Dan Whitfield in 2020 AR Senatorial race
On Crime:
End the corruption of private prisons
Ending the Corruption of Privatized Prisons: The imprisonment of humans is at a record high. We have prisons that deny parole to inmates merely to keep jail cells filled, because that's how they get paid.
In 2010 the two largest private prisons received nearly $3 BILLION in revenue while paying their executives over $3 million per year. It's time we stop putting criminals in cages and start rehabilitating them instead.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Drugs:
Let voters in each state determine how to treat marijuana
I believe Marijuana should be federally decriminalized. It should be up to the voters in each state whether they want this drug to be illegal, whether medicinally or recreational. The war on drugs has done nothing for
Americans but create a way to mass incarcerate individuals and ruin lives. There is so much revenue gained from marijuana taxes that conservatives have come together with liberals to support legalization across more than half of the states.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Education:
Free college for 2-year degrees; lower interest rates
I support free college tuition for 2 year degrees, with the ability to continue at no cost to the student if they have a 3.0+ GPA. I propose we cap the interest rate on Federal Student Loans at 1-2%, the current rate is 4.5%+.
It's time we stop punishing our youth with endless interest payments and start rewarding them for furthering their education in order to better our society.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Education:
Promote vocational training for those not going to college
We also need to start promoting the continuing of education after high school. We need to promote vocational training and college degrees. I understand not everyone wants to get a degree, but the option should be there.
Let's focus on supplying vocational training for those not wanting a degree and helping support our future working class by providing free college tuition to community colleges.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Education:
Raise teacher's minimum salary to $40,000
In Arkansas the beginning salary for a teacher averages at $33,973. This has created the problem where we lose so many quality teachers to other professions that our children are suffering. We need teachers' pay to reflect the importance of the job they
have, to mold and prepare the future of our society. A few months ago, we raised teachers minimum wage to $36,000, but that isn't enough. I propose we raise teacher's minimum to $40,000.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Energy & Oil:
Climate change is real; make Arkansas leader in clean energy
Climate change is real. Period. A republican Mayor in Texas was able to get his constituents to agree on changing to a 100% renewable energy source and has since then created safer jobs with less hours and higher pay, lowered the electric bill of
residents to less than $20/month, while lowering emissions. We can follow this brave republican's model and make Arkansas the leader in clean energy. Let's keep our Natural State the most beautiful in the nation.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Government Reform:
Elected officials should give up financial privacy
We NEED elected officials to start representing their constituents and not the special interest donors that are making them rich. When a brave citizen enlists in the military, they give up certain rights, and I believe elected officials should do the
same. If running for a public office a candidate should give up the right to financial privacy. I also believe elected officials should give up their right to plead the fifth amendment. If you want to represent people, don't be a criminal. Period.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Government Reform:
All elected officials should liquidate their portfolios
Elected officials are public servants, they are supposed work for the people, not the other way around. Legislators should not have any financial interest in the laws they vote on. I propose we require all elected officials to liquidate their
portfolios upon taking office. While in office legislators will not be allowed to be shareholders during their time of public service.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Government Reform:
Corporate spending is not speech; end Citizens United
Corporations spending unlimited amounts of money to help candidates get elected is not freedom of speech.
When 86% of candidates with more campaign funds get "elected," and most of their finances are coming from huge corporations there is a problem. We can fix this issue, strengthening our democracy, by ending Citizens United.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Gun Control:
Disarming citizens unconstitutional, but check backgrounds
Disarming citizens and taking our guns goes against everything that America stands for and is unconstitutional. [But] a person can purchase a firearm without undergoing a background check and this needs to be fixed.
We need to provide, enforce, and properly fund background checks in order to prevent the wrong people from being able to legally purchase firearms. I do not support bans on possession or transport of firearms.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Health Care:
Medicare for All--human misery should never be monetized
The average Arkansan family will pay $440/YEAR which will insure EVERY member in their household under Medicare For All. The time has come for America to follow every other industrialized nation and give its citizens universal healthcare.
