bottom line is they have lower health costs, they spend 4% of their GDP vs our nearly 18%.

I support immigration based on individual merits, and expansion to immediate family only (spouse and minor children only). No chain immigration! Everyone else, uncles, cousins, etc. should be required to qualify for immigration status based on their own individual merits.

I think we must enhance and maintain the wall, enforce the law, put the word out the the U.S. is a nation of laws and we will enforce those laws.

I believe the U.S. should deport those who arrive illegally and those who overstay their welcome, because only by enforcing the laws can we create an effective deterrent which will prevent future waves of the same illegal immigration problem.

Then, let's fast-track residency and work authorization for those immigrants who are going to contribute to the needs of our country. We should offer a path to citizenship to those willing to work hard and earn it because people need an incentive to adopt our American culture, pay taxes and abide by the laws. However, the path I am referring to should be an arduous path, maybe 10-15 years of strict compliance with firm rules, such as no felonies, must pay taxes and contribute more than taking, and must assimilate and learn to speak English.

Absolutely no amnesty! Citizenship in our amazing Country is something that should be earned.

I believe it is unconstitutional for the government to infringe the right of people to keep and bear arms. I cannot support gun control legislation which infringes the 2A. 

I do support amending HIPAA to allow law enforcement agencies to access information about one's mental health for determining whether a purchaser is competent to own a firearm. I don't think those who claim mental disability to receive monetary benefits from the government should also own guns; cannot have it both ways, one is either mentally disabled or not. We need stronger and more effective background checks. I would also support routine background checks and re-verifications (ex: every four years or so) in order to ensure continued safety training and ability to responsibly possess firearms.

I also support legislation which toughens penalties for those who negligently allow others to access their personal firearms, in order to reduce these occurrences. If one chooses to own a gun, that is their right, but by owning the gun the individual must accept responsibility for its handling.

For the record, I own an AR-15 and it has been rendered inoperable due to changes required to maintain compliance with CA laws. I look forward to a legal challenge on the constitutionality of CA "assault weapon" laws, which I believe violate the U.S. Constitution. CA gun laws are intolerable, and I will do everything within the powers of Representative to support the 2A, both in Washington and here in CA.

I do support free trade because I believe it results in a stronger economy, more competition, and cheaper products for consumers.

NAFTA is in the middle of a renegotiation right now as I write this. I cannot take a position until I see what the renegotiated NAFTA looks like.

With respect to old NAFTA, it sucks and I think the US is getting the short straw on the deal, hence the renegotiation!

I support the current Federal gas tax (not the CA increased gas tax) because Congress needs to raise money from somewhere to expand and maintain transportation infrastructure, and the per-gallon tax seems to spread the financial burden fairly to individuals and businesses by amount driven (via gas purchased).

However, I do not support any increase of the Federal gas tax, its high enough, and I oppose any attempt by Congress to grab the resources derived from the Federal gas tax for use with other purposes.

I propose to amend Medicare and Medicaid to change "physician" in the law to read as "practitioner", and define in the law that a "practitioner includes physicians and advanced nurses". I think we need to remove restrictions and burdens which prevent nurse practitioners and other advanced nurses from contributing their skills. If successful, this will decrease the costs of healthcare.

I would also like to see health insurance expanded across state lines in order to reduce overhead and make insurance access more affordable.

I support student aid forgiveness to medical professionals who complete programs and serve in government clinics and hospitals. I would like to see an expansion of government clinics employing these medical professionals which provide routine care to low-income families, college students, and minor children an no or low cost.

I think healthcare is best accomplished with a hybrid of government and private hospitals and clinics.

This  appears to be referring to chain migration and must be limited and stopped. Families must be brought in together in a legal immigration process that needs to be improved to vet and speed up the process for immigrants that actually want to work to improve their lives and deserve to be allowed into this country to become productive American citizens. It must not be used as it is, an endless chain of every relative and friend of every relative flooding the country with people who are coming to access free services instead of becoming productive working citizens. 

Build That Wall!

Immigrants are being abused as they cross the border with 70-80% of women reported to be abused and others taken advantage of. Is that the price of freedom to enter the US? Families must be kept together in their country of origin and entry of legal immigrants given priority and the process made more efficient. The United States must be protected from drug and sex traffickers, terrorists, and illegal weapons being brought across our border, diseases and pests that are destroying our agriculture and a threat to to Americans health, and our ICE and border agents must be protected from the criminal element!   

