Issues
Jobs - With Ohio having been harder hit by the economic downturn than most states, we will need to wage a steady fight for Ohio's full participation in the nation's expected economic recovery. Jobs are the number one issue in my campaign. But jobs can't be considered in a vacuum. Issues like health care and fair trade policies go hand in hand with developing a sustainable recovery in Ohio and stable communities for the years to come. There is no silver bullet for creating new and better jobs. It will take cooperation among many levels of government, business and even advocacy groups to grow Ohio's economy again. I have worked as an elected official collaboratively with other government agencies and levels of government to achieve creative solutions to problems and have met with great success. This kind of leadership requires a long-term commitment and will be essential to jump starting Ohio's economic recovery as the nation moves forward. I want to be a partner with President Obama and Senator Sherrod Brown in making Ohio's economy and social fabric strong again.
Health Care- Many people have asked me if I support “single payer” (government insured) health care, and the answer is “yes,” to the degree that it is an option for Americans and Ohioans to choose, among employer-provided plans, Medicare or other plans they may already be covered under or are satisfied with. Already, forces against equal access to health care are advertising on television about isolated health care incidents in countries like Canada, attributing these calamities to any type of government provided health insurance system, by confusing it with health care through socialized medicine. Under socialized medicine the government owns and operates health care facilities, while health insurance supplied by the government is simply a financing mechanism. The government collects and allocates money for health care but has little to no involvement in the actual delivery of services. Forces against the choice of a government health insurance program seem afraid to criticize the largest and most successful government health insurance system now in use in our country—Medicare. Solving the health care deficits we face will take Democrats and Republicans working together, unfazed by cleverly disguised ads, taunts and incentives of corporate interests that oppose this needed change. People should be able to keep their employer supplied health insurance if they want to, but everyone needs access to health care, not just the wealthy or the impoverished. This is so important for a strong middle class and for strengthening the impact of improvements in education—a healthy and educated population can progress much more quickly.
Reforming the Financial System - The free market is a wonderful phenomenon and characteristic of the freedom we enjoy in our treasured democracy. Government can act as the force for equity when the forces of the market produce results not quite consistent with the principles of freedom on which our government was founded two centuries ago. These days, transparency and accountability are key for confidence in our government and the many systems of our economy. This transparency and accountability need to be ensured in the oversight of the stimulus funding that is distributed throughout the nation, and now that we have the Internet, individual citizens can take advantage of learning about our government's activities and oversight. Needed equity such as caps on consumer credit card fees will allow our citizens to change their habits of spending more than they make and financial juggling that keeps them just steps away from bankruptcy. In this transformational time, we can change the forces that keep middle class consumers on the treadmill of excessive materialism that has been encouraged by advertising, the free market and even government policy. Our nation's recovery may take longer as Americans reform their values and their spending and savings habits. In the meantime, members of Congress must assist in shaping this new set of values based on responsible and prudent financial management with policies that benefit changed behavior from consumers, credit card companies, banks and other financial institutions, and even the federal treasury.
Education - Education is the ticket to a better standard of living for individual Americans and their families and for communities as a whole. Educational institutions, whether they are secondary or higher educational systems, have successfully partnered with communities for greater access to their programs and to help in the economic and social growth of communities in which they are situated. Fair and equal educational funding is required by Ohio¹s state constitution, and federal regulation and funding of education must be sensitive to this. As the daughter of a teacher of special needs children, I am acutely aware of the need to provide mainstream public educational opportunities to those children on both ends of the spectrum, with physical or cognitive disabilities and challenges, and with gifts that will aid our society for the future. The President's recent stimulus funding package requires states receiving funds to get public schools and higher-education working together to improve courses and tests so that high school graduates can succeed in college without remedial classes. Unfortunately, this is a reality for more than 60% of students enrolling at 2-year colleges and 20% at 4-year colleges. Work is needed in both areas of education to better prepare our young people to compete globally for 21st century jobs.
