Richard L. Weiss- Green Party
Scope: What are your top three priorities if elected?
RLW: The COVID-19 pandemic underlines the need for universal healthcare. Many who lose their job cannot afford to maintain their health insurance. In the modern gig economy, many do not receive health insurance through their employer. They may face the choice of paying for rent or healthcare, but not both. Current health insurance has too many deductibles, copays and limitations on coverage. Employers who provide healthcare will benefit from Medicare for All by having costs reduced. Employers who do not provide healthcare will benefit from Medicare for All by having healthier workers. Medicare for All costs less for better care.
The latest U.N. report on climate change underscores the need to immediately make all efforts to stop emissions of greenhouse gases. This can be accomplished through a “just transition” to renewable energy that provides jobs, and does not cause cancer like mining and burning fossil fuels. The technology exists today. All we need to do is implement it. The first step is to halt fracking which is ruining the water and health of Pennsylvania. Fossil fuels provide fewer jobs which are temporary, produce more expensive energy, leave behind environmental disasters and cause cancer. Renewable energy provides more and permanent jobs, produces cheaper energy, preserves the environment and doesn’t cause cancer. Cancer is a high tax to pay.
Foreign policy: Negotiate peace in Ukraine, reduce overseas bases to pre-9/11 levels, bring troops home and invest that money at home. Climate change is the greatest national security threat; Transition to renewable energy as quickly as possible.. We should not be afraid of China and engage with them on an equal basis to reduce tensions. Stop funding terrorists and pass the Stop Arming Terrorists bill proposed by Tulsi Gabbard. The U.S. promoted radical Islamic fundamentalism in Afghanistan to fight against Russia, which was a violation of American values. Freedom of contract is a fundamental constitutional right including the right not to purchase, i.e. boycott. Create a Palestinian state. End U.S. support for the war in Yemen.
Scope: Pennsylvania is a major swing state; if elected how do you plan to unify the state population?
RLW: If elected, I will not be just the Senator of Green Party members, but the Senator of all Pennsylvanians. And I will respectfully listen to all points of view. I agree with Democrats on codifying Roe v. Wade and sensible gun regulation. I also agree with Republicans opposed to unwise foreign interventions. I believe everyone will want less expensive renewable energy that creates more jobs and doesn’t pollute. Therefore I would work to bring all parties together wherever possible on Green issues.
Scope: What are your plans for alleviating higher education costs?
RLW: I support tuition-free college funded by a tax on Wall Street. A 0.5% charge on the seller and a 0.5% charge on the buyer in all financial market transactions would provide substantial funding. At the same time, with the government as purchaser, there would be a concentration of bargaining power and incentive to keep down costs
Scope: Where do you stand on Roe v. Wade and Obergefell v. Hodges and how do you plan to act on your position?
RLW: I support an unrestricted, no questions asked, right to a safe and prompt abortion up to the end of 20 weeks of pregnancy, calculated starting at 2 weeks after last menstruation. An embryo is composed of human cells but is not yet a human being. Most people who oppose reproductive rights have religious reasons and those are usually Christian. So I have a Christian religious response. The soul enters after the body is formed. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7 This was also the position of the Catholic Church in the past: St. Thomas Aquinas stated that a fetus has finally a rational soul when the body was developed. The Summa Theologica specifies that ensoulment takes place once the fetus becomes animated (also known as “quickening”). Abortion is in the Bible (Numbers 5:15) and was practiced at the time of Jesus, yet in no place is it called the taking of a human life. Abortion has been practiced for thousands of years and was a common part of U.S. history. Benjamin Franklin wrote a recipe for an abortifacient in a popular handbook. Roe v. Wade used viability rather than quickening. The earliest an infant has survived is after 21 weeks of pregnancy. The use of an artificial womb would not change the point of ensoulment. The point of sufficient development of the fetus is not the same in every case and I estimate it to range from 17 to 20 weeks. However, I would not support intervention of the state before 20 weeks, leaving the matter to the conscience of the pregnant person and their doctor. After 21 weeks, my view is a healthy fetus is virtually a human being and I would not support abortion other than in the case of a nonviable fetus (e.g. brain death), threat to the life of the pregnant person, or severe defect. For reference, I would not consider down syndrome to be a severe defect. Many people with down syndrome have gone on to live fulfilling lives. I would support granting certain rights, such as inheritance, to a viable fetus after 21 weeks of pregnancy.
Similarly, the opposition to same-sex marriages is usually based on religious reasons. I’d like to point out that Adam and Eve had no government issued marriage certificate and that however a government treats consenting adult couples who wish to spend their lives together has nothing to do with how anyone’s religion treats them. If you don’t like same sex marriages, then you have the choice not to enter one yourself. Same with interracial marriages or mixed religion marriages or any number of other possibilities. I support consenting adults to be able to enter into the union of their choice.
