The Issues We Face
in America
Put a Healer in the House: Amy (Doc) Chai for US Representative, District 1, CT
The Pact for Prosperity
Connecticut citizens are struggling. Hartford was just named the MOST UNAFFORDABLE CITY IN THE UNITED STATES! This is simply bad leadership. No opportunities for poor and disadvantaged workers, and expenses through the roof for everyone. Amy Chai has a pact for prosperity.
Freedom
What right could be more civil than the right to think your own thoughts? The most important Civil Right of all is the freedom to speak and think freely in the public square. But unfortunately, the First Amendment only protects our speech from government suppression. That is not enough. That is why I propose the Viewpoint Discrimination Act, or VDA. This act would add the word, “viewpoint,” to title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This would make it illegal for anyone to discriminate against you for—being yourself.
Unity
America is very diverse. Every ethnicity, every religion, and every language has found a home in the United States. You may have noticed that American politicians like to use our differences against us. I think that is a shame. Partisan politicking is hurting our relationships—dividing America for votes. I want to give Americans back their power and unity with the Enfranchise America Act. This act will maximize voter access and maximize election transparency first and foremost. We must restore trust in the process, which is why I support voting reforms with paper ballots and primary in-person voting.
Tolerance
I cannot enforce tolerance. But I can model it. I pledge to listen to everyone, and do my utmost to create fair solutions to problems in our nation. Even for people who disagree with me. It is okay to disagree. I do not want to represent a party, I want to represent you. I believe that the role of government is to work together to create solutions that work as well as they possibly can for as many people as possible. I have very strong values. I will never compromise my values. But I understand that other people hold values as well, and if we expect to move forward, we will need to tolerate disagreement over very fundamental issues.
The ideological left has given us some very bad policy when it comes to keeping our communities safe. The people who are hurt the most by crime are those who can least afford it—people living in our low income urban neighborhoods. But simply promising to prosecute crime is inadequate. What we really need to do is to stop crime at its source—by supporting at-risk kids and their families. That is why I am passionate about ending the school-to-prison pipeline. Not just in Connecticut, but everywhere. It is a shame and a disgrace how we fail children in low income areas. Did you know that a child who is not reading at grade level by third grade has near a 60% chance of dropping out, ending up on welfare, or going to prison? In New Haven, that is over half of the kids. It’s complicated to solve, but an ounce of prevention is worth so many pounds of cure. The cost of helping a child learn to read is so much less than the cost of a child who grows up in the streets, getting involved with drugs and crime. But this is about more than just saving tax money. It is about saving the lives of innocent children.
Crime
Parental Rights
There is nothing more fundamental than the relationship of parent and child. I believe that parents have the right to direct the education and upbringing of their child, full stop. I will oppose any measure that seeks to undermine the authority of parents to raise their children in accordance with their culture, heritage, worldview, or faith.
Science Literacy (Education)
Knowledge disparities exist. Knowledge is power. Therefore, power disparities exist. The future is technology and science. Education in technology and science is being dumbed down in underserved communities. All children can learn, and should be encouraged to do so. Math is a civil right. Freedom of thought leads to innovation. STEM education makes innovation possible. America needs to be the leader in freedom of thought and the leader in STEM education in order to maintain the edge innovative edge in the global marketplace. Parents are the main driver of successful education for children. Parents must be involved and active in the education of their children. Therefore, parents must be given transparency and choice in education for their families. I fully support parental choice in education. I would also support curriculum development for a minimum standard of practical science and technology literacy. I also support open access.
The Green Future Initiative
Everyone needs a sustainable future. But the Green New Deal looks to the past, providing “big government” solutions that are not transparent or even effective. It fails to provide the solutions we need for an increasingly complex future. It is not productive to simply voice opposition to a “Climate Agenda.” Instead, we must provide a better “green” option—one that does not involve mass poverty, eating crickets, or weird wannabe Bond villains named, “Klaus.”
I would like to introduce the Green Future Initiative. It will provide infrastructure support to local regions (such as New England) to create homegrown networks of innovation called, “Sustainability Zones.” These zones would have the ability to close the loop in the event of an emergency with locally sourced and secure supplies of food, energy, and medicine. Your life should not depend on a supply chain. Declining towns will serve as new hubs for regional growth in production and distribution. Local governments will work from the ground up to create sustainable solutions that meet local needs and support local entrepreneurs to innovate for a greener, healthier, locally based economy. Plus, it will give Americans a percentage of their tax dollars to invest in environmental research of their choice. In return, they would have the first choice to invest in IP, and earn dividends from the research if it proves successful. Micro-grants and citizen initiatives will create fun and voluntary engagement for the whole community. Full transparency will invite crowd-sourced genius to the mix. Evidence-based policy will be evaluated at each step.
Mental Health and Addiction
There is a crisis of mental health in America. Most of our social problems, criminal justice problems, the addiction epidemic, homelessness, and health problems—including the obesity epidemic—are directly related to the mental health of our communities. Our failure as a nation to address mental health prevention and treatment is extremely expensive for taxpayers as well as for families. We waste billions of dollars and we allow the destruction of hundreds of thousands of lives every year. We need to expand addiction treatment to the Medicare age group. We need to invest in dual diagnosis supportive communities. We need to expand access to mental health treatment. We need to create a framework for the prevention of mental health problems. Mental health is not a place for ideology. It is a place for evidence. All policies must pass the evidence test.
Foreign Policy
I believe that we need to tend first to our own nation. Just like the message that we hear prior to an airplane taking off, we must attend to our own oxygen before assisting others. I believe that the purpose of an elected representative is to represent the people we have sworn to serve, not to represent foreign interests. I believe in secure borders. I do not believe in “regime change” abroad or proxy wars. I believe in a strong defense force, and would prefer not to deploy it. I support nations that are free and democratic. I believe that the US should become an example for the world once again. Freedom, unity, and innovation should come to mind when people think of America. Totalitarianism, “Social Credit,” and sectarianism will not compare favorably to these American ideals. It should be clear from the above statements that I am not a globalist.
We are printing too much money and borrowing our children’s future. We need to stop. Devaluing our currency in a time of decreased availability of commodities is creating runaway inflation. This hurts the poor the most. The Congress needs to have a cost analysis of every policy. Some things are worth spending money on, such as prevention and innovation. Other things are a waste of money and promote corruption. We need representatives who can tell the difference. We need to eliminate the self-employment tax. It is deeply unfair to people who are working to support their families. Income up to $75,000 ought to be protected from the self-employment tax. We need to implement a tax per trade. People who play the market like a casino are adding nothing to the economy and are simply scraping the cream from the top. Massive trades based on black box algorithms should be discouraged. A tax per trade would not be a burden to typical investors, but would decrease the impact of trades designed to take unfair advantage of brief fluctuations in the market. We need to simplify the tax code for earned income. We need policy that will support the middle class and the ability of families to live securely. The government should not be looking at our bank accounts. It should be looking at wire transfers out of the country, though.
Monetary Policy
