Kimball Ladien: Candidate profile

Bio

Party: Republican

City: Chicago

Office sought: Congress, 5th District

Age: 68

Family: Sylvia, wife, died in 2012; Fawn, stepdaughter; Kenneth, brother; Karen, sister

Occupation: Physician

Education:

• Lane Technical High School

• University of Illinois - Chicago, Undergraduate (Psychology, PoliSci) - Cum Laude

• Rush Medical College - Medical School

• Loyola University - Psychiatric Residency

• Institute for Juvenile Research - Child Fellowship

Civic involvement: In 1993, I wrote Safe Haven outlining how by using a Community Service Corps (CSC), much like FDR's CCC and WPA, we can create jobs in the public and private sectors to help break the cycles of gangs, drugs, dropouts, abuse and joblessness. In 2018, I reached out to all candidates to sign a Bipartisan Contract for Chicago/IL arguing that: "If the only thing we do in 2019 (sic) is to implement after school programs for our children and job programs for all individuals on probation and parole, we can easily reach the initial goal of reducing gang crime and murder by more than 50% and help make Chicago a model for the country ...

Elected offices held: None

Incumbent? If yes, when were first elected: N/A

Website: LadienforCongress.com

Twitter: #LadienforCongress

Facebook: Kim Ladien

Questions and Answers

1. What have the past three years of Donald Trump's unconventional leadership taught us about politics in the United States? What is the best thing his presidency has done? What is the most significant criticism you have of it?

While President Donald Trump's "style" may be jarring to some, what his leadership has taught us is how great the need is to bring the various "tribes" of America together to break the lose-lose gridlock of "Politics as Usual" and have a paradigm shift to win-win good government based on good science for the good to all.

Perhaps the best thing that President Donald Trump has done (so far) has been to give us the best economy America has seen in many years.

The greatest "criticism" is how much yet needs to be done and especially the danger of nuclear holocaust that still remains. Just as the impeachment of Nixon led to the fall of Vietnam and the Killing Fields of Cambodia, so too here.

Neither Iran nor North Korea need to build a single ICBM. One suitcase nuke could make the Holocaust pale by comparison. Appeasement never works.

The denuclearization of both Iran and NK remains the most important task of Trump's second term as yet undone. By bringing not only the country, but the world together, we truly can end gridlock with good government and good science. This, too, is "The Art of the Win-Win Deal.

2. What needs to be done to get Congress to work constructively, whether that be senators and representatives of both parties working with each other or Congress itself working with the president?

In 2019, the Nobel Prize in Economics went for developing an experimental approach to fighting poverty based on Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs). Most pressing social problems including poverty, crime, addictive behaviors, healthcare and much more.

UC's Michael Belsky is applying outcomes-based budgeting to actually evaluating governmental budgets based on outcomes instead of "Politics as Usual." By making budgeting decisions at all levels of good government based on the actual outcomes, we can finally move beyond gridlock.

Sooner than later, another Nobel Prize in Economics will be awarded to a group of individuals who expand upon the work noted above to develop a comprehensive economic model of win-win game theory and outcomes-based budgeting applied at all levels of government and economies from local to national to international for the good of all. The $2-3T/yr. of savings with Safe Haven and GEIP can help to make this so.

The more that we always seek the truth and the win-win way, the sooner gridlock can be stopped. My Bipartisan Contract for America is designed to do precisely this.

3. What do you see as the most important issues to address regarding immigration reform? If you oppose funding for a wall, what steps do you support to try to control illegal immigration?

From the beginning, President Donald Trump has sought a win-win outcome concerning DACA. Common sense, however, argues that we must fix the problems of rampant illegal immigration if we are to resolve these issues in a positive bipartisan win-win way. Most reasonable people would agree that we have to "take care of our own people" first to ensure that we are dealing with unemployment and poverty in America before asking American taxpayers to take on additional burdens.

The rigorous enforcement of eVerify would be a simple, cost-effective way to discourage illegal immigration in return for resolving DACA.

Safe Haven can ensure that with a Community Service Corps (CSC), like FDR's CCC and WPA, we provide jobs for all abled-bodied adults, including those on probation and parole, to break the cycles of gangs, drugs and joblessness.