I am an NRA Life member, a member of the United States Concelaed Carry Association, a member of San Diego County Gun Owners, and recently a proud holder of a CA Concealed Carry Permit from San Diego County!

We must have national laws for concealed carry reciproicity, open carry, and right to carry for all law abiding citizens with no regulations. Our founding fathers understood that without the 2nd Amendment and gun rights UNINFRINGED we would soon lose our 1st Amendment rights to freedom of speech and religion. The same misguided and decieved people who believe in gun restrictions are the very same people who would remove our rights of freedom of religion and speech because of immoral beliefs that classify moral beliefs as "hate", which is utter nonsense.  

NAFTA has been a disaster for America and American workers and must be renegotiated or scrapped. President Trump has great ideas on NAFTA and I will support him. 

No increased taxes period. Our national debt is total insanity and would bankrupt any of us personally if we tried to run our finances as the Federal Government does. We must slash spending and move to a flat 10% personal income tax. Congress needs to have strict oversight over every dime spent with efficiencies put in place for every government program with 30-40% cuts to every department by cutting wasteful programs and spending estimated to be up to 40% of every govermental program.

Completely remove the Unnafordable Health Care Act, the biggest most nefarious tax ever placed on the American people. Return to a market driven health care that will make health care affordable for the majority of Americans with individual health savings accounts. We must review Medicare amd Medicaid and implement negotiated drug prices to reduce the waste in these programs.  

It is reasonable to allow naturalized immigrant Americans to bring additional family members as long as all of the parties are vetted for their moral character i.e. they are screened to ensure they love America and will contribute to it.

It is my opinion that the border between the United States and Mexico, just as the the border between the United States and Canada, needs to be secure in order for our country to adequately protect itself from crime, disease and terrorist acts.  Good and honorable people crossing the border in order to flee desperate circumstances must be treated with dignity, respected and be allowed to state their case for asylum.

I believe that additional regulations on gun ownership need to be balanced with our 2nd Amendment rights.  Volunteer programs which utilize retired veterans to keep an eye on our schools would be one reasonable solution to protect our children from gun violence without changing our Constitutional rights.

At this time, I believe it is reasonable to give our President the latitude to negotiate trade agreements with our neighbors, Mexico and Canada in a manner that decreases our growing deficit and continues the creation of good American jobs and economic growth.

I support finding ways to pay for our crumbling transportation infrastructure of our Nation that do not unfairly burden the American family.  The players that use and damage the roads the most that benefit financially such as the heavy trucking industry should pay their fair share. 

I support having reasonably priced excellent health care insurance options so the People of California do not have to worry that should they have a serious medical problem, they will become destitute.  

I support the expansion of competition among the private as well as government insurance programs to decrease costs and to optimize care.

Innovative ways to make health care more affordable should be explored.  Serious programs focused on reducing obesity would be helpful in decreasing the approximately 200 billion dollars per year or 21% of our annual medical spending.  The time is now to stop kicking the soda pop can down the road.

Yes.  I believe in a merit based system of immigration.  Let’s have a conversation as a nation, determine what types of citizens we need the most, and allow those to come in.  If we need engineers and chemists, those are the people we invite to come over.  If we need more farm workers, then farm workers get priority.  One family that I am treating came here illegally when the disabled pregnant mother arrived just in time to give birth.  The child became the "anchor", and eventually, the mother and ailing grandmother also became citizens.  This family receives disability income, food stamps and a host of assistance programs including Medical.  The grandmother alone receives renal dialysis at a cost to taxpayers of $72,000 per year.  Let’s build a stronger nation by giving priority to productive citizens that we need most.  Immigration should be based upon Merit, not birth.

No.  The border between Mexico and the US is unique in the world as it separates two countries with the greatest economic disparities of any other international border.  Building a wall is a convenient concept, which on the surface seems like a straightforward way to solve our illegal immigration problems by physically blocking immigrants. 

But we already have walls erected in strategic locations along the border.  And spending billions of dollars on a bigger, stronger wall is pointless when advanced technology like drones could effectively expand the existing wall at a much lower expense.  Removing economic incentives to immigration, like sanctuary cities, and moving to a merit based system of immigration, will do far more to curb illegal immigration than a physical wall, at absolutely no cost whatsoever.  Rather than building an expensive wall, I would prefer to see our precious federal tax dollars invested in more urgent needs such as maintaining critical infrastructure (for example roads, sewage, and water ways), feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and protecting our environment.

