Nancy Wade: 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: ChicagoWebsite: http://www.wadeincongress.org/Office sought: 5th District U.S. RepresentativeAge: 57Family: Married to Frank Scott. She has two children, Eli and Nathan Wade-Scott.Occupation: teacherEducation: In 2005 she earned a Masters of Teaching Language Arts from Northeastern Illinois University and graduated in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Communication from the University of Minnesota.Civic involvement: Nancy Wade has been an activist since the mid-70s when the feminist movement had a major resurgence. Women were advocating for reproductive, social, and economic rights. She became a community activist in 1992 when she joined her neighborhood watchdog group, the Horner Park West Neighborhood Association. Her advocacy is guided by the principle that while we may not be able to change the whole world we can work to change our piece of it, and as citizens in a democracy we must try. Her leadership in the neighborhood association resulted in significant improvements for the community. The most outstanding of these were: winning community down-zoning to protect our neighborhood from predatory developers, winning a park and playground for our neighborhood school, and closing down a drug house on Wade?s block. During the years of her leadership in the Horner Park West Neighborhood Association her two children were growing up and Wade had her own home daycare business. In 2005 she earned a Masters of Teaching Language Arts from Northeastern Illinois University and taught in the Chicago Public Schools. Currently, she teaches Spanish to preschool-aged children. When her family moved to the Lincoln Square neighborhood in 2008 Nancy Wade stepped up to become a volunteer organizer with MoveOn.org. As the MoveOn 5th District Council Organizer from 2009 to the fall of 2011Wade organized actions each month to advocate for progressive political solutions. With her leadership attendance at demonstrations grew from three people at the beginning of her tenure to over three hundred at the last action she organized on October 14, 2011. The 5th District Council grew from one hundred fifty members to two hundred eighty-five. The Council citizen lobbied Senators Durbin (D-IL), Kirk (R-IL) and Representative Quigley (D-5th) on issues ranging from healthcare to a progressive jobs program The Occupy movement began in October 2011 and Wade became focused on protection of first amendment rights in Chicago. She organized the group First Amendment Freedom Chicago. With her leadership First Amendment Freedom Chicago citizen lobbies Mayor Emanuel and the City Council to respect the first amendment rights of Occupy Chicago and all protest groups in Chicago. We have met with Felicia Davis, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Mayor?s office, to present a petition with 13,000+ signatures in support of Occupy Chicago?s First Amendment rights. Currently, we are proposing to the city a seminar entitled Chicago: World Class Democracy, designed to bring police and activists together with neutral facilitators in advance of the NATO summit.Elected offices held: Local School CouncilHave you ever been arrested for or convicted of a crime? If yes, please explain: NoCandidate's Key Issues Key Issue 1 Create green jobs that benefit our communities. Generate revenue by having the wealthiest among us pay their fair share. With this revenue convert our infrastructure to be green and sustainable, create youth corps, senior corps, park corps, educational improvements, local food initiatives, mental health facilities, and other services for communities hardest hit by the economic irresponsibility of regressive policies that have transferred wealth away from the 99% and to the 1%. Pass the Buffet Rule to start undoing the inequities in our tax structure. Right now the top wealth-holders pay a significantly smaller percentage in income tax than do the rest of us. The marginal income tax on the top 1% should return to pre-1981 levels. A transaction tax should be charged on all Wall Street speculative transactions. Those who profit from gambling with our economic future must contribute a percentage of their profits to improving the common good.Key Issue 2 End the wars and cut the basic military budget by 25 percent over the next decade. National defense has become the nation?s biggest jobs program. We need to invest this money here at home to provide sustainable jobs for our young people.Key Issue 3 Creating a National Climate Defense plan. We must have a livable planet.Questions Answers 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?The Bush tax breaks for those making $250,000 and more should not be extended. Pass the Buffet Rule to start undoing the inequities in our tax structure. Right now the top wealth-holders pay a significantly smaller percentage in income tax than do the rest of us. The marginal income tax on the top 1% should return to pre-1981 levels. A transaction tax should be charged on all Wall Street speculative transactions. Those who profit from gambling with our economic future must contribute a percentage of their profits to improving the common good. Create green jobs that benefit our communities. Generate revenue by having the wealthiest among us pay their fair share. With this revenue convert our infrastructure to be green and sustainable, create youth corps, senior corps, park corps, educational improvements, local food initiatives, mental health facilities, and other services for communities hardest hit by the economic irresponsibility of regressive policies that have transferred wealth away from the 99% and to the 1%. End the wars and cut the basic military budget by 25 percent over the next decade. National defense has become the nation?s biggest jobs program. We need to invest this money here at home to provide sustainable jobs for our young people.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?I plan to ease partisan gridlock by being elected as a strong, reliable vote for progressive solutions to the issues our country faces. I will compromise on the particulars of these progressive solutions but not on their fundamental aspects. The voters will be sending me to Congress to represent their interests and that is what I will do.Do you agree with the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the health care law and why? Do you support or oppose repeal of the law? Which parts would you change and why? If you are elected, how, specifically, will you work to achieve those changes?The Affordable Health Care Act provides a way for millions to buy health coverage who have not previously been able to. To that extent I believe it is a step in the right direction and long over-due. However, it does not take out the profit-taking vultures, the insurance companies, whose only function is to drive up the cost of healthcare and to profit on something that is a basic human right. I advocate universal single-payer healthcare in this country, just as the great majority of advanced countries have. I advocate Medicare for all. By taking this step our health care costs would be reduced by 40%, making healthcare affordable to all.How do you believe marriage should be defined legally? Should the law that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman be overturned or upheld? Why?Marriage should be available to any people who want to engage in such a partnership. This includes lesbian, gay, and transgendered people. The law that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman should be overturned. Marriage is a partnership that has historically been protected in law. As long as that protection is extended to men and women it should be extended to all who wish to make that legal commitment.The Latino population in the suburbs is growing. What is the biggest challenge created by that growth? Do you support or oppose President Obama's directive to stop deportation of undocumented immigrants who are in college or the military and why?Latinos moving to the suburbs create the same challenges as any other people moving to the suburbs. If Latinos are finding housing in suburban houses, apartments, and condos they, like any other people, are engaging in what people in this country have done for decades. That is, populate and expand the suburbs. Growth of suburbs themselves is an environmental problem, not the type of people who foster that growth. I am in favor of the Dream Act as a path to citizenship for young people brought to this country by their parents before the age of majority. I am in favor of a fair and just path to citizenship for all immigrants who are contributing to our economy and society. A major contributing factor to immigration is the circumstances in countries to our south that have largely been created by unfair U.S. trade policies. Another factor is the highly damaging War on Drugs that is killing far more people, both here and in drug-producing countries, than the drugs themselves do. I am in favor of legalizing marijuana so that it can be taxed and regulated, rather than criminalized.