Healthcare
There has been a long debate in our country over the last year regarding the issue of healthcare. I believe everyone has a right to healthcare and we have a moral obligation to make access to healthcare a reality for all in America.
47 million people in America lack health insurance and access to healthcare
One in five people (or 20%) in our district have no health insurance.
Families and businesses are struggling to find ways to pay for health insurance coverage.
Greedy health insurance companies like Anthem Blue Cross have proposed rate hikes of almost 40% in some areas. This is a slap in the face for citizens because it follows a 56% INCREASE in profits for the five largest health insurers in 2009 according to a study by HCAN (Health Care for America Now).
Rising costs mean that the number of uninsured workers and families will continue to grow, according to a recent AARP article “What Happens If Nothing Happens to Change U.S. Health Care?” The status quo is unsustainable. We must reform our healthcare system. I support the efforts to reform the healthcare system.
I will work hard to improve our system in order to:
Provide healthcare access to all Americans
Control the rising costs of healthcare
Regulate health insurance company practices to eliminate pre-existing conditions that deny people coverage, rescission practices that retroactively cancel policies due to illness
Strengthen Medicare, so that future generations will continue to be covered under the Medicare program
Jobs and Employment
The American people need jobs that provide decent living wages for men and women and wages that allow families to live with dignity. As we emerge from a deep recession, brought on by eight years of Bush policies, we need to focus on creating jobs for the people in our District.
A New York Times article Judging Stimulus by Job Data Reveals Success on the Recovery Act passed by in 2009 reports that “outside evaluations of the stimulus by best-known economic research firms all estimate that the bill has added 1.6 million to 1.8 million jobs so far and that its ultimate impact will be roughly 2.5 million jobs according to IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s Economy.com. The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative.”
The Recovery Act was a good start to turning our economy around. We must continue to develop ways to create job growth through legislation by continuing to invest in infrastructure, states, and direct job creation. We must also provide incentives for small and new business growth. With the demand for new energy technologies, there is an enormous potential for new job growth in the “green jobs” arena in which could provide many jobs in manufacturing, research, transportation and the technology sectors to name a few. Small businesses employ most of the workers in our country and in our District, and they have been leading in “green” technologies and innovation. The United States can lead the world in these new technologies, and I’ll support these initiatives that will bring these jobs to our District, help our small businesses thrive, and put people to work.
Another key component of getting people back to work is access to technical training, educational opportunities in new areas of study, and support services for workers. I strongly support such programs for workers in our District and will work to expand these opportunities for our citizens.
Education
Our educational system is the key to prosperity and the fulfillment of America’s promise. We need affordable, accessible avenues to education from pre-school through technical and/or college education.
I believe it benefits our communities to have access to a great public education for all of our students. This requires that we first provide our public schools and teachers with the flexibility, resources, and support they need for success. Education should begin with funding for programs that support families by providing pre-natal education for mothers-to-be, access to early learning programs like Head Start, and nutrition programs that help give every child a fair chance to learn, in addition to programs that prepare kids for college at an early age. North Carolina prepares 6,000 fewer teachers than we need each year according to the NC Justice Center. That must change! We must foster parent and community involvement to enhance the educational process for our students and families.
For those that wish to attend college, I believe they should have the right to do so without undo financial burden. I support investment in higher education by making technical schools and college affordable for all.
Civil Rights
I have spent much of my life working as a community activist to make the world a better place, and to advocate for equity and justice for all members of our society. As a retired educator, community board member, mentor and activist, I have had the opportunity to meet and serve many diverse members of our community. I believe every member of our community is entitled to access to economic opportunity, access to healthcare, a good education, and a healthy environment.
The recession has widened the income gap in our country, hitting middle income and working families the hardest.
The poverty rate is at an 11 year high of 13.2%
Unemployment rates are highest among lower income families
North Carolina is number 1 in food insecurity for children. Reliance on food stamps and food banks is growing.
This is unacceptable.
My focus in Congress will be to reverse this trend by strengthening our social safety net and providing the means for every American to “enjoy the highest civil, economic, and social rights that the biggest and most powerful possess.” I will work to
Protect Social Security and Medicare entitlements
Provide unemployment benefits and retraining for displaced and laid off workers
Provide quality education for all of our children
Provide access to healthcare for all Americans.
I have and will stand with workers as they push for employment rights and with veterans as they seek the care they need and deserve. I support comprehensive immigration reform that will provide a pathway for immigrants to obtain legal status and citizenship if they want to earn it. I support the Dream Act for students who have lived here their whole lives and wish to attend college. I will stand against racism, gender intolerance, and disability discrimination not only at the individual level, but also in our institutions.
Environment
America’s promise will not mean much if our environment is not secure. Dependence on foreign oil and climate change threatens not only our environment, but also threatens our security and economic future. By investing in a new energy economy that reduces our dependence on foreign oil and other non-renewable resources we can create new business and job opportunities, in the 8th District that stimulates the economy even as we move towards securing our energy independence and protecting our environment.
We must take steps to conserve energy and manage its use more efficiently and effectively. We must work to reduce and cap greenhouse gas pollution and plan for the future. Our current representative voted against Cap and Trade, legislation that can bring green jobs to North Carolina as well as a healthier environment.
Other nations have taken the lead in the development and manufacturing of renewable energies and green technologies by creating new industries, jobs and investment. I strongly support investment in renewable industries that will jump start our economy and put our people back to work.