Jim Walz: 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: GurneeWebsite: www.jimwalzforcongress.comTwitter: https://twitter.com/WalzForCongressFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jimwalzforcongressOffice sought: 14th District U.S. Representative Age: 54Family: Spouse of 30 years, Rhonda, son, Steven (27) and a daughter, Rachel (24)Occupation: Customer Service, Outside Sales for Small retailersEducation: Western Illinois University, Bachelor of Arts DegreeCivic involvement: Democratic Nominee for Congress, 2016 Elected Warren Township School Board Campaign volunteer for Dennis Anderson, Democratic Congressional Nominee 2014 Spearheaded effort for Advisory Question on November, 2012 ballot to declare that Corporations are not people and money is not free speech which passed by 2:1 margin. As School Board member of Warren Township (WTHS) District #121, I have lead the effort to bridge private business, STEM programs and government to put solar arrays on both high school campuses to save money and build support for the green jobs economy. Volunteerism for Hurricane Katrina, recent local flooding efforts Gurnee Days Parade.Elected offices held: Warren Township School Board Democratic precinct committeeman Warren Township #303Questions 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 role of government is to defend its citizens and we've gotten away from that. It is time we start defending families from out of control costs of insurance and prescription drugs. Americans pay far more for medications than the rest of the world. We can rein in these costs and negotiate prices for all Americans the same way we do for the VA. We can also establish geographic price controls on the costs of necessary procedures. Medicare is a program that saves money and controls these costs while still allowing private business to profit. Costs are knowable and controlled. Today, people over 65 gain access to Medicare benefits at an affordable monthly price and buy more coverage from private insurers if they choose to. I support extending this program to all Americans through Medicare for All. The Affordable Care Act was a good start to controlling restriction of preexisting conditions, but did little to curb the price of $20,000 annual premiums and $6k deductibles for families already struggling to get by. One of the largest expenses business owner face is through rising insurance costs. That keeps them from investing in their people and growing their businesses. We already pay more than enough now to start the Medicare for All program, and save over $500 billion in wasted overhead. I propose that we save money for families and businesses by finally adopting Medicare for every American as it was intended from the start.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?Let's be clear that the proposed reforms create a class system where the wealthy have an open door, regardless of what they have done or where they were born. That isn't right and goes against our foundation as a nation of immigrants. I support the DREAM Act that would create a pathway to legal citizenship for young, undocumented, non-violent offenders. Bringing these individuals out of the shadows would be to the benefit of all. We should also address the exploitation of cheap, foreign labor thru visa reform. In the 14th District, undocumented workers own businesses, create jobs, help our family farmers, build our homes, and contribute toward making our district vibrant. These are our neighbors, friends, business partners and they pay taxes and help out local economies thrive. We can revise the archaic laws that prevent a clear pathway to citizenship while also addressed the problem of illegal employers who take advantage of the system to exploit workers. Expanding work visa programs helps provide stability and improves our tax base. In addition, the guarantee of legal wages generates additional revenue that would benefit the economy as a whole and create more demand and jobs.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?At the moment our State Department and Diplomatic Corp are in crisis. Over 20 top executives with deep relationships and expert knowledge resigned in protest and their roles are not been filled. Rex Tillerson, a CEO with designs on an oil pipeline project, is at the helm while strategic Ambassadorships are vacant. This is a recipe for disaster. Diplomacy helps defend our interests and protect the lives of our soldiers by keeping tensions low and preventing the necessity of a military option. It was our involvement/invasion in Iraq and Afghanistan that destabilized the entire region. The Iraq bombings created a refugee crises by displacing millions of Iraqis that fled to neighboring Syria. We are doing it again with a move of our embassy in Israel, a move that has already destabilized the region further and will ultimately put our allies at odds. Whenever possible, we should build a coalition of allies in the region and offer support, but no deployment of troops other than our highly trained special-ops. The only troops on the ground should come from the region so that we can put our Geo-political differences aside and destroy any terrorist organization.What should the United States be doing to reduce the threat of potential nuclear conflict from North Korea?The Trump Administration has put us in a no-win situation. By leaving the Paris Agreement, the U.S. has been shut out of key trade deals, deals that were immediately awarded to China. We are now relying on China to impose sanctions on North Korea while at the same time China was just caught violating an embargo to supply North Korea with oil. This isn't winning and it isn't good diplomacy. We need to negotiate in good faith, and when it comes to China, we need to do so as equals. This means working with our allies in the region, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea to negotiate sanctions with China and offer a comprehensive diplomatic strategy that includes a combination of economic incentives and security assurances. That allows us time to consider alternatives to deescalate the situation we have now. The risk is that we go to war, not just with North Korea, but also with China as a shadow supporter. That is a scenario we cannot afford in blood and treasure. One of our objectives needs to be the lowering the danger of nuclear weapons and ultimately, eliminating them.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?Congress today is overrun with career politicians looking out for themselves. They have no incentives to promote policies that benefit working families. Influences of big money and the revolving door of lobby activity incentivizes them to keep creating policies that benefit handouts to global corporations and the wealthy at our expense. This can be remedied through campaign finance reform and a plan to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine so that the American public can make an informed decision about the issues that affect their families. Rather than investing in infrastructure, politicians are padding the budget with meaningless pork projects. The rest of the world is investing in renewable energy and training for the green jobs of the future, while our meager funding for programs is stalled and offset by false promises of, Ãâ#128;™bringing back coal jobsÃâ#128;œ. It is incredible to me that Sequestration is still in place, a policy that has been estimated to kill over 100,000 vital defense jobs every year while wasting millions on unnecessary spending. This has got to stop and I would see this ended.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?Climate change and our opioid epidemic. We have a moral responsibility to curtail our use of fossil fuels and to reduce our carbon footprint. This means an all of the above approach through investing in solar, wind and geothermal which leads to growing jobs and STEM education to meet the demands of the new green economy while protecting our environment. We protect our health through banning fracking, renewing Clean Air Water regulations and sustainable alternatives in water reclamation, food production and recycling which should include industrial hemp for bio fuels, food and oil production. I will push to reinstate the Department of Energy's budget for Argonne /Fermi Labs to continue working with NIU and the business community to advance renewable energy solutions while ending penalties for residential solar power buy-backs. We spend close to $887 million dollars a year trying to cope with the growing opioid epidemic and the problem is getting worse. There were nearly 8,000 emergency room visits to treat overdoses and over 34,000 inpatient hospitalizations for addiction treatment. Our state was one of just 14 others that had such a significant increase in drug overdose deaths and no one in Washington is talking about. I intend to push for legislation to allow for medical marijuana to be used as an alternative to pain management. As an advocate for expanded Medicare, I will push to provide access to healthcare for all Americans with savings by negotiating prescription drug prices.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Bernie Sanders who taught me to believe that if you want to see positive change, be that change.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?You have a lot less to remember if you always tell the truth.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Thank my parents more !!!What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Marketing allowed me the opportunity to relate to a wide range of individuals, even if we agree to disagree.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?We were each born with two ears two eyes and one mouth- use them in the same proportion. You learn more that way.