Agriculture
Agriculture is a priority industry and the economic and personal wellbeing of the American farmer must be prioritized as a vital security interest for the American people.
The American government must intervene to protect the American farmer from market instability, foreign takeovers of land and resources and monopolization by industries that will not bear the true costs of their damaging effect on America's environment, farmers, workers and food supply. Family farmers must be protected in the interest of the American public. Regulations and laws that punish farmers who choose alternatives to the methods and means of large agribusiness must be changed to allow farmers to choose the methods that work best for the preservation of their land, their resources and the protection of the American food supply without facing litigation from agribusiness. Farmers facing the loss of their land, machinery and the tools of their trade must be offered low interest loans, buyback programs and other incentives to continue their efforts in the interest of the American food supply and the SNAP program must continue to operate in a manner that protects the American farmer from market instability and American citizens from food insecurity.
Children and Families
Investing in the health, safety, welfare, and education of infants, children, and young people must be our number one priority.
Infants, children and young people are the true heart and future of the United States of America, and investing in their health, safety, welfare and education must be our number one priority. We demonstrate our commitment to our own future by investing in the safety and support of families, however formed, and the creation of development and trauma aware safety nets for families and children experiencing hardship. We prioritize educational resources wherever families choose to educate their children, but prioritize providing public education services that are developmentally appropriate, focus on fundamental educational skills, principles and civic and scientific knowledge that is consistent with current research and respectful of historical traditions.
Economy
The economy thrives where human rights are protected, labor is rewarded fairly for its contribution, regulatory mechanisms and trade are predictable and infrastructure is excellent.
Economies thrive in an environment where Human and Democratic Rights are protected, labor is fairly rewarded for its contribution to production and profit, management and owners are fairly compensated, regulatory mechanisms and trade are predictable and stable and the infrastructure paid for by the American taxpayer is reliable and serves the people and our economic interests. Human labor is the base of the American economy and safe working conditions and stable pay create an environment where creativity and hard work can thrive. Free speech and the right to unionize for better pay and working conditions must not be interfered with, and the government's only role should be assisting workers and businesses reach mutually beneficial agreements that allow workers and their families to flourish and our economy to prosper. Human safety, health, capacity and capabilities are compromised by addictive substances and industries. Regulatory efforts that do not place the true costs of addiction on those industries misplace the burden onto American taxpayers, industry, families and workers. All investments of the American people in education, infrastructure, research and development are investments in job creation. The American people are some of the most productive in the world and our entire economy and tax base is built on the work Americans can do when they are given opportunities. Undervaluing and underestimating the American worker is a violation of the trust of American taxpayers. Diversion of taxpayer dollars into speculative technologies designed to reduce the size of the American workforce effectively damage the financial stability of families and the American tax base. Industries that support basic human needs including agriculture and utilities must be supported at levels that ensure the independence of the American people. Privatization of utilities to accommodate donors jeopardizes the security of the American people, the environment, and our economy.
Energy
The government must encourage investment in sustainable energy, and encourage ethical management of coal power plants.
The government must encourage investment in sustainable energy sources that minimally affect the environment and utilize free natural resources such as solar, wind and water power. Energy sources that result in extreme and ongoing environmental harm or require the use of military operations to steal the resources of other countries are unsustainable, inhumane and cost-prohibitive. Coal powered plants are an essential part of America's energy portfolio, but must be managed in the cleanest possible manner with real costs accruing to companies and those managing the plants and production themselves.
Environment
Humans live in a fragile world and the resources we require to survive and thrive must be protected against exploitation.
The dirty water and poor soil throughout much of West Virginia is everywhere we look. West Virginians are proof that a damaged environment hurts infants, children and adults. It is in our best interest as a nation and a state to protect the environment. Our air, water, forests, mountains and wildlife are irreplaceable. Our elected officials continue to barter away the natural rights of West Virginians to raise their food, drink their water and breathe the air in safety, for speculative economic benefits and sometimes no gain at all. West Virginians' health and safety is the first chip to be gambled away for a rock or a resource someone else wants. We must fight to demand that protections for our precious natural resources be restored and extended. We must ensure that assurances do not take the place of insurance to compensate victims of disasters or pollution. We must demand reparations and contractual accountability when polluters destroy our ability to live and thrive in our communities.
Free Speech
Free speech is the birthplace of liberty and must be protected.
The availability of social media and persistence of legal observers and protesters has brought us video in real time of our government's calculated decision to crack down on our First Amendment freedoms to the point of killing us in the streets. Without the commitment of hundreds and thousands of our neighbors, many of us would not have access to documentation of the Administration's actions because the Administration has acted with impunity to bribe, coerce and control many media outlets. At the same time, federal and state officials are acting in direct violation of the Constitution to establish specific religious texts in schools and funding religious institutions. Our elected leaders of every party must remember their oath to uphold the Constitution. I am committed to supporting our friends and neighbors, our journalists and a free press. We must demand accountability for actions that suppress our First Amendments Rights, education for our children that upholds the values expressed in our Constitution and an end to corrupt manipulation of the press and media outlets and unfair distribution of licensing and other FCC privileges
Government Values
The government must embrace the values of incorruptibility, honesty, frugality, and service.
A momentary glance at the conduct of our current leadership reveals corruption, disregard for human life and safety, greed, and foolishness. We must learn as a people to trust our eyes and ears and the processes established by our founders who understood that this day, and these individuals, ignorant of our history, despising democracy and willing to sacrifice the safety, welfare and future of the American people, would come.
Healthcare
Americans pay enough taxes to receive the best healthcare in the world, but our elected leaders only provide it to themselves.