Our current health system is putting profits above the health of Americans. Human misery should never be monetized.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Immigration:
End migrant child detention facilities: use foster care
The migrant child detention facilities are costing taxpayers $22,000/month in order to incarcerate innocent children in conditions that doctors have deemed "torture conditions." Children belong in homes, not concentration camps.
I propose we offer loving American families $2,000/month to house a child. This would be like foster care but would be a limited amount of time while the child's parents are undergoing the immigration process.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Jobs:
Large corporations required to pay $15 minimum wage
If we change how we classify business, we can take on this challenge more easily. We can reclassify business as small, medium, and large. Large corporation should be REQUIRED to pay a minimum of $15.00/hour. We can then tax businesses in a progressive
way where small pay around 10%, medium pay around 20%, and large corporations pay 30% in taxes. This will alleviate that tax burden on struggles small business while enforcing corporations that profit billions to pay their fair share.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Jobs:
Regain workers' rights and protections through Unionism
Ending Right To Work and Giving Federal Union Protections to Workers: Businesses have been taking advantage of workers and enough is enough.
CEOs have helped candidates get elected in both local and federal positions to weaken and destroy the Unions that protected Americans as we built America. We need to regain workers' rights and protections through the choice of Unionism.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Tax Reform:
Close loopholes for wealthy; lower taxes for working class
Corporations are getting away with paying little to no taxes. While corporations are skating by taxes, billionaires are also dodging them.
We need to close the loopholes that allow the rich to avoid paying their fair share. What we need to do is enforce taxes on those avoiding them, then lower taxes for the working class.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Technology:
Internet info should be personal property, not providers'
Currently, we need to eliminate the grey area on what belongs to us and what does not. Our political representatives in the US Senate gave our Internet Service Providers, after taking huge sums of money from them, the rights to our private internet
usage data. Our ISP monitors, records, then sells our internet history to third party advertisers. We need to put an immediate stop to this. We must make it clear that what we do online is OUR personal property and not someone to sell to others.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On War & Peace:
Bring troops home; stop destabilizing foreign governments
No More Foreign Wars! What we need to do is bring all our troops home and stop destabilizing foreign governments, which in the long run makes regions worse for their inhabitants while creating terrorists that hate America. We spend on average around
$3 billion dollars PER DAY on war. Most of this money does not go to our troops, but to defense contractor companies whom are mostly owned by ex-legislators. They use these defense companies and wars to funnel tax dollars into their pockets.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Welfare & Poverty:
Require all homeless shelters to be handicap accessible
It is law that all government building is handicap accessible. While traveling to Little Rock I spent a few hours talking to a group of homeless citizens. Who are the most vulnerable people in America? The elderly? The homeless? The disabled?
Well one of the gentlemen I spoke with is in all three of these categories. There are two homeless shelters in Little Rock and only one of them has handicap access. We need to require ALL homeless shelters to be handicap accessible.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Jun 8, 2020
On Crime:
Greater firepower is not solution; deal with systemic racism
[Opponent Senator Tom] Cotton said military intervention may be appropriate. "We need to have zero tolerance for this destruction." Whitfield, an independent seeking to unseat Cotton, said greater firepower will aggravate the problem, not solve it. "We
have systematic racism sown throughout our society, and until we take care of that systematic racism, we're going to be facing issues like these protests that are going on now," he said.
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on 2020 Arkansas Senate race
Jun 2, 2020
On Government Reform:
Sued over signature requirement for ballot during pandemic
A lawsuit filed by Whitfield went to trial. Whitfield needed to gather 10,000 but only turned in 6,514. He testified that he was confident in reaching the 10,000 requirement if he'd had more time. He claims the beginning March 12 when Governor
Asa Hutchinson began imposing restrictions it severely hampered his efforts and he says he put the safety of his volunteers over the gathering of signatures.
Source: KARK-TV Little Rock NBC-4 on 2020 Arkansas Senate race
Jun 2, 2020
On Health Care:
Coronavirus: China is not the enemy; COVID-19 is
Dan Whitfield, an independent running against Cotton in 2020, tweeted, "As [Cotton] continues to spew racism and hatred we must remember that China is not our enemy, the COVID-19 Corona virus is."
