Robert Marshall: Candidate Profile

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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:BioQA Bio City: burr ridgeWebsite: www.citizensforrobertmarshall.comTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: 6th Congressional District Age: 72Family: wife-susanchildren:catherine33(nyc),emily24,andre-a22.Michael 34 (boston)with 2 grandchildren,adelaide2 and henry6 mosOccupation: physician radiologistEducation: Oberlin College 3 years no degreeHarvard Medical School M.D. 1968Civic involvement: berwyn kiwanisberyn ymca boardElected offices held: burr ridge village board 1989-1993Questions Answers How will you work to make Congress more productive and effective? What actions are needed to produce a healthy federal budget? Specifically, what changes do you advocate regarding how revenue is produced or what our spending priorities are? In particular, what effect does current policy have on your district and what changes, if any, are needed?Both political parties need to cooperate and compromise more. Adhering to a radical agenda is the main problem Congress has now. That is why Congress has such a low approval rating. Millionaires and billionaires should pay more of their fair share. This can be achieved by interpreting and enforcing the Alternative Minimum Tax Law as it was originally passed by Congress. I would oppose further increases in the marginal income tax rates for the middle and upper middle classes. In fact, I would be in favor of reducing them, if possible, especially in times of economic downturns. We should be finding new sources of revenue, such as marijuana legalization, rather than continuously relying on the income tax. Presently, the State of Illinois sends twenty billion dollars more per year to Washington than we get back. This has been going on for several decades. We need to reverse this trend and get more of our fair share from the Federal government. My priorities are decreasing military and foreign war expenditures and increasing domestic programs such as: high speed rail, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, drug addiction programs, education programs and student loan interest reduction. Social Security should be made more solvent by taking it out of the General Fund and putting it into a segregated fund as it was originally.What immigration policies do you support? Where, if at all, do you see room for compromise to produce an effective policy on immigration? How will these policies have an impact in your district?Throughout all of Illinois there is a very large number of immigrants, documented and undocumented. It is time that we welcome these people into our society as citizens. We need to remember that we are all immigrants or have one in our history. There are no exceptions. We also need to remember that the people who become citizens become more productive. They can get a better education and a better job. They would then pay more in taxes, which would mean the rest of us could pay less. Economies that have a progressive immigration policy tend to do better over time than economies that have a restrictive policy, for instance, the USA versus much of the rest of the world. I would start with the immigrants who have been here the longest and grant them citizenship and then work forward for immigrants who have been here more recently. People convicted of major felonies, obviously, would be excluded.I favor the Dream Act proposed by President Obama.We also need to liberalize our work permit program so that an immigrant who already has a job should automatically be granted a work visa. He should not have to worry about whether he or his family would be deported, even by Mr. Trump. If he lost his job, he would have ample time to get another one before his visa would expire.What should be the top priorities in Congress related to the Affordable Care Act? If you want changes, what specifically do you recommend? If you want the act entirely eliminated, please address these questions: Is that politically feasible? If it proves infeasible, where do you see the potential for compromise? If it is eliminated, what would you replace it with, if anything?I favor Obamacare and campaigned for it 6 years ago before it was passed. I do believe in some reform. I believe Obamacare should be made voluntary and the mandate should be eliminated. The program should be made available with subsidies and people should decide on their own whether they want to participate in it or not. The penalties or taxes would be eliminated.I would be in favor of decreasing red tape for doctors enrolled in Obamacare. Presently, doctors are required to computerize their office with computer programs which prove very time consuming and frustrating. They should be replaced with a voice recognition system where the doctor can dictate freestyle about the information on his patient rather than checking off boxes. I would favor continuing the expansion of Medicaid under the Obamacare Act. We also need to expand Medicare by lowering the eligibility age to 62. This could be done in slow, small steps to insure that the program remains solvent.What military or diplomatic roles should the United States play to promote peace and stability in the Mideast? Under what circumstances, should we have military forces actively operating?Foreign affairs in the Mideast. At present the wars in the Mideast have not been successful and will not be in the near future. We will not win a land war with air power alone. I do not want to increase the number of troops in Iraq. We need to end the bombing program immediately and withdraw all of our troops from Iraq and Syria just as we did in Viet Nam 40 years ago. At the most we could divide that country into 2 parts, North and South Iraq, which is basically Vice President Biden's plan.We have no right to be in that area and no reason to be involved in wars in the Mideast. Terrorism occurs in this country because our actions in the Mideast radicalize young people here and abroad.Please list any elected office you have ever run for and what the result of that election was. Have you ever been appointed to fill an unexpired term?I was elected to Village Trustee in Burr Ridge in 1989-1993. I ran for Congress in the 3rd District in the Republican Primary in 1998. I won that primary but lost to Congressman Lipinski in the general election. In 2010, I ran for U.S. Senate in the Democratic Primary and received 6% or 52,000 votes in the primary.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Dividing the State of Illinois into extra states, specifically 4 separate independent states. We should do this to increase our political power at the Federal level and in the Electoral College. Ending the so called "War on Drugs". Marijuana should be legalized on a nationwide basis. State and local municipalities can choose to opt out of this program if they so choose. Treatment programs should be expanded for drug addicts.Decrease Medicare age to 62 and also start a dental program for seniors comparable to the Medicare program. Increase the minimum wage to $15.00, require two weeks of paid leave.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Barack Obama He has remained calm and tolerant while much of our country has become narrow and xenophobic.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?To be tolerant and patient with others.Nobody is perfect including myself. Try to look for the good in everyone.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would not move around as much. I have been in the chicagoland for 35 years and that has has worked out well.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Science courses.They have obviously helped me in my career.The course that helped me the most however was English. Unfortunately it was not my favorite.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Try to be on friendly terms with everyone After you part, you never can tell when you will meet that person again..