Issue Position: Addressing Wealth Inequality

Issue Position

32.7 million Americans (10%) control 76% of the wealth in our country. Even more outrageous, 327,000 Americans, the richest .1%, control as much wealth as 294 million Americans (90%). We have 43 million Americans living in poverty. Those numbers are disproportionately women, children and our communities of color.

Since 1963, the wealth of the richest 1% has increased seven fold. Coincidentally, in 1960, the highest tax rate was 91% now it is 39%, prior to the tax plan that was just passed by the Republican Congress. How many times must we implement a trickle down economy to find out once again that it does not work? There is no justification for a tax cut for the wealthiest 10%.

With a moderate tax increase on the richest 10%, along with prioritizing our military expenditures, we could fund universal health care and free college for all Americans.

A federal minimum wage of $15 is a fair starting place to stimulate the economy and elevate our struggling middle class. This would give employees more income to buy necessary goods and services, thus giving our economy the boost it needs to begin moving and expand the tax base. As Senator Paul Wellstone was famous for saying: "We all do better, when we all better."

Corporate greed and unfair trade deals like NAFTA have spurred the exodus of America's core of manufacturing jobs out sourced to foreign countries. This has led to the stagnation and decline of workers' wages and benefits here in the United States as American workers compete with substandard wages paid to workers in other countries. I will fight the job killing Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal to help strengthen and bring back our manufacturing and taconite mining jobs here in the 8th Congressional district.

The tax plan that was just passed by the Republicans in congress will add trillions to our deficit. This debt will be passed on to our children and their children if we do not stop it. I will vote to repeal the tax plan that will take effect in 2019.

There have been those in our government who have used the Social Security trust fund as if it is their personal slush account and stolen from it at the detriment of citizens who have worked their entire lives paying into it. This has the effect of making Social Security look under funded in order to call for raising the retirement age or the privatization of Social Security. I will fight the raid on the Social Security trust fund, eliminate the cap on wages that Social Security is paid on, lower retirement age and increase the cost of living adjustments.

I will work for and support an amendment to the US Constitution to unequivocally state that inalienable rights belong exclusively to human beings. Money is not form of protected free speech protected under the first amendment and can be regulated for political campaigns. I truly believe this would return our government of the people back to the people of the United States of America.

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