"Defeating this common worldwide enemy is going to take all of our nations working together," Whitfield said. "We can not afford to warmonger against a people that are suffering just as we are."
Source: THV11 Digital on 2020 Arkansas Senate race
Jun 2, 2020
On Corporations:
Close loopholes so corporations pay more than zero in taxes
Corporations are getting away with paying little to no taxes. Amazon, Fed Ex, and Netflix paid $0 in taxes last year. An estimated $21 trillion is floating around offshore bank accounts avoiding taxation. When we spend our money, we expect it to
be taxed and come back into our communities, but it is instead going to offshore banks to build interest rather than building our economy. We need to close the loopholes that allow the rich to avoid paying their fair share.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Nov 30, 2019
On Drugs:
Marijuana should be federally decriminalized
Ending the War on Drugs: I believe Marijuana should be federally decriminalized. It should be up to the voters in each state whether they want this drug to be illegal, whether medicinally or recreational. Let the people vote for the laws they adhere to.
The war on drugs has done nothing for Americans but create a way to mass incarcerate individuals and ruin lives. If you look at the success of states that have legalized marijuana you would understand why this is such an important issue.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Nov 30, 2019
On Education:
Cap the interest rate on Federal Student Loans at 1-2%
education in order to better our society. We also need to start promoting the continuing of education after high school. We need to promote vocational training and college degrees. I understand not everyone wants to get a degree, but the option
should be there. Let's focus on supplying vocational training for those not wanting a degree and helping support our future working class by providing free college tuition to community colleges.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Nov 30, 2019
On Education:
Raise teachers' salaries from $33K to $40K
education in order to better our society. We also need to start promoting the continuing of education after high school. We need to promote vocational training and college degrees. I understand not everyone wants to get a degree, but the option
should be there. Let's focus on supplying vocational training for those not wanting a degree and helping support our future working class by providing free college tuition to community colleges.
A few months ago, we raised teachers minimum wage to $36,000, but that isn't enough. I propose we raise teacher's minimum to $40,000. We can do this by improving the economies in rural towns.
We need to bring industry to these areas which will bring more income to their communities. We can do this with new cash crops and clean energy.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Nov 30, 2019
On Energy & Oil:
Climate change exists even if we pretend it doesn't
To make things worse this cascading effect will continue to hasten.We have a mere 12 years to make drastic changes before we reach the point of no return.
I am not saying the world is going to end, but the world as we know it is now changing. Our children will suffer dire droughts and great storm to the like's mankind has never faced.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Nov 30, 2019
On Government Reform:
Elected officials should give up rights to financial privacy
I believe elected officials should do the same. If running for a public office a candidate should give up the right to financial privacy. Constituents should be able to go online and view their representatives bank accounts.
People should be able to see where money is coming from and where it goes. I also believe elected officials should give up their right to plead the fifth amendment. If you want to represent people, don't be a criminal. Period.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Nov 30, 2019
On Gun Control:
Disarming citizens against everything America stands for
We should also be supplying trigger locks for every firearm purchased. This would keep weapons in the proper hands, and out of the hands of people unfit to wield them.
I do not believe that the Government should be relieving law-abiding citizens of their right to own a firearm.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Nov 30, 2019
On Health Care:
Universal healthcare, like every other industrialized nation
Medicare for All: The time has come for America to follow every other industrialized nation and give its citizens universal healthcare. Our current health system is putting profits above the health of Americans. Citizens are literally dying because they
can't afford their prescription drugs! The working class is spending 10-20% of their total income on health insurance. There is not a single country on Earth that has reverted from a single payer health insurance to a private system.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Nov 30, 2019
On War & Peace:
America has been in the business of war for far too long
We have been at war with foreign nations for the last 222 out of 239 years. What we need to do is bring all our troops home and stop destabilizing foreign governments, which in the long run makes regions worse for their inhabitants while creating
terrorists that hate America.We spend on average around $3 billion dollars PER DAY on war. Most of this money does not go to our troops, but to defense contractor companies whom are mostly owned by ex-legislators.
Source: 2020 Arkansas Senate campaign website DanWhitCongress.us
Nov 30, 2019
Page last updated: Jul 27, 2020