George Weber: 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: LakewoodWebsite: www.GeorgeWeberforCongress.comTwitter: @Weber_4CongressFacebook: www.facebook.com/georgeweberforcongressOffice sought: 14th District U.S. Representative Age: 60Family: I have been married to my wife Beth, who is a middle school math teacher, for 33 years and we have three grown, successful children. I live in Lakewood in the 14th District. My parents were immigrants from Europe and my father worked his entire career on an assembly line in an automobile engine plant. He provided us with a middle-class lifestyle and was able to retire at a reasonable age with a pension. I experienced the same opportunities. My children and their generation will not have the same opportunities. That's why I am running for office.Occupation: Chemical Engineer (Retired)Education: B.S. Chemical Engineering - State University of New York at BuffaloCivic involvement: I am a just-retired chemical engineer. I spent the early part of my life learning, the next part raising three successful children, and then I completed a successful career as a chemical engineer. I feel I have been very fortunate in my life and career. Now, rather than retire, my goal is to be a citizen legislator, which is what our Founding Fathers had in mind, not to be a career politician. I am doing this because I feel that my children and their generation will not have the same opportunities that I had. This is not acceptable.Elected offices held: NoneQuestions Answers What do you think is the government's responsibility in assuring that citizens have health care? To what extent does the Affordable Care Act address this responsibility? What, if any, changes are needed in the act.The Affordable Care Act is just the first step in allowing Americans to have the same great, inexpensive universal coverage health care system that Canada and the European countries already have. Based on studies, such as that done by the Commonwealth Fund, these countries all have much better systems than we do and their systems cost about half of what ours does. Their average cost for healthcare per person is about $4,000 to $4,500 per year (2013 data) and ours is about $8,500 per year. This is because their systems are so much more efficient than ours. They are all also universal coverage systems we are one of the only industrialized countries in the world that does not have universal coverage healthcare. It should be noted that the health coverage systems in the countries studied are all run differently, with some being a combination of public-private systems and some being single insurance or single-payer systems, as is the case in Canada. Overall, 60% of Americans now feel that the government has the responsibility to ensure health coverage for all. Unfortunately, there is a lot of false information being spread around by people who don't want to change what we have. We need to and will do a better job of marketing the real facts about health care systems to the American people, especially those who are still not on-board, to finally get our healthcare situation fixed and allow the U.S. join the rest of the developed world.What immigration policies do you support? Where, if at all, do you see room for compromise to produce an effective policy on immigration? What, if any, responsibility does the government have toward immigrants referred to as Dreamers who were brought to the United States illegally as children and are now adults? How will these policies affect your district?My parents were immigrants from Europe. We need immigrants to keep our economy growing. And statistics show that immigrants are responsible for less crime than native-born Americans. We need to develop a structured, organized immigration policy that allows the right people to legally migrate to this country based on the availability of jobs. All immigrants then need to respect and abide by the principles that made this country great. Regarding Dreamers and DACA, of the 1.9 million people in this country eligible for DACA, about 788,000 had DACA status accepted. According to surveys, about 90% of DACA recipients had jobs, about 72% were in higher education, and the Center for American Progress estimated that over the next 10 years the U.S. would lose about $460 billion in GDP without DACA. Most importantly, a poll earlier this year indicated that 56% of voters said that Dreamers should be allowed to stay and become citizens if they meet certain requirements. I believe that the government should implement the will of the people. And I don't think that we should trade Dreamers for a border wall along the Mexican border. A border wall makes no sense what-so-ever. In the 14th District, which is largely rural, the impact of DACA and Dreamers is likely less than many other districts but as always, the voice of the people is what is important.