Gordon Heslop

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Provide preventative health screening

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Increase the minimum wage

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Ban and defund sanctuary cities

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Ban foreign students from engaging in political activity as a condition of their visa

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I'M 50/50 on TRUMP: I have been a conservative my entire adult life and a Republican for 44 years. I have voted for Donald Trump all three times - in 2016, 2020, and 2024. However, in this new term I don't support all of his policies. If elected, I will support his policies I believe in but oppose those I disagree with. Some I will oppose very strongly. I commend him, for example, for sealing the southern border, bringing home Americans wrongly imprisoned in a number of different countries overseas, and appointing conservative judges, amongst other achievements. I oppose his tariff policies, his pardoning of January 6 protestors who assaulted police, his Putin friendly handling of Ukraine, and his stated wish to take over Canada and Greenland.

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NAMING THINGS AFTER HIMSELF: I strongly oppose anything being named after any currently serving politician. My preference is that this only be done after the death of the person, as an honor and remembrance. President Trump is attaching his name to so many buildings, programs etc., all of which in my opinion should be removed.

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GREENLAND: Greenlanders, like any other people, have a right to self-determination. Both Denmark and Greenland are perfectly happy to allow the U.S. to construct and operate any military base we deem necessary in Greenland. I strongly oppose invading Greenland. Doing so would have disastrous consequences for our wonderful Western civilization. It would likely lead to the breakup of NATO, which has protected us for 80 years from the terrible world wars we experienced last century. So many countries would no longer trust the U.S. Each country would have to fend for itself, and Russia and China would exploit the situation and make inroads into many nations. If elected, and President Trump invades Greenland I WILL vote to impeach him. If elected after we control Greenland, I will vote to return it to its residents. The time of taking new territory ended about 160 years ago.

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SOCIAL SECURITY: Social security must be fixed immediately to avoid an approaching shortage of funds. In keeping with my policy of the middle class not paying a higher rate of tax than higher income earners I would do the following: remove the current limit on earnings subject to social security tax of $184,500 which produces a tax of $11,439. I suggest taxing all income for social security just as is currently done on all income at a rate of 1.45% for Medicare - the other part of the current 7.65% total tax. Under this policy, someone with an income of $50 million (there are some) would pay $3.1 million in social security tax instead of $11,439. Obviously, most incomes are less than this, but everyone earning more than $184,500 would now pay the same tax rate as the middle class does.

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SHUTDOWNS: Federal government shutdowns should not occur. Citizens have a right to expect access to government services at all times. A simple way to prevent shutdowns is to have a law which approves government funding to continue at existing levels until new funding is approved by Congress.

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FOOD COSTS: All tariffs on food need to be abolished because they have increased food costs for all consumers. Lowering fuel costs would also help decrease food costs as transportation costs account for a significant part of the total cost of all products.

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EDUCATION: For decades two of the most important professions have been underpaid – teaching and law enforcement. To remedy this, I am thinking “outside the box”. If state or local administrations won’t remedy the situation, I propose that the federal government does. I propose a national minimum salary of $50,000 per year for all K through 12 educators, and that it is increased each year by the increase in the consumer price index (CPI). I understand that many in education are paid more than this, but this would establish a floor. Coupled with this we should have a 10-year freeze on Congressional salaries, currently $174,000, and a provision that if Congress closes the government down, members of Congress receive no salary, with no makeup, for the duration of the shutdown. The cost of higher education in recent years has increased much faster than the general rate of inflation. A bachelor's degree needs to become a three-year degree rather than a four-year degree. This would reduce the total cost by 25%. The traditional first year can be covered in high school, as it currently is by many students. Additional cost savings could be made by decreasing the number of administrators, whose numbers have increased far faster than student numbers. This is especially true because administrators are paid much more than the instructors who actually teach the students. At the high school level, we need large numbers of students leaving high school after the 10th grade and entering trade schools or apprenticeships. We have a severe shortage of skilled trades workers. Also, income levels are higher than they are for many university graduates in low demand fields.

