Simon Ribeiro: Candidate Profile

Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioKey IssuesQA Bio City: EvanstonWebsite: http://SimonForCongress.comOffice sought: 9th District U.S. RepresentativeAge: 30Family: Mother, Father, BrotherOccupation: High School Teacher (Illinois State Certified) at Archdiocese of Chicago- History, Business, Journalism, Physical Education. Tutor. Swim Instructor and Lifeguard (American Red Cross Certified in both).Education: H.S. Diploma, Evanston Township High School, 2000. A.A. in Liberal Arts, Oakton Community College, 2005. B.A. in Political Science, Northeastern Illinois University, 2005. M.A.T. in Secondary Education, National-Louis University, 2012.Civic involvement: U.S. Army ROTC, Drake University TKE Fraternity, Drake University Phi Alpha Theta National History Honors Society, Northeastern Illinois University. Politics Club, Northesstern Illinois University.Elected offices held: None, But I was elected to be the 2010 Congressional Nominee over the 2008 Congressional Nominee for the office I am currently seeking- Illinois' 9th Congressional Seat.Have you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Job GrowthKey Issue 2 Universal Healthcare (Single-Payer)Key Issue 3 Universal Education (Tuition-free Preschool, Higher Education, and Trade School)Questions Answers What would you do to help ease partisan gridlock? Are you willing to compromise on sticking points including spending cuts and taxes to produce results' How can Congress move from being a "crisis-driven" institution?Yes, I am willing to compromise in order to get common ground passed.I support some spending cuts and changing tax rates to make the system more fair.Should tax breaks be extended? Why or why not? If so, for whom? What should Congress do to improve unemployment? Why do you support or oppose President Obama's jobs plan? What cuts or revenue increases do you support for deficit reduction?Tax breaks should be extended for the lower and middle brackets. For those making over $250,000, tax breaks should not be extended.This will create a more fair tax system.I need to research more about President Obama's jobs plan before I can support or oppose it. Congress can incentives companies to bring back outsoursed jobs by tax reductions and easier to follow regulations (but not jeopordizing safety standards). The military has to be cut in order to balance the budget.Other programs can be consolidated which would yield further spending cuts.What steps should the country now be taking in the war on terrorism? What policy should the U.S. have toward Iran and North Korea? What is your view of terrorism policies that pit public safety against civil liberty?Civil Liberties must be preserved. Due Process, Trial by Jury, and other provisions laid out in the Constitution must be preserved.Containment with diplomacy should be the policy toward North Korea. The US should not incite ill will which can cause terrorism.The US should remove the new sanctions against Iran and diplomatically reach an agreement.How should Medicare and Medicaid be changed overall to fix fund gaps' How should Medicare be changed for those currently enrolled? How should it change for the Baby Boomer generation?I believe Medicare should be expanded to cover all people, and to cover all of their medical needs 100%.The various public healthcare programs- Medicaid (for the poor), V.A. (for the veterans), CHIP (Child Health Insurance Program for the children), and Medicare (for the seniors)- should be consolidated, streamlined and expanded to cover all people.These current public healthcare programs are designed to cover the most expensive segments of the population- segments that the private health insurance industry claim would be too costly to provide for. By expanding this expensive pool of people (aging seniors, disabled veterans, and sick children) with the general population, healthcare costs per person would be off-set, thus making the price per person more affordable for the government.In general, the bigger the pool, the lower the price per person will yield, thus increasing affordability even more.Administrative and opperating costs would be consolidated with the consolidation of these various programs.Because healthcare would be free (no out-of-pocket fees), patients would be more likely to get screened earlier and more frequesntly.This would allow more medical problems being prevented and/or treated in a timely manner, so they do not balloon up to much more costly problems. Because, this healthcare program would be universal and cover all the medical needs beaucracies designed to approve eligibility or deny benefits would become obsolete, thus decreasing administrative and operating costs even further.Funding can come out of the federal income tax revenue and can cover the people directly (bypassing the states.This new universal healthcare system should have the power to negotiate prices of medicines and medical procedures. Currently, only the V.A. has this power with respect to Pharmaceuticals.The collective bargianing power of a nation's population can dramatically negotiate lower and more reasonable prices.National certification/licensing for medical professionals and providors should replace the various state systems, so that medical professionals and providers can perform nation-wide, filling in gaps and promoting competition.Schools should increase P.E. and Recess and increase cardio-vascular activities in P.E., Recess, and other classes to counter the childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S.With many of these provisions, the quality of health and healthcare can be dramatically improved in the U.S., while at the same time, the outrageously high costs per-capita for healthcare will be dramatically lowered.What is your position on concealed carry gun laws' How do you believe marriage should be defined legally? What is your position on abortion? What, if any, abortion exceptions do you support? Should abortion clinics receive government funding?Although I support the 2nd Ammendment, I believe public safety trumps concealed carry gun rights.States and local communities should continue to be allowed to set the rules on this critical gun rights issue.Personally, I believe marriage is between one man and one woman, but I believe the law should allow Gays and Polygamysts to marry if they choose to.Personally, I am against Abortion except for some circumstances (rape, incest, life, and health), but I believe the legal right to have an Abortion should be preserved because it is such a personal issue.I am opposed to the legal protection of Partial-Birth Abortion in which the baby is killed while being partially out of the vagina.I do not believe government funding should go to pay for abortions (except for rape, incest, life, and health) because abortion is such a divisive issue. Pro-Life and Pro-Choice communities can work together on reducing the number of abortions in the U.S. by promoting education, adoption and other services such as accessable healthcare, preschool, and aid for families that would otherwise opt for an abortion due to economic constraints. <div style="margin:8px 8px 0 8px;"><script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.congressionalprimaries.org/static/primaries/js/widget_api.js"></script><script type="text/javascript">document.write(CongressionalPrimaries.tweets("www", "www", "D1129646BCBE92C41681", "Simon", "Ribeiro"));</script></div>