Scope: Gun violence in schools is a worry for many school students across the state. If elected, how do you plan to combat this in office?
RLW: I support reenactment of the 1994 Assault Weapons ban. Furthermore I support passing legislation defining military and civilian grade weapons. Military grade weapons would not be available to the public. (Except possibly in special cases like security guards.) The 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution only prevented the federal government from prohibiting states to maintain their own militias, which is now the National Guard. It did not even apply to states when it was written, but only to the federal government. (The Bill of Rights was extended to cover U.S. states after the U.S. Civil War.) So it is not possible to state that the founding fathers intended the 2nd Amendment to restrict a state’s right to regulate guns. States could restrict guns in any way they pleased and did so throughout the history of the United States. Cities in the old west were gun free zones. Look up the “Gunfight at the OK Corral.” “That the people have a right to bear arms for the defense of themselves & their own state, or the United States, or for the purpose of killing game; & no law shall be passed for disarming the people or any of them, unless for crimes committed, or real danger of public injury…” That was the proposal of the anti-federalist minority delegation of Pennsylvania to the Constitutional Convention. Similar language was incorporated into certain state constitutions. Some people claim this is what the 2nd Amendment means. However I say it means the opposite. This language was known to the Constitutional Convention. It was specifically proposed, and intentionally NOT incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. Certainly some founding fathers favored this language. However, it was not included, on purpose. Similarly, the Constitution Convention debated whether to include a “right to revolution” and decided not to include it. The people who want military weapons want them in order to fight the U.S. government. However there is nothing in the Constitution about individuals fighting against the U.S. government, which is rebellion, insurrection, or treason under the Constitution. https://riversong.wordpress.com/the-real-second-amendment/ The 2nd Amendment meant you could be drafted into your state militia. You were required to report to a commanding officer appointed by your state. Private roaming armed bands or paramilitaries weren’t allowed. See: Washington putting down the Whiskey Rebellion. I grew up with guns. I grew up in Pennsylvania and went hunting with my dad from the time I was ten years old. We had no semi-automatic weapons. They are completely unnecessary for hunting. All semi-automatic weapons could be categorized as military grade and not available to the public without a specific reason, such as for shopkeepers and security guards. The Australian gun law allows a collector to own a semi-automatic rifle with a 10-round magazine. Personally I would not allow AR-15 ammunition, barrel length or rifling twist rate, although an M-1 rifle or similar type might be acceptable as a collector’s item. Such a weapon would only be allowed secured at home, a shooting range or shooting competition and while being transported securely between these locations. Gun ownership could require a training course, a license, insurance and regular testing to demonstrate proficiency. The regular testing requirement could be met by joining shooting competitions. All guns should bear a serial number and custody tracked from manufacture. The last one the gun is registered to is responsible for what happens with that gun. This will deter illegal sales. “…after the Columbine High massacre, the TEC-DC9 is the only gun investigators have managed to trace from its manufacturer, through all its sellers and buyers, to Harris and Klebold.” https://riversong.wordpress.com/the-guns-of-columbine/ For those who refuse to cooperate with gun registration: to avoid confrontation, how about a grandfather clause for non civilian grade weapons that were legally obtained? Keep the ones you have, but they cannot be transferred or inherited and may not leave your own property. The next generation would have no legal way of possessing them and would have to turn them in upon the owner’s passing. “In the 18 yrs btw 1979 & 1996, Australia experienced 13 mass shootings (defined as 5 or more victims). In the 21 years since the Port Arthur massacre & the passage of the law that followed swiftly afterward, we have seen precisely none.” https://fortune.com/2017/10/04/las-vegas-shooting-australia-gun-control-laws/
Scope: Why should high school students vote for you?
RLW: Sadly, the main reason is that the two major parties are both pro-war in Ukraine. I believe that hostilities should be called to a halt and peace negotiated as soon as possible. And I believe there is incentive for both sides not to continue the conflict. Otherwise we risk entering a large land war that may involve U.S. servicemembers, and young people are potentially the most directly affected as they are closest to draft age. Or, worse, the conflict could escalate to nuclear war. Both major parties also offer no choice on drilling for oil and fracking. In general, the Green Party is the most focused on making the world a better place for future generations. The U.S. Green Party platform can be found here: gp.org/platform. Recently, the Green Party has issued its position in favor of lowering the age for voting to 16.
More information about Richard L. Weiss can be found on his website, https://www.greenslate2022.com/us_senator