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Other Issues of Interest
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I intend, if elected, to focus the majority of my time on my education and worker's rights legislative plan. However, there are other issues that I am interested in and do support:
* I support family farmers and farm policy to encourage people back to the land to farm, not push people off the land. * I support the removal of any barriers to agricultural hemp production and distribution for food, fiber, and fuel. * I support the protection of our national and state public lands system from privatization and over commercial-ization. * I support wilderness, conservation, environmental quality,and initiatives to reduce greenhouse emissions through technological innovation and applications. I do not support the breaching of Snake River dams. They contribute much to the region in the form of irrigation, hydro-electric power, recreation, and wildlife habitat. I support mitigation of anadromous salmon runs by technological means and management including a time-out on salmon fishing by all anglers including Native Americans for the purposes of stock regeneration. * I support unions, union organization, recruitment, the right of workers to join a union, the living wage, and enforcement of pay equality. We did not get the 8 hour work day, retirement, safe and clean working conditions, wage standards, and other worker's rights because the capitalists are nice and gracious people. Men and women fought, bled, and died for worker's rights. We have a better life today because of union men and women of yesteryear. Conservative ideology has worked to undermine and diminish unions and worker's rights. We must capture that same spirit and sacrifice of those early union men and women to reclaim and advance worker's rights in the future. * I support legislation to preserve government jobs from privatization. Privatization harms the natural resource management profession and other professions devoted to public service. * I support making civil unions the standard legal contract for all couples with all the rights, responsibilities and obligations of what we now term "marriage". This will include relieving clergy of any legal authority or the perception of legal authority for contractual unions. Clergy may ceremonial bless a civil union but these ceremonies or rituals have no effect of law or any social significance beyond what it means to the couple and their peers. * I support the advancement of cultural diversity and tolerance. This includes ensuring equality and integration of diverse lifestyle choices and values in social and economic planning and development. * I support resistance by state government to the power of the federal government when that power (law or regulations) is capricious, arbitrary and/or outdated and needlessly impacts the social and economic development of Washington. |
