Candidate for North Carolina House of Representatives - District 13 in 2018 North Carolina 2018 General Election.
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Get StartedOne of the reasons I am running is that I intend to work for a bipartisan solution to, and the funding for more accessible healthcare for this opioid epidemic that is ravaging our communities. I will fight the STIGMA of addiction that impedes seeking help, and encourage the promotion of state-wide recovery communities. Learn more
Pharmaceutical companies MUST be held responsible for the promotion of these dangerous drugs they insisted were safe and nonaddictive. Does it remind you of the tobacco companies’ lies? Learn more
When one considers addiction, mental health MUST in the conversation. Many professionals concur and many reputable studies show that at least 50% of those suffering from addiction also suffer from some form of mental health illness. My own opinion is that it's a much higher percentage. With the limited access to personalized health care available, too many sufferers end up self-medicating, only to be trapped in addiction. Learn more
One of my own children, the mother of my grandchild, is an addict. As a youth, she experimented with various things as many of us did. It was not until she was prescribed painkillers for carpel tunnel syndrome that she became addicted. As she needed more and more, she became trapped. I have watched her for 10 years now dealing with this issue – sometimes winning, sometimes falling back. For 10 years I have been fighting for a more accessible, affordable health system that will assist her recovery. As I run my campaign today, she is searching for a facility that will take her in. She has been told that a bed might become available in a FEW MONTHS. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE. Learn more
Our economic engine is good, but it MUST BE BETTER! I will support and expand our established business base. I will address the new taxes required for service providers. I will work to attract forward-thinking, responsible and sustainable industry. How about wind farms? Solar energy installations? Telecommuting tech support facilities? We have to think OUTSIDE THE BOX in order to provide year-round opportunities, which will offer living wages for our youth and other residents. Learn more
Despite a large surplus in the state budget, education funding is being slashed. Teacher salaries, in a time of statewide teacher shortages, are being REDUCED! Their benefits are being shortchanged. Monies designated for public schools are being siphoned off at an alarming rate to private and charter schools. School boards are being politicized by the recent Republican decision to make them partisan – a ploy to gain more political power. I was a Special Education teacher in the Carteret County schools for eight years. I received that NBPTS certification I mentioned above. I am horrified at the shortsighted way our school systems are being treated. An educated populace is our greatest guarantee of future success. I will fight to return our state to the model of forward-thinking, evidence-based excellence it is meant to be. Learn more
ALL of North Carolina's children deserve quality and equitable public education that is adequately funded, as guaranteed by the Constitution. Learn more
I believe in science. Science has shown us that we are in the midst of man-made climate change. We have no ethical choice but to change the way we live and work towards sustainable, clean sources of energy. Learn more
Look where we live. Pristine beaches, pastoral acres, maritime forests, marinas and historical towns abound. We are a destination. If we offer the right incentives to companies that will ENHANCE our beautiful lands and waters, rather than exploit and pollute them, we will all win. Learn more
The plethora of petrochemical products is overwhelming our ability to dispose of them correctly. Plastic bags and microbeads are strangling our turtles, poisoning our marine mammals and affecting every stage of the food chain, including us. Plastic bags should be banned in North Carolina. Plant-based alternatives are available. Learn more
I will fight for a North Carolina resolution to ban drilling off our coast. Learn more
Make the Personal Income Tax More Progressive Revenue raised: $1.8 trillion over ten years. Learn more
Establish a Wealth Tax on the Top 0.1 percent Learn more
Make the Estate Tax More Progressive Revenue raised: $249 billion over ten years. Learn more
Taxing capital gains and dividends the same as income from work. Learn more
Savings from Health Tax Expenditures Revenue raised: $4.2 trillion over ten years. Learn more
4 percent income-based premium paid by households Revenue raised: $3.5 trillion over ten years. Learn more
7.5 percent income-based premium paid by employers Revenue raised: $3.9 trillion over ten years. Businesses would save over $9,000 in health care costs for the average employee under this option Learn more
In my view, there needs to be vigorous debate as to the best way to finance our Medicare for All legislation. Unlike the Republican leadership in Congress which held no hearings on their disastrous bill which would have thrown 32 million off of health insurance and dealt with one- sixth of the American economy, it is our intention to get the best ideas we can from economists, doctors, nurses, and ordinary Americans. Learn more
The most cost-effective and popular solution to this health care crisis is to guarantee health care as a right through a Medicare-for-all single-payer health care system. Learn more
Today, the traditional Medicare program only spends two percent of its costs on administration. That’s less than one-sixth the administrative costs of private health insurance companies. Studies have found that our federal government could save up to $500 billion per year on administrative costs by moving to a Medicare for All, single-payer health care system. Learn more
Moreover, the United States pays, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs because Congress has done nothing to regulate the price of medicine. If the U.S. joined the rest of the industrialized world and negotiated with the pharmaceutical companies to lower prices, our country could save up to $113 billion per year. Learn more
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