Issue Statements
“The only title in our democracy superior to that of President is the title of citizen.”
— Louis Brandeis
HEALTHCARE
Nearly 30 million Americans are uninsured. An additional 40 million are “underinsured,” meaning that they cannot afford their premiums, deductibles, and copays. And while the United States spends more money for healthcare than any other developed country, we have significantly worse health outcomes. In fact, the United States has the lowest life expectancy among comparable countries. We also have the highest maternal and infant mortality rates among the developed world.
Why is it that we spend so much, and yet get so little? It’s simple. In the United States, there is an unnecessary middleman (private insurance companies) standing in between healthcare providers and patients, that causes our exorbitant costs. This for-profit system allows wealth inequality to equal health inequality.
We are capable of doing better than that. We are capable of having a system wherein we spend less money and EVERYONE has healthcare.
Transitioning to a single-payer (i.e. Medicare for All) system will eliminate the middleman, allowing doctors to treat their patients without requiring the approval of a bean-counter in a corporate office across the country. In addition, a single-payer system will reduce the hundreds of billions of dollars that are wasted on the profits and administrative costs of private insurance companies. It is important to note that any acceptable system would allow people to retain their current health care providers and hospitals. Private insurance companies can exist to supplement universal coverage for people that want additional services.
JENerational Change is:
- The guarantee of healthcare to all people as a right, not a privilege, through a Medicare for all, single-payer program.
- Mandating that Medicare cover prescription drugs, primary care, maternity care, vision, dental, reproductive healthcare, preventative care, and lab services.
- Eliminating premiums, deductibles, and copays.
- Authorizing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices directly with pharmaceutical companies.
- Allowing patients, pharmacists, and wholesalers to buy low-cost prescription drugs from Canada and other industrialized countries.
- Ending the gun violence epidemic by allowing the CDC to study gun violence and passing legislation based on the empirical data.
- Investing $100 billion dollars to end the opioid epidemic and prosecuting corporations who illegally marketed the drugs.
ENVIRONMENT
Climate change is the single greatest threat facing our planet. The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made it clear that unless we substantially cut the amount of carbon in our atmosphere in under 11 years, the human, environmental, and economic costs will be severe and irreversible. Yet, despite the abundance of scientific evidence, multi-national fossil fuel corporations continue to profit at the expense of our environment. In the interest of profit maximization, we also allow industrial polluters to continue to pollute our water. Between lax regulations and our crumbling infrastructure, there are communities in this country that have not had clean water in more than five years. In Florida, industrial polluters have contributed to unprecedented blue-green algae contamination and red tide, which is detrimental to the tourism industry, and will ultimately affect our drinking water.
JENerational Change is:
- A Green New Deal that transforms our energy system away from fossil fuels to 100% energy efficiency and sustainable energy.
- Mobilization on a national scale to ensure that, in the next 10 years, 100% of domestic electricity demand will be supplied by clean, renewable, and zero-emission sources.
- Investing in infrastructure and programs to protect the communities in this country that are most vulnerable to the impact of the climate crisis. This is especially critical in South Florida where we are “ground zero” for the climate effect of sea-level rise.
- Reducing carbon pollution emissions from our transportation system by investing in high-speed passenger rail, electric vehicles, and public transit.
- Banning fracking.
- Banning fossil fuel leases on public lands in order to keep oil, gas, and coal in the ground.
- Ending exports of coal, natural gas, and crude oil.
- Protecting and growing America’s public lands and waters, and natural monuments, for future generations.
- Ensuring clean water for our citizens by holding industrial polluters accountable and retrofitting our outdated water infrastructure. This should be done starting with the most vulnerable and neglected communities.
- Investing in a solar initiative in Florida, as well as nationwide, for economic benefit and environmental protection.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM
We have a two-tiered “justice” system in this country. The likelihood that a person will be indicted, prosecuted, and sentenced too often depends on factors such as race, gender identity, and socio-economic status. Not one banker was prosecuted after Wall Street greed crashed our economy, while millions of black men have had their lives ruined over non-violent drug offenses. It is long past time that this country lives up to its motto, “and justice FOR ALL.” America was built on the subjugation of people of color, and racial oppression still exists within every aspect of our society, especially in our criminal justice system. We must address the systemic racism and create a system of justice that doesn’t favor the rich and criminalize poverty.