Then, as discussed below concerning the use of Safe Haven and GEIP as part of a peace paradigm, if we can prevent poverty and joblessness in America, we can replicate these programs in countries across the world. And GEIP's $2-3T/yr. can go a long way toward accomplishing these goals in a positive win-win way. Again, it is precisely by working together that problems are solved.

4. Please define your position on health care reform, especially as it relates to the Affordable Care Act.

The motto of Safe Haven is a penny of prevention is worth a dollar of cure. If we can reduce gang crime, drugs, dropouts, abuse and joblessness, we would be saving lives and billions of tax dollars - more than enough to pay off the pensions without having to raise taxes. The subtitle of Safe Haven is "Toward Gang-Free, Drug-Free, Full Employment Economy in America by 2020." Time will tell.

Similarly, my Global Energy Independence Program (GEIP) can provide clean, renewable energy that saves $2-3T/yr. globally, which can do profound good in America and far beyond.

As noted above, the potential savings in the US of $1T/yr. with Safe Haven and GEIP can help to fund universal health care and education on a bipartisan basis if only we can finally move from the gridlock of impeachments and "Politics as Usual" to good science and good government for the benefit of all. By focusing on best oractices and rigorous cost-benefit analysis of outcomes instead of ideologies, true progress can be made. If done right, affordable health care and prescription drugs can help make us both healthier and stronger as a nation on the way toward a more perfect union - both in America and beyond.

5. What is your position on federal funding for contraception, the Violence Against Women Act and reproductive rights?

First, as a matter of full disclosure, both my mother, Julia, and my beloved wife and soul mate of over 50 years, Sylvia, had IQs of 185. Both were as kindhearted as they were brilliant. Julia was Sylvia's and my second-grade Sunday school teacher. I have, thus, been a heroine addict all of my life.

Having said this, I am as fully supportive of women and women's rights as I could be. Thus, any legislation that helps to combat and prevent violence against women has my full support.

When it comes to contraception and reproductive rights, I strongly support healthy two-parent families as the basis for healthy communities in America and everywhere else around the world.

While in a democracy, individuals should be free to make the best decisions that they can for themselves and their families, we also want to respect the value of life at all stages. Thus, to the greatest extent possible, children who are brought into this world should be not only wanted and loved, but supported in every way to become productive citizens of their communities, countries and the world. To the extent that we succeed, we will have built a better world for all of God's children.

6. What do you consider America's role in world affairs? What are we doing correctly to fill that role? What else should we be doing?

During World War II, the United States and Russia were allies who together defeated fascism. During the Cold War, the totalitarian USSR and the "free-world" nearly annihilated the planet. In 1944, Johnnie von Neumann showed with Game Theory that, in the long run, nonzero sum win-win strategies always outperform win-lose scenarios. This principle was first articulated by Christ who preached that we should "Do onto others…."

Using Safe Haven and GEIP as leverage for a peace paradigm, with the help of Russia and China, we can offer these programs to Iran and North Korea, respectively, in return for the peaceful denuclearization of these countries. Similarly, offering these programs to countries in South America, Africa and Asia can help to significantly improve the global standard of living for ALL of God's children.

With GEIP-powered desalinization plants, we can turn deserts into hardens in the Middle East and far beyond. With Safe Haven, we can transform violence and despair into jobs and hope throughout the world. And in the process, profound good will have been done for the benefit of all.

The Manhattan Project built the bomb. With the Chicago project, we can all help build the peace.

Jesus' message lives on.

7. Do you believe climate change is caused by human activity? What steps should government be taking to address the issue?

"Climate change" has been with us since the beginning of time. While society has increased the output of CO2, we are also far more than capable with good science and good government to fix this problem in a Win-Win Way.

As noted above, my Global Energy Independence Program (GEIP) can provide clean, renewable energy that saves $2-3T/yr. that can be a true win-win on every level. Not only has an engineer who had worked closely with Jack Welch at GE confirmed this simple equation, I will gladly Share GEIP with Lori Lightfoot, JB Pritzker, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and President Donald Trump on a bipartisan basis in return for their support for the implementation of Safe Haven as part of a Win-Win Grand Deal that cannot only end gridlock, but help implement universal health care and education along with rebuilding our infrastructure. This would be good government at its best.