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EPSTEIN: The entire Epstein "case" has been handled very poorly, resulting in a betrayal of society's duty to his young victims. His original state jail sentence in 2008 was ridiculously short, even allowing him work release. He was arrested on federal charges in July 2019 and died in jail the following month. Apart from questions regarding how he died there was relatively little activity until the 2024 election campaign when MAGA supporters demanded the release of the Epstein files. Although during the campaign he committed to releasing the files, once assuming office President Trump fought very hard to keep the files sealed until he was forced to agree when 4 Republicans joined with House Democrats in demanding their release. Following demands for further investigation the House leadership moved to keep control of the issue by having the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform investigate the case. This is showing signs of a typical political ploy, used by both parties in the past, to control the narrative on the subject under review. No Republican members attended the deposition of Les Wexler in Ohio despite 2 members being from Ohio. Given that Wexler is thought to be the source of Epstein's wealth this indicates a lack of seriousness on the part of the Republicans. The appearance of Attorney General Pam Bondi before the committee a few days earlier was a complete disgrace. So many questions from opposing members were met with a tirade of vitriolic responses, ignoring the questions. If the roles were reversed Republicans would be loudly complaining. In view of the current situation, including the fact that approximately 3 million pages are still not released, I suggest the following: 1. Pam Bondi needs to be replaced due to her handling of the Epstein case and also the fact that in many respects she is acting more like the President's attorney, which is not her role (ACHIEVED) and 2. A highly respected, clearly impartial judge be appointed to fully review the case, recommending criminal charges against any man who raped an underage girl within the entire Epstein setup. Society must promptly prosecute anyone who commits sexual acts against underage girls. The possibility that girls as young as 13 and 14 were raped in this case is just horrific. I understand that much time has passed in this case and that makes taking action more difficult. Some participants may have passed away. Also, the Democrats don't need to cover themselves in glory on this issue because I don't recall their current response being evident in any way during the 4 years of the Biden presidency.

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Agriculture: The rural economy is crucial to the U.S. This applies not only to the farms, but also the many small towns which support the rural economy. I am totally opposed to the tariffs imposed by President Trump and if elected would work in Congress to abolish them. Farmers are hurt in two ways – once like the rest of the population with higher prices for so many everyday items – and then again with the increased costs for farm inputs such as fertilizer and also for machinery due to the increase in the cost of components.

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I have a plan whereby farmers can avoid the interest cost incurred on loans to finance their operations. Farmers would enroll with the business they sell their production to. That would prevent potential fraud because they know you are a farmer and not some guy in downtown LA claiming to be farming 10,000 acres of corn. Once you are in the system, when you purchase farm inputs such as seed that purchase would be entered into the system. You would not pay anything. The government would pay the merchant monthly for farmer purchases. At the end of the growing season your buyer would pay off the total debt you have in the system and then pay you the remainder for your production. The result would be no interest cost at all to the farmer, as well as having no stress every year in applying for a loan at the bank. If your production was not enough to completely pay off your debt, it would roll over to the next year. If it was still not paid at the end of the second year it would be written off – the reason would most likely be due to things beyond the control of the farmer such as drought, floods, government trade rules etc. It's important for the general public to realize that farming is different. You can be the best farmer in the world and still go broke due to factors totally beyond your control. This is not the case with most other businesses such as housing, vehicles or restaurants - if you produce a good product, you should do well.

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Law Enforcement: For decades two of the most important professions have been underpaid – law enforcement and teaching. To remedy this, I am thinking “outside the box”. If state or local administrations won’t remedy the situation, I propose that the federal government does. I propose a national minimum salary of $50,000 per year for all law enforcement officers, and that it is increased each year by the increase in the consumer price index (CPI). I understand that many in law enforcement are paid more than this, but this would establish a floor. Coupled with this we should have a 10-year freeze on Congressional salaries, currently $174,000, and a provision that if Congress closes the government down, members of Congress receive no salary, with no makeup, for the duration of the shutdown.

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I totally oppose pardons, commutations, or early release for anyone convicted of assaulting the police. I was disgusted when President Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of the January 6 rioters who battled with or assaulted the police. I oppose bail for those charged with cases of significant assault against anyone. I’m tired of reading cases of people who commit serious crimes while out on bail.

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I AM NOT MAGA - HERE'S WHY. As President Trump states, he decides what MAGA believes. To get his electoral endorsement a candidate must pledge support for MAGA. Once in office, he demands members of Congress vote the way he wants. If a member opposes him, he launches into a vitriolic attack on him/her and promises to have them primaried. So basically, a member of Congress has to become an automaton. They lose their free will. Voters elect members of Congress to represent them, not simply to follow orders from a different branch of government.