My Positions
Universal Healthcare
The leading cause of bankruptcy in our country is medical bankruptcy, yet private insurance providers have become notorious for denying critical care to the patients who need it most.
By nearly every single metric, Maryland is among the wealthiest states in the Union. If any state can afford to offer comprehensive medical care (and most can), it would be ours. Nor would this have to mean gutting the pay of doctors and nurses, as most of the costs that we pay on current insurance come from bloated bureaucracy funneling profits to middle management and C-suite executives.
Single-payer healthcare is more efficient to provide, and has better results for citizens.
Abolition of ICE
ICE is a violent and repressive agency, and Maryland will be better off without them. Of the legitimate responsibilities ICE is actually charged with, I and many others believe they would be better met if they were to be spread across other agencies and departments.
Although ICE is not a federal agency, we as Marylanders can better enforce its exit from our state. Several counties have refused to stop collaborating with ICE, and consequences should be provided for openly flouting state law in this way.
As the only candidate in this race calling for ICE’s total and complete removal from the state, I will protect our immigrant families aggressively.
A Fully Funded Blueprint
Everyone knows that the education system in Maryland is broken, but very few politicians are willing to admit that the problem isn’t fixed just by throwing money at it.
The quality of our education starts and ends with our educators. To improve our schools, we need to make being a part of the school system a desirable job. Yet the benefits for teachers do not fairly trickle down from increased funding when it is diverted away from their paychecks and pensions.
We cannot cut the legs out from the improvement process now just to quickly patch the deficit. Doing so would mean admitting defeat, and leaving the welfare and futures of our children behind.
Public Transit Projects
We have known for thirty long years that Charles County and Southern Maryland need rapid transit. Driving north on 210 or 301 any morning of the week is a nightmare, and yet tens of thousands of our residents make that journey five or more days a week.
The SMRT proposal is a solid plan left to languish by the Hogan administration, who cut all public transit projects in the state and redirected the money to highways in white and rural parts of Maryland. This summer, the eighth study of SMRT will be complete, and we must demand that ground be broken on the project within a year of its completion.
It will save us money and time we desperately need.
Sustainable Energy
Green energy is not inefficient or costlier than it’s worth. It is simply the practical answer to the problems that we face. Taken together, renewables and nuclear energy are more cost-effective than fossil fuels. They’re also safer, and they stand to bring permanent, well-paying jobs to our area.
Just as an example, the one nuclear power plant we have in the state (Calvert Cliffs) generates about 40% of our in-state electricity. It has operated for 50 years without a single incident, and has even set a couple world records in power generation. So as natural gas and oil prices continue to rise, the alternative only becomes cheaper by comparison.
The Green New Deal is just the pragmatic solution.
Divesting from War
While we are not the federal government, Maryland is still entangled with Israel and its foreign influence. Contrary to the 1st Amendment, it is specifically illegal to boycott Israeli products in Maryland and 39 other states. And further than that, if your company decides against doing business in Israel, the Maryland government cannot hire you.
These preferential laws, along with Maryland’s use of taxpayer money to fund Israeli organizations like the MIDC, all serve to put our money behind wars and invasions in the Middle East without our consent. Whatever your stance, you should have a choice.
I will challenge our government to break these ties, and in so doing, to put money back in your pocket.