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?Being an engineer you learn that to solve a problem you need to break it down into its parts. The Middle East is a number of different issues starting with the Arab-Israeli Conflict, ISIS in Syria and Iraq, the Taliban in Iraq, (Afghanistan is technically not a Middle East country but they are an issue for us also with the Taliban), the desired nuclear capabilities of Iran, and general instability almost everywhere else. Each issue is different and requires a different response. The general cause of all of the problems there is a lack of tolerance that exists between all of the different religious factions. In the past, stability in some of the countries was maintained by dictators and other religious authoritarian regimes. Some still exist and some do not. As such, the Middle East is a very complicated situation. The U.S. cannot be the policeman for everyone but we must support our allies, we must protect our interests, and we must act as an arbitrator to resolve conflicts wherever possible. And we need to look out for the rights of all people. We will need to keep limited military people there as advisors but we should only send in a larger military force if our allies are attacked.What should the United States be doing to reduce the threat of potential nuclear conflict from North Korea?We must try to avoid a war on the Korean peninsula because of the deaths that it would cause and the potential for a further escalation with China and Russia. If the U.S. is attacked there is no question that we would respond. For me, one of the major issues with North Korea is that so many people there are living terrible lives, in extreme poverty, or in gulags or labor camps. It is unbelievable to me that the world allows this to go on in this day and age. The only way that North Korea can survive is with the support of a country like China. The world should be putting more pressure on China to resolve the issue as they have the most power to resolve the situation. As a back-up plan, given the state of the people in that country, I would also propose expanding the effort to get the people in North Korea to overthrow their own government. Some South Korean groups are already sending in balloons carrying flash drives and CD's with information about the outside world. We should consider expanding this effort.How would you describe the effectiveness of Congress today? If you think Congress needs to be more effective, what would you do to promote that?The approval rating of Congress has been approximately 20% for years now. This answers the question of how effective Americans think Congress is (not very), and I agree with them. The argument of gridlock is starting to get very old. Worst yet, over the past year the administration and Congress have implemented policies that go against the will of the majority of Americans, based on opinion polls. We have many pressing issues that are not getting resolved. I decided to run for Congress because I have no faith that any other candidates or politicians will accomplish what I plan on accomplishing based on what we see going on in Congress. I am not going there to be a career politician. I am a recently retired chemical engineer who spent 37 years in industry solving problems, making things more efficient, and convincing others to implement my recommendations. In Congress, I will pursue policies that reflect the will of the people, which typically also align with doing things that make sense. My platform and all of my decisions will always be backed up by facts and data. Having been a chemical engineer my entire career, I know that you cannot make sound decisions that end up with successful results unless you do this. And most of all, I am going to get things done. I will do this by being tough, using data to convince others, and most importantly, leveraging the power of the people to back me up.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?My primary platform is Prosperity for the Middle Class. I will accomplish this by allowing EVERYONE to benefit fairly from our economic system, not just the shareholders and the 1%. I will also fight to resolve our easily solvable problems (easily solvable because we know what the solutions are): Ã#130;circ;yen;providing access to good jobs through better education and vocational training. We have about six million jobs out there waiting to be filled. Ã#130;circ;yen;providing the U.S. with the same great, inexpensive universal coverage healthcare system that Canada and the Europeans countries already have. Ã#130;circ;yen;paying off our national debt just like we did after World War II. Ã#130;circ;yen;regaining our leadership position in driving for the quick resolution of climate change. My third major platform item is allowing the people to take back our government and our political system. According to opinion polls, almost all of the policies being pursued by the Trump administration go against what the American people want. My first action in Congress will be to legislate away the Citizens United decision, which polls indicate approximately 80% of the American people are against. Yet, the bills that have been introduced to legislate this away were defeated in Congress. I will propose new legislation and then lead the American people in a fight against Congress until they pass it, and then continue from there, one issue at a time. We need to change the direction that this country is heading in by doing things that make sense and do it NOW.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Elon Musk, because he sees issues that need to be resolved, pursues them with a passion, and gets things done.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?I learned to be responsible and to give back when things work out in my favor, which is what I am now doing now.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would spend a little more time relaxing and taking more down time.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?My favorite subject was math because it builds a sense of logic which is important in so many aspects of life.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?My one piece of advice would be to fight for what you believe in.