THIS IS WHERE I STAND
I strongly believe in and support the Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the next to the last and usually forgotten of the Bill of Rights: “ The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.“
In addition, I strongly believevin the importance that should be paid to the Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
My emphasis is particularly focused on ’retained by the people’ and “reserved...to the people“ ; namely , neither the federal nor the state should expand their power and authority to impose upon the powers RESERVED TO ’WE THE PEOPLE’!
These are the policies I support and advocate:
1. National decriminalization of Marijuana; the right of individuals to medical and recreational marijuana should NOT be determined by state governments, but marijuana should be regulated like alcohol, especially since marijuana is far less harmful than alcohol or tobacco
2. Reasonable forgiveness of student loans; it is sheer hypocrisy to insist on full repayment of student loans when we have a convicted felon Grifter in the White House, who has declared bankruptcy 7 times and NEVER paid back the money he owed
3. End the trade and travel embargo of Cuba; it primarily harms the people of Cuba, and provides an excuse to the invompetent government that has mismanaged the economy
4. Expand and improve our free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico; imposing tariffs and generating hatred toward our friends and family across the border is bad policy that hurts us.
5. Follow international law with respect to Palestine and Israel:
a. Recognize that the Golan Heights are Syrian territory, not Israeli
b. Return the U.S. Embassy from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv
c. End the supply of heavy offensive weapons being used by the Israeli war criminals in Gaza
d. Condemn Israeli policies of starving the people of Gaza by denying the supply of food, water, and medicine
e. Insist upon the recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people
f. Impose sanctions on the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
g. End the use of the term ’Judea and Samaria’ by U.S. diplomats
h. Actively work for a ’two-state solution’
6. Return to ratification and support for the Treaty of Paris and adopt policies to deal with climate change, recognizing that is mainly a manmade problem
7. Rejoin the World Health Organization and support and fund the policies it advocates
8. Support Campaign Finance Reform and work to end ’corporate personhood’; corporation are artificial individuals, and granting corporation the rights of real individuals is against the principles of our Founding Fathers.
9. Strong support for reproductive rights with restoration of women’ right to an abortion We need to restore Roe v. Wade and alo end the Hyde Amendment restrictions on federal funding and support for abortions
10. Strongly support the Ukraine in the face of the totally illegitimate and unjustified invasion of Russia. Insist upon the recognition of Ukraine’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, including Crimea
11. Strong support for the human rights of the LGBTQI indiduals domestically as well as internationally. Measures should be taken to punish states that impose discrimination against equal rights and sanctions shoild be imposed on foreign governments that discriminate.
12. End the U.S. Space Force and establish a U.S. Climate Force as the necessary and appropriate addition to our national military resources.