Yes.  I support our constitution and it’s amendments.  I believe in our right to bear arms, but I also believe that it reasonable to put limits on the types of arms that citizens can legally own.  We don’t need to have poison gas, we don’t need to have missiles, or RPGs, and we don’t need military style automatic weapons.  Stricter screening processes for getting a gun ownership license, raising the age restriction for purchasing a gun, and eliminating military style assault weapons are all reasonable compromises that we should take to help fight our epidemic of violent death.  Worldwide 70% of all violent death is the result of murder, more than double the rate of death from war, and a disturbing proportion of these murders have taken place using automatic weapons.  Let’s get military style weapons off of our streets.  Even our children can figure this one out.

Yes.  With advanced technology like cell phones the internet, the citizens of the world are becoming connected and globalized, and free trade is a pathway to economic integration of the world. I support free trade, and NAFTA by quadrupling trade between the US, Canada, and Mexico has been a net gain to the economies of all three countries, has helped to better integrate our North American Nations, and has advanced our shared goals of world peace.  Most Americans have benefited from NAFTA, but some American workers were adversely affected.  Technological innovations like robots and computers have created far more disruptive economic changes than free trade, and changing needs in our workforce are inevitable as society evolves.  Our challenge as a nation is to provide adequate protection of displaced workers and ensure that the basic needs of food and shelter are always available to every citizen of this wealthy nation.

No.  I am a fiscal conservative.  My position is that our current government has grown too large, has impinged upon our personal and economic freedoms too much, and our federal and state taxes are too high. Infrastructure, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and protecting our environment are all areas that need to receive a higher priority in our federal budget, but cost cutting, not increased taxation, is the best way to fund these vital public projects.

We need a leaner government with better spending priorities.  Where can we find the money?  The Portability Of Our Professions act that I have proposed, for example, would effectively eliminate 49 out of 50 redundant state licensing boards by allowing the nearly 30% of our work force who are licensed professionals to freely practice their professions in any state.  This simple act would increase personal freedom, decrease consumer prices, and free up revenue for infrastructure that currently is being wasted on bloated government agencies, at absolutely no cost to the federal government.  California alone has over 150 state licensing boards!

I support free economic markets, and health care is an economic market.  Economic markets work best when they are free to self regulate, with a minimum of government intervention.

Government intervention into free market systems always causes unintended consequences that run CONTRARY to their original intent, and currently there is extreme government intervention into health care.  For example, about 20 years ago our federal and state governments pressured physicians to increase opiate use.  In California, all physicians were mandated to take 12 hours of "end of life care", at their expense, and for 12 hours, over 2 weekends, we were told that we were under-prescribing opiates.  20 years later we find ourselves in an opiate prescription epidemic.

The physician patient relationship is at the core of all health care decisions, and at the core of all health care expenditures.  By lifting medicare price controls on physicians, physicians would become economically empowered.  By depositing your medicare and health insurance dollars into Health Savings Accounts under your name, with your control, patients would be come economically empowered.  If your health care dollars were under your direct control, you would price compare and scrutinize every health care dollar spent, and free market forces would optimize the entire health care market, driving down costs.

You also might decide to use your Medicare dollars to buy glasses, or fix your teeth, things that our government has arbitrarily determined are medically “unnecessary”.  And if you could pass your health care dollars onto your loved ones, or convert them into cash in the event out your death, you might not squander them in the last few weeks of life as we currently do with an estimated 25% of all medical expenditures.  Economically empowering you, the patient would also ensure that life and death decisions always remain entirely under your direct control.  Health care is an economic market.  Making health care an economic FREE MARKET will make health care more affordable.

Government price controls are also limiting the quality of health care.  Knee implants cost between $1,800 and $13,000.  Surgery centers currently get reimbursed $9,000 for knee replacement surgery, and that includes all costs of parts and labor, so no one gets the highest quality implants! You don't discuss the full range of knee implants that might be best for you with your physician prior to knee replacement surgery because your physician can't choose the implant.  Your knee implant is chosen for you by a hospital administrator based upon its costs. 

