We must support the most ethical and moral ways to reduce abortion. Many studies show abortion rates decrease when there is greater access to education on sexuality and to low-cost birth control methods. Full funding for groups like Planned Parenthood and low-income access to healthcare will help ensure unwanted pregnancies will decrease. Full access to safe abortion should be easily available for any woman in their first trimester who believes a pregnancy is not in her best interest.

Every single person has the right to worship in their chosen way. As long as it is not in the Public Square or in a manner that assumes others must behave in the way they have prescribed. These public displays are simply grand-standing to get attention. Keep the government out of homes and churches, where we can fully express our personal religious beliefs. And keep religion out of our government.

Social Security and medicare should be significantly expanded to ensure that the safety net for our seniors does not have holes in it. Social security benefits should be boosted, particularly for those who have earned less during their working life. Cost of living increases should be in line with or significantly greater than actual inflation numbers, including the costs of health care. Universal health insurance should be passed, either through Medicare-for-all or a similar mechanism. Funding should come from lifting the cap on earnings subject to social security taxes as well as a significantly more progressive tax structure.

Competition among health care providers is the best way to maintain higher quality coverage at lower cost. This is a basic of capitalism! We must expand the Affordable Care act with a government option for all Americans, or provide Medicare-for-all for every single American.

We need to be fully independent of foreign sources for our energy needs in America. That means full support for the expansion of solar, wind and other alternative fuel sources. The growth of these alternatives, fully American-produced, will employ thousands of Americans throughout the country. It would also make America energy-independent, and reduce the threat to Americans from unhealthy air and water, which are major by-products of oil-production technologies.

We must end the needless, costly subsidies to energy companies, agricultural conglomerates, and all large corporations. Corporate tax rates must be adjusted to more historic levels. Personal income taxes will also be changed back to the historic norms of the 1950’s. We need our tax dollars to work hard for us.

According the US Supreme Court, every individual has a right to own any gun(s) of their choosing. With that premise, there is a need to make sure guns do not wind up in the hands of unstable, potentially mentally-ill individuals. As we can see from the almost totality of mass shootings being committed by men, we need to make sure that any male between the ages of 11 and 60 be banned from gun ownership so that we can effectively prevent weapons from being purchased by potentially unstable, testosterone-driven individuals.

Alternatively, we need to recognize that the Second Amendment has as its first words “a well-regulated militia…” Unlimited ownership of any kind of gun by almost anyone does not constitute “a well-regulated militia”. Reasonable restrictions on types of weapons, ammunition, and proof of competence with regard to use of weapons is necessary. In fact, so that the government is not the record-keeper that so many fear, private liability insurance from a reputable company should be required to be in place to purchase any weapon. Failure to have and maintain insurance will result in immediate confiscation of the uncovered weapons and hefty fines. This will have the added benefit of providing jobs in the private insurance industry.