Michael L. Kripchak
(Dem)
Biographical Information
Twitter
Training and Experience
Veteran, Former US Air Force Science and Acquisitions Officer
What are your top priorities and how will you address them?
All my initiatives boil down to one objective: “Restore the American Dream”. Bring “high-skill, high-pay, high-dignity” union jobs that are not subject to the whims of a single employer but based on a robust industrial hub made up of locally-owned businesses driving the engine of progress. Reinvigorate our public education system, ending the failures of “teaching to the test” and focusing on the “Whole Person Concept” from PreK-12. Give our teachers and parents the resources they need to see to our children’s success. Lastly, I will not abandon those south of US-30. I will free our farmers from BigAg control: They are entitled to own the seeds they grow, fix the equipment they use, and keep the land they work free from the threat of BigAg.
State your position on voting and elections policy.
The notion that our elections are stolen or insecure is an utter farce. Nefarious agents through the media are infecting our citizens with tales they freely admit are lies when under oath in the very courts they use to attempt to undermine our democracy. I will put an end to all this by overturning Citizens United, passing the John Lewis VRA Act, and instructing the FEC to make their voting access standards on a per capita basis and not an administrative one – land doesn’t vote, people do. The chronic under-serving of voters in urban areas and long waiting times must come to an end. Our citizens deserve an end