JENerational Change is:
- Abolishing for-profit prisons
- Ending the federal prohibition on marijuana
- Commuting sentences, expunging records, and releasing all people currently incarcerated, paroled, or on probation for nonviolent drug offenses.
- Reducing our incarcerated population by eliminating mandatory minimums and excessive sentences.
- Investing in treatment programs for people who are struggling with mental health, and substance abuse issues.
- Prohibiting the exploitation of prison labor by applying the federal minimum wage laws to incarcerated individuals.
- Prohibiting the use of predatory prison phone rates.
- “Banning the Box” that requires job applicants to disclose their criminal records for employment.
- Banning the prosecution of children (under 18) in adult courts.
- Mandating criminal liability for civil rights violations resulting from police misconduct.
- Demilitarizing municipal law enforcement agencies by ending federal programs that provide military equipment to local police forces.
- Restricting the use of deadly force.
- Renegotiating police contracts to establish responsible accountability and transparency measures.
- Supporting the establishment of local civilian oversight boards of law enforcement.
ECONOMIC REFORM
The United States currently has the greatest level of wealth inequality since the “Gilded Era.” The three richest people in this country have more wealth than the bottom 50% of the population. In addition, there is nowhere in this country where a person who works full-time at minimum wage can afford to live. People should not have to work three jobs and drive an Uber in order to make ends meet, especially when their employers are making record profits. Furthermore, we cannot expect to have a thriving economy when our “consumers” do not have any disposable income. We need to strive for an economy that values and respects its labor force by treating workers fairly and participating in trade agreements that are in their best interest.
JENerational Change is:
- Closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy and large corporations.
- Social Security has been our most reliable social program since its inception in 1935 and has never missed a payment. We should not be cutting Social Security benefits, we should be expanding them. As of today, only $132,500 is considered taxable income for Social Security. I support eliminating the cap so the rich pay their fair share and Social Security remains solvent for generations to come.
- Substantially increasing the top marginal tax rate on incomes above $10 million.
- Raising the minimum wage to a “living wage” (at least $15/hour)
- Capping interest rates at 15% to curb exploitative lending practices that cripple working people and disproportionately affect communities of color.
- Offering basic and affordable banking services through the postal system to curb the racial and socioeconomic disparities regarding access to banking.
- Providing federal loans and grants to municipalities and counties for the construction of affordable housing.
- Providing all workers paid family and medical leave, paid sick leave and paid vacation.
- Providing free childcare for children aged six months to three years that would be run by local school districts and overseen by the federal government.
- Providing a Social Security child-care benefit to parents who choose to care for their children at home.
- Repealing “Right to Work” laws through federal legislation.
- Strengthening the power of labor by making it easier for workers to join unions, and supporting policy that requires labor representation on corporate boards.
- Eliminating the provisions in our current trade and tax agreements that make it easier for multinational corporations to ship jobs overseas.
- Making sure that strong and binding labor, environmental, and human rights standards are written into the core text of all trade agreements.
EDUCATION
A critical component of a sound economy is an educated and skilled citizenry. By allowing for-profit companies to siphon money from our public schools, we have failed our teachers and our students. There is no way to prioritize education if we do not value and properly compensate our educators. Regarding the expansion of our current K-12 system to include both pre-K and 4-year college (or trade school), we need to understand that education is not a “privilege,” but rather an “investment” in our economy.
JENerational Change is:
- Providing tuition-free four-year public university or trade school.
- Canceling the $1.6 trillion of student debt.
- Increasing pay for public school teachers so that their salary is commensurate with their importance to society.
- Providing free pre-Kindergarten for all children between the ages of three and five years old.
- Offering free school lunch and breakfast for all children attending public school and pre-K.
- Prohibiting the use of public funding for for-profit education institutions.
FOREIGN POLICY/VETERANS AFFAIRS
Despite a military budget of just under $1 trillion, America’s pattern of military imperialism has been a complete failure. From Central America to the Middle East and Southeast Asia, the entire world bears scars of U.S. imperialism. Without provocation, and without formal declarations of war, the United States has been on a global warpath since the end of World War II. These wars have been for profit, not the defense of our nation and our people.
