A: I would also enthusiastically support Senator Rand Paul's Penny Plan budget, which would cut spending by 2% for five years in a row, thus eliminating the federal budget deficit without cutting Social Security benefits.
A: Yes. Organizations such as ANTIFA, Black Lives Matter, and Washington Democrats like Maxine Waters are seeking to divide this country along racial lines as deeply as possible to increase their power and wealth.
A: None. It's egregious to expect an auto mechanic who paid their way through technical school to pay off loans for someone who majored in art history and cannot find a job. When you agree to take out a loan, YOU agree to pay it back, not the taxpayers.
A: Declare independence from Communist China. End mandatory telework for federal employees. End double-taxation of business activity on Indian reservations.
A: Yes.
Q: What does "separation of church and state" mean to you?
A: It means the federal government cannot restrict religious liberty. It does not mean our legal code must be devoid of any moral principles or that our democratic processes shouldn't include the voices of religious people.
A: Put it in a lockbox. The best lockbox to keep Washington bureaucrats from taking away your retirement is one they don't have the key to. I would also enthusiastically support Senator Rand Paul's Penny Plan budget, which would cut spending by 2% for five years in a row, thus eliminating the federal budget deficit without cutting Social Security benefits.
CLARKSON: These are big government schemes that will do little to protect the environment. They will ruin New Mexico's economy and should be opposed at every turn. I fully oppose fracking bans. Oil and gas--and hydraulic fracturing--contribute mightily to New Mexico's economy. Mining and fracking are also essential to my #FrackChina proposal: make Communist China pay for the coronavirus outbreak; achieve enduring American energy independence; end our reliance on China for critical minerals.
Q: What about climate change?
CLARKSON: While we all want to protect the environment and enjoy clean air and water, the case for man-made climate change is scientifically weak and does not justify crushing human economic prosperity. President Trump was right to withdraw from the Paris Climate Deal and other efforts that harm more than help.
Our border is not secure. I support not just the wall, but a high-tech wall with monitoring equipment including motion detectors, infrared, and ground penetrating radar, all of which will need to be connected by high-speed optic fiber lines to command stations. Such infrastructure would also contribute to economic development.
CLARKSON: Pass payroll tax cut; make permanent 2017 TCJA's full expensing of business investments and fix "Retail Glitch;" suspend or reduce federal regulations and paperwork requirements; suspend penalties for regulatory violations where person made good faith effort to comply; require Congress to vote up or down on regulations that impose costs.
A: I oppose partial birth abortion, taxpayer funded abortions, and would vote to cut off any and all funding for Planned Parenthood. I will advocate for legislation that protects the unborn at all ages and stages of life, including fetal pain legislation and significant restrictions on abortions after 20 weeks.
A: Local drug courts combining punitive powers with medical treatment and rehabilitative programs seem to offer the best hope of dealing with a crisis that federal policy has exacerbated through crony subsidies, making pain a "vital sign," mandating abuse-deterrent formulas, outlawing generics, prohibiting maintenance therapy, and over-regulating Medication Assisted Treatment options.
A: I'd support concealed carry in the classroom for select teachers and administrators.
Q: What other measures would you support to make schools safer?
A: After 9/11, we didn't go on a nationwide hunt to ban box cutters. Instead we made it harder to get them onto planes. Likewise with schools, we need to harden soft targets. Local school systems should be able to allow concealed carry in the classroom for teachers with proper training.
A: Article I, Section 8 explicitly delegates specific powers to Congress. Altogether, the Constitution lists 30 to 35 (depending how they are counted), education is mentioned nowhere in the entire document. My position, and I think the position of our nation's Founding Fathers, is local control of local schools.
A: Cut a better deal on NAFTA. Free trade is only free if it's truly fair. The energy industry must be free to export from New Mexico into Mexico.
Q: Do you support or oppose President Trump's imposition of higher tariffs on China?
A: Strategic deterrence is the use of threats to convince another party to either refrain from initiating some course of action or to cease a course of action. President Trump's tough stance on NAFTA and his actions against China clearly demonstrate that credible threat, and China is already making concessions.
A: No. "Assault-style" is a nebulous term. Leftists seem to think it's any gun that looks scary. Americans have every right to own weapons to defend themselves, their families, and their property.
Q: Would you favor a repeal of the 2nd amendment?
A: No. The 2nd Amendment doesn't grant us the right to defend our persons, properties, and families. God did that by making us in His image. 2nd Amendment simply protects what Justice Scalia called a "pre-political right," which is deeply ingrained in natural law. Self-defense is an inalienable right of human nature.
A: Oppose. Government interventions in healthcare have failed to arrest rapidly rising healthcare costs and have actually accelerated them. Healthcare was already a government-dominated sector of the economy long before ObamaCare came along. Without free-market price signals, there is no way to use resources well or productively.
Q: What would you do to rein in health care costs?
A: I support the repeal of ObamaCare, medical liability reform, allowing insurance companies to sell policies across state lines, health savings accounts, personal liberty and choice in the selection of insurance plans, and allowing young healthy individuals to purchase high-deductible catastrophic coverage.
A: I do not support a path to citizenship, except for those who choose to honorably serve in the military. President Trump offered residency for all 1.8 million who qualify, not just the roughly 800,000 who applied, but Democrats are refusing to surrender the issue as a political wedge.
Q: Do you favor amnesty, a path to citizenship or worker permits for most or all of the people now living illegally in the U.S.? Who do you think should be deported?
A: Deportation should be for those here illegally who have committed additional crimes. I oppose amnesty. I believe in the rule of law and fairness for legal immigrants who followed the rules. I am willing to consider a path to residency for those who will not burden our social welfare systems.
A: I support not just the wall, but a high-tech wall, which will promote economic development in southern New Mexico. The wall needs high-tech monitoring equipment like motion detectors, infrared, and ground penetrating radar, all of which will need to be monitored at command stations linked by high-speed optic fiber lines.
Q: What's your position on skills-based immigration vs. family-based?
A: I would end chain-migration and the visa lottery. Merit-based work permits give folks everything they might want economically, except for the one thing that Democrats really seem to care about, which is naturalizing new voters.
A: President Trump seems to have the right instincts here. We need to enforce international norms and keep beating back ISIS, but we need to stay out of this civil war, which has become a regional quagmire for Iran and Russia. Let them sink their blood and treasure into it.
Q: In Afghanistan?
A: Get out. Restoring constitutional checks and balances means Congress must reassert its exclusive powers over the extended deployment of our armed services. Congress should debate our continued presence in Afghanistan, which was supposed to have ended under the last administration.
A: Only if there is incontrovertible evidence that an attack on the United States is imminent. The President should be able to make that call if it is a matter of urgent necessity, but otherwise the Constitutions clearly entrusts the war power to Congress.
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The above quotations are from 2020 New Mexico Senatorial race: debates and news coverage.
Click here for other excerpts from 2020 New Mexico Senatorial race: debates and news coverage. Click here for other excerpts by Gavin Clarkson. Click here for a profile of Gavin Clarkson.
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