income gap

There may be a way to prompt employers to be more generous to employees. My proposal is to allow companies to off-set a portion of their tax obligation by the amount that it gives directly to its NON-EXECUTIVE employees as a cash bonus. This will have the immediate effect of increasing the buying power of millions of Americans, and will have the added benefit of increasing revenue to the government through income tax revenue without actually increasing tax rates. I believe that if given the choice, companies would much rather pay their employees more, than give that money directly to the government in taxes.

immigration

In my view, there is only one answer that is both rational and fully in keeping with our national identity: and that is to forge a pathway to citizenship for those who wish to become citizens. I have been in nations (such as Bahrain and Kuwait) where, to this day, there are two tiers of people: citizens and foreign laborers. The citizens (at least the male ones), have the right to move in society and have full access to the justice system. The workers remain at the mercy of the person or entity that sponsored them. They have no access to the courts, they have no right to change employment, indeed, they have essentially no rights at all. It therefore should not be surprising that some of these laborers suffer abuse at the hands of their sponsors. In some circumstances, their status resembles more indentured servitude than employment. These laborers often come from such desperate circumstances that even terrible working conditions constitute an improvement in their prospects. In my view, this system is not healthy, either for the workers or for the employer, and is most certainly NOT the American way.

veterans

I will champion legislation that MANDATES that ANY future budget or appropriation for military operation MUST CONTAIN SUFFICIENT FUNDS for the VA to care for the members involved in that military operation. Such funds must be disbursed and transferred to the VA AT THE TIME OF THE MILITARY APPROPRIATION, and cannot be diverted from the VA due to other budgetary constraints or cuts. No longer will we be able to balance our budget on the backs of our service members. Put simply, if we cannot afford to care for the people who go to war, then we cannot afford to go to war in the first place.