We spend an obscene amount of money on war, yet so many of our veterans suffer from PTSD, homelessness, substance abuse, and high suicide rates. In addition, the VA being massively underfunded is a prime example of how our for-profit healthcare system simply no longer works for us. Veterans have sacrificed so much for our country, many of whom lost their lives. The least we could do is make sure they are taken care of with dignity & respect. It is time for us to realize that our defense budget is only serving to benefit of the military industrial complex.
JENerational Change is:
- Invoking the War Powers Act to end our support for the Saudi Arabia-led war in Yemen.
- House Concurrent Resolution 83, passing a new “Authorization for the Use of Military Force,” (AUMF) that severely limits the power of the Executive branch to engage in military action without congressional approval.
- Significantly cutting the military budget (50%), and reallocating resources toward rehabilitating and retrofitting our national infrastructure.
- Increasing foreign aid in areas that have been ravaged by U.S. imperialism.
CIVIL RIGHTS & LIBERTIES
It is long past time for us to take a long hard look in the mirror and acknowledge that “liberty and justice for all” is more of a catch phrase than a reality. Although we have made significant strides over the past few decades, there is still much progress to be made. It has been 100 years since women were given the right to vote, and yet we are still fighting for control over our own bodies. It has been 150 years since the Emancipation Proclamation and yet the disparity in our criminal justice system against people of color is blatant. We have been lying to, and cheating our native brothers and sisters since we arrived to their continent. We finally granted the LGBTQIA community the right to get married, but yet the transgender community has been subjected to unprecedented levels of violence. Finally, we are a country of immigrants, and yet we turn our backs on immigrants and asylum-seekers. We need to ensure that the protections and rights afforded by our Constitution are applied to everyone.
JENerational Change is:
- Opposing any and all efforts to undermine or overturn Roe V. Wade, and supporting the appointment of federal judges that will uphold women’s fundamental rights.
- Repealing the Hyde Amendment.
- Fighting for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.
- Appropriating federal funding to clear the backlog of untested rape kits.
- Ensuring that African-American cultural traditions, such as hairstyles, are embraced, rather than policed in schools and the workplace.
- Combating the school-to-prison pipeline by targeting federal funding increases for public schools in underserved communities.
- Protecting and fighting for the rights of the LGBTQIA community in regards to employment, housing, health insurance, banking, education, and the criminal justice system.
- Reversing the Trump administration ban on transgender individuals serving in the military.
- Banning the practice of conversion therapy.
- Protecting the treaty/sovereign rights of Native American nations, and support a transition from a system of paternalism to a system of deference and support.
- Prohibiting the construction of pipelines that could negatively impact indigenous communities.
- Expanding the Fair Housing Act to protect marginalized groups including LGBTQIA, Native Americans, and Section 8 recipients.
- Enacting comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path towards citizenship.
- Abolishing for-profit immigrant detention centers.
- Increasing funding for legal services and translators for undocumented individuals and asylum-seekers.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE AND ELECTION INTEGRITY
In order for us to be able to implement ANY legislation that will benefit the American people, we must acknowledge that our campaign and electoral systems are in a state of severe disrepair. There is a reason that while most Americans want single-payer healthcare, it can’t seem to get passed. There is a reason why most Americans support the decriminalization of marijuana, and yet it is still classified as a schedule 1 drug. There is a reason why fossil fuel companies are still drilling for oil while most of us want to transition to renewable energy sources. The bottom line is that our government has been purchased by corporate interests. In order for us to reclaim our country from the hands of corporations, we must ensure a level playing field for political candidates, and demand election integrity.
JENerational Change is:
- Ensuring automatic voter registration for every citizen over 18.
- Introducing a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United.
- Reviving the Voting Rights Act to authorize the Department of Justice to apply renewed scrutiny over states and districts with histories of voter suppression and disenfranchisement.
- Abolishing Super PACs.
- Imposing congressional term limits.
- Ending the revolving door between Congress and lobbying organizations by prohibiting members of Congress, and the President’s cabinet, from becoming lobbyists.
- Transitioning to publicly-financed elections.
- Redrawing gerrymandered political maps.
- Restoring the voting rights of the more than 6 million Americans who have lost the right because of felony convictions.
- Abolishing the use of proprietary election software/machines that are not subject to public oversight.