Issues

Over the past two years, Republicans in the House of Representatives have passed two budget proposals that essentially end Medicare and make seniors pay $6,000 more a year for their Medicare benefits, only to use that money to give more tax breaks the wealthy. This is not a good economic policy, nor is it fair to Americans who have paid for these benefits. Social Security and Medicare are earned benefits and part of a solemn promise we’ve made to our seniors. We must protect and defend these rights from those willing to put our seniors at risk. By stopping the raids on the Social Security trust fund and protecting Medicare from risky voucher schemes, we can ensure our seniors retire with dignity and security. Mike will defend the health and retirement security of our seniors.

Every day the National Debt grows larger and it seems the only thing Washington can do is pass the buck. We’ve got to get serious about it, but we need to keep the right priorities in mind. We shouldn’t just balance the budget on the backs of the middle class—we need a multi-pronged approach.

First we need to cut spending. We can start right away by eliminating more than $200 billion in government redundancies and waste identified by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO). We also need performance audits for every agency so we can quickly identify and eliminate programs that are not working. Second we need to end tax subsidies for big oil companies and ask millionaires to pay their fair share.

What we cannot afford to do is cut investments in innovation and in our future such as medical research, high tech development and educating our youth. Although we all need to do our part in balancing the budget, cutting these types of investments will risk America’s ability to have a competitive economy in the future.

Mike strongly believes that women deserve equal pay for equal work. That’s why he supports the Paycheck Fairness Act and will work to prevent any attempt to weaken the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that was signed into law in 2009. Mike’s opponent opposed both of these important bills which help to address the income disparity between men and women in America and prevent wage discrimination.

Mike knows that the federal sequestration now taking effect will disproportionately impact women by cutting nearly $90 million from critical women’s health services. Mike believes women deserve access to effective birth control and opposes efforts by some in Congress who want to make it harder for women to access or afford effective birth control.

Mike also knows that a woman’s medical decisions are best left between a woman, her doctor and hopefully a supportive family. Mike won’t let headline seeking politicians interfere with any of these basic rights.

Mike strongly supported the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and will be a tireless advocate for the absolute right of women to be free from domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. Mike will work to eliminate gender bias in our judicial system and to put a halt to the epidemic of sexual assault occurring in our military.

When facing international conflict the United States needs to exhaust every possible option before putting our military in harm’s way and using force. However the United States needs to reserve the right to use force, once all other options have been exhausted. We need to maintain a strong military in case its participation is necessary.