Health care is an economic market.  Making it a free economic market will optimize quality and expenses.  Economic markets work best when they are free from government intervention.

Another simple, innovative proposal of mine is that private insurance companies should also be non-for-profit.  Profit in the private health insurance market should be reimbursed to policy holders, not distributed to share holders.

By the way, these proposed changes to health care can all be implemented at zero costs the federal government!

No, I do not support limiting this process beyond allowing law-abiding people the right to be with their family. I believe we need to support all legal attempts to enter the country. We should also invest in advocate programs to help people who are already here without documentation through the process. We need to put humanity back into our whole immigration process.

No, I believe that blaming people with no money and no power is doing the people of this country a disservice, and the wall is indicative of demagoguery.  I think it is a very expensive and futile attempt at solving the wrong problem.

No, we already have sufficient gun laws that are not being enforced.  This problem and many others can be explained very simply. There is more money and pressure being put on our representative from gun lobbying groups than by the people. Eliminating money from politics is the only way to fix our gun problem. 

I believe we should rethink most of our trade agreements. These agreements were not made with the people in mind, and were written to benefit big business.

No.  From 1998-2015, $21 trillion has gone missing from the Department of Defense alone. We need to either find that money and use it to fix our infrastructure, or admit that our tax system is a complete and total sham. We always seem to find money for war and corperate entitlement programs but never enough for the people.

I think it is essential that we take profit out of healthcare. We need to realize that insuring people the same way as we do property should never have been legal. This system has created a super morbitly obese middle man that is crippling the people. I support a single payor system based off of the health coverage we provide for active duty military and their families.

No, there should be no limitations. I believe if people want to live in the United States they can. We live in the greatest country in the world. Immigration regulations are broken. The process takes way too long and some parts unreasonable. Going back to their country of origin is sometimes impossible and is financially burdensome for families wanting to live here. If I were to change the law I would make the path way to citizenship a lot easier. I would start with removing the requirement for people to go back to their country of origin. Next, I would start them on a working visa so they could earn and pay into the system while they are working on their path to citizenship. Visit www.VoteJoshuaHancock49th.us

Yes, for fiscal conservative reasons. California is a very socialist state and will give away tax payer provided services to any one that crosses the border to the tune of around 128 billion dollars a year. That amount takes into account people that are already here illegally paying taxes which is around 30 billion a year. A border wall is the first step in securing our border and in immigration reform. Once the border is secured then we can work on getting people here illegally on a pathway to citizenship get them paying into the system. Get them in classes so they can properly integrate into society.

No, not for California. California has the strictest gun laws in the country. They are also put in place by people who are clueless about how guns work. I support criminal background checks. Felons aren't legally supposed to own guns and background checks are the safeguard to stop them from obtaining guns the legal way. I support responsible gun ownership, which is education of gun owners with safety classes before they buy new guns every couple years at the minimum. I support a universal national concealed carry program. Every responsible person with the proper training should be able to conceal or even open carry. Concealed carriers are 5 times less likely to commit a crime than average citizens.  

Yes, Free trade is a stable essential to the free market. NAFTA is essential to the free market and not only helps U.S. citizens but Canadian and Mexican citizens as well. NAFTA was put in place to promote free trade between Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. enriching all three countries. NAFTA is good and should stay in place. 

No, as a Fiscal Conservative and Libertarian, I am against new taxes or higher taxes. Our federal government has a horrible spending problem, they need to curb their spending and start spending more responsibly. There are billions of dollars wasted in programs that are going to none citizens. There are billions of dollars going to Veteran's programs that don't even make it to the veterans and are wasted on bureaucracy. There are billions being wasted overseas building up other countries infrastructures. We need to spend money on America first before other countries. 

Virtually every person wants access to quality healthcare at an affordable price. I think the best way to achieve this is by removing government interference and enabling free markets. Government inappropriately controls our healthcare in many ways. Government and a handful of insurance companies have a virtual monopoly as payers. Because of this, they make most of the decisions about what kinds of healthcare are available. Government regulates where, when, and who may open new healthcare facilities. Government agencies greatly slow development of and access to new medicines, devices, and technologies that may improve quality of care and reduce cost of care. Currently, the healthcare industry is virtually monopolized by the government and a handful of insurance companies. They hold the checkbook and wield it for their own benefit.