Veterans - While many have questioned the efficacy of the war in Iraq, none question the valor and dedication of our volunteer armed services forces-extraordinary in both these times and in our history. Our nation's veterans health care system must be fully examined and reformed to provide comprehensive services to those returning from war torn areas of our world, including adequate mental health services on both inpatient and outpatient bases. As World War II veterans leave us daily, we must never forget the sacrifices they made for people they didn't even know, because they loved our country and our way of life. Whether or not a conflict has been technically deemed a "war," the sacrifices of those who have risked the ultimate must be honored, treasured and revered with great respect and care, and this must be evident in our delivery of services to veterans and their families and in our policies to guarantee them.
Workers' Rights - I support the "Employee Free Choice Act" as a means to make a secret ballot vote on collective bargaining the choice of the workers and not the as a stall tactic of some employers who would use it to deny employees collective bargaining rights. As the state official responsible for free, fair, open and honest elections, I understand that the secret ballot elections forced by employers under current law do not meet the standards of publicly held elections, nor are they required to. I also understand that one worker is fired or disciplined every 187 minutes for union activity and that between 1938 and 1997, there has been less than one case per year of union coercion. The Employee Free Choice Act is bipartisan legislation that passed the U.S. House in 2007 but was blocked by a Republican filibuster in the Senate. I support the Employee Free Choice Act because it strengthens the middle class. Allowing employees to bargain collectively with their employers without impediment, along with the use of labor-management committees in the workplace, can foster labor and management cooperation and a sharing of the social responsibility for fair wages and working hours, health care and retirement, promoting financially stable families and communities and furthering our nation's economic recovery.
Civil Rights - I support Marriage Equality as a matter of civil rights. Civil rights, including marriage, for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered individuals are human rights. LGBT people must be ensured their basic equal rights, so that they can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.
Reproductive Freedom - I support a woman's right to choose and to make her own health care decisions. I support each individual's right to make informed, independent decisions about sex, health, and family planning. It is critical to promote policies that help prevent unintended pregnancies and make abortion less necessary, but the right to safe, legal abortion must be protected. When it has been banned, abortions do not stop, they occur under unsafe and medically inappropriate conditions that jeopardize the lives and health of women and teens.
Trade - "Free trade" resulting from U.S. trade agreements such as NAFTA and CAFTA has resulted in huge trade deficits for the U.S., hurting our middle class workers who have lost jobs to outsourcing while corporations have scoured the world for the cheapest labor in countries with the fewest health, safety and environmental regulations. These agreements have enabled foreign countries to ship what their low-wage workers produce to the United States while blocking many U.S. products from entering their countries, all while we have bound ourselves to decisions of the World Trade Organization that hinder a fair trade balance. Agreements for "free trade" should be re-examined and where warranted replaced with intelligent trade pacts that prevents foreign predatory practices such as: 1) demanding patented or trade secret protected technology in order to operate in that country or 2) abiding by foreign Value Added Tax (VAT) agreements that unjustifiably subsidize foreign exports to us, while simultaneously penalize our exports to those countries. At the same time, it must be profitable to manufacture in America. The tax structure for industries vital to strategic American interests, such as steel, transportation and cement should be revisited. Out-of-control trade deficits place foreign companies in a position to purchase our best companies, such as in industries like publishing, autos, movies, steel, electronics and clothing, impacting national security and living standards in the U.S.
Energy Independence - Because we face a rapidly growing world population, policies for energy independence should be crafted with a view beyond our borders and taking into account a growing world population that will use increasingly more resources. We should free ourselves at every level of the energy chain, first finding energy sources that are abundant and low cost without hidden environmental, social or national security costs. While we build smart grids, institute new methods of generating energy, better insulate our homes and buildings and cultivate higher-yielding farm crops, we must apply such technological efficiencies to resource consumption and disposal for sustainable growth. Harnessing and using energy so that it is available for consumption with less concern for costs and consequences should be part of our comprehensive goal for energy independence. Using many technologies we already have, we must put them to use for this anticipated world growth without running out of energy or harming the earth. President Obama's stimulus package creates jobs in some of these technologies, and toward this end, aims to transform societal attitudes and behaviors that will contribute to a comprehensive approach to energy independence.