American taxpayers pay enough taxes to receive the best healthcare in the world, but our elected leaders only provide it to themselves. We must invest in Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare to allow all Americans to benefit in real time from the healthcare taxpayers invest in. These systems must prioritize human health and safety and deliver care based on medical necessity. We will invest in the education and training and support of our medical professionals based on our communities' healthcare needs rather than profit. To eliminate the effect of perverse profit incentives to deny care recommended by treating physicians, the government must divest from obsolete non-provider corporations and their subsidiaries.
Human Rights
Your humanity is enough.
As an American citizen, resident or guest, your humanity is sufficient to guarantee that the government and its actors must treat you humanely. Our government actors are required by our Constitution to afford you access to the due process protections, resources and rights granted to you by the law. Human rights do not extend to human enterprises or tools such as: non-profits, corporations, AI and other technologies. Human rights and the rights of "the People" are for humans. The natural and economic resources required to sustain human life may not be sacrificed for the benefit of human enterprises or tools. It is critical for Congress to intervene to block, defund and impeach government actors who permit, fund or otherwise encourage violations of Human Rights within our borders and anywhere else our government actors act in the name of the American People or spend the funds of the American Taxpayer.
Infrastructure
Americans pay enough for the best infrastructure, from roads to bridges, parks to spillways, streets and trains.
Our representatives prioritize the demands of their donors and private contractors, continuing to place American resources at the mercy of profit-making enterprises through poor negotiation, contract enforcement and misappropriation. In the country where the internet was developed, Americans everywhere deserve the best internet resources. The American people paid for the research and development of these systems and they deserve to trust that the government has not sold, lost or compromised their privacy, safety and integrity. Contracting with international corporations and investors with demonstrated conflicts of interest and aligned with foreign and non-democratic powers violates the human rights of Americans and places our children in jeopardy. Investments in infrastructure create environments where industry and job creators can thrive. West Virginia's attempts to lure businesses by creating tax loopholes create economic environments that cannot support the infrastructure needed by these industries to survive. Equitable infrastructure development is the investment that West Virginia needs in its economy and workforce.
International Relations
It is in the best interest of the American people to encourage and maintain alliances with other countries that share our values and respect for human life.
It is in the best interest of the American people, our service men and women and our economy to establish, maintain and encourage alliances, mutual aid pacts and economic alliances with governments that share our values, our respect for human life and human rights and will be reliable partners and allies. The safety and well-being of the American people depends on our relationships with other humans in the world and we must remain a trustworthy and reliable partner.
Military
The American military must be operated in a Constitutional manner that defends the economic and security interests of the American people: including civilians, service members, and veterans.
The American people have a sacred trust with our service men and women. We call them and support them under the values and framework of our Constitution. We owe them assurances that we will not force them to stray from their oaths to uphold and defend the Constitution. We must assure them that the civilian leadership we chose will not be allowed to fritter away our service members' lives in cruel exploits for foreign favors or corrupt interests. We owe them the dignity of serving in the best interest of our most important values: human life, liberty, justice, equality and democracy. To our veterans we owe their prioritization in budgeting, healthcare and services. We owe them adequate HUMAN care for their mental and physical healthcare needs. We cannot soothe our consciences by shuffling veterans' needs off to technology. The diversion of the American military budget to mercenary corporate forces is a corrupting practice that violates our Constitution and the human rights of those who face extensions of American power without Constitutional restraint.
Pregnancy Education, Assistance, and Support
All humans are entitled to the protection of their human rights, safe and appropriate health care and age appropriate education about reproduction, fetal development and infant and childcare.
All humans are entitled to the protection of their human rights, safe and appropriate health care and age appropriate education about reproduction, fetal development and infant and childcare. Women and gender minorities who have the capacity to become pregnant are entitled to the additional medical services required by their reproductive tracts and reproductive experiences from the initiation of menses through menopause. All adult humans have the same human rights regardless of the nature of their reproductive capacity including the right to appropriate educational services, autonomous decision making over their bodies, to choose or refuse medical care, including birth control, to choose their providers and to exercise their rights to privacy. Children experiencing pregnancy shall receive special protections and services and shall be protected as much as possible from further medical or physical harm.
Taxation
The American worker pays for one of the most robust economies in the world, but this burden is not allocated fairly among our economic participants.
The American tax and resource burden must be fairly and equitably distributed among our economy's beneficiaries and participants: individual, corporate and non-profit whatever the income stream. No one should be able to live like a king on the money they borrow, while their employees struggle to survive and raise their families on the money they earn. I support the elimination of the "Buy, Borrow, Die" tax loop-hole, the increase of the marginal tax rate of earners of over $500,000.00 per year and other changes to the tax code that permit those who work and worked to sustain their dignity on their savings and earnings when retired, facing hardship or facing inflation that minimizes the value of their resources.
Technology
Divestment from the strength of human labor and the capacity of the human mind in pursuit of technology at the expense of water, land, and safety is an unforgivable gamble.
America's future rests with the creativity of our human children, the power of our human labor and the capacity of the human mind. Divestment from children, workers and creatives in the pursuit of technology of weak promise is an unforgivable gamble. The government must not sacrifice the privacy, welfare, health, safety and art of its constituents and citizens to technocrats or speculative technologies. We must not sacrifice the human workers, scientists, service providers and care providers that have so ably built and served our communities in every time of trouble for technology services that don't understand how to lend a hand or what a human hand looks like. Our veterans, our elders, our children, voters and taxpayers deserve exceptional service from humans who can solve problems. Contracting out our Constitutional rights and responsibilities to technology contractors and technocrats in exchange for campaign contributions, gifts and perks must not be tolerated or permitted to continue simply because "the damage has been done". Contractual benefits and access to private information must be clawed back and those who permitted abuses of the American people, their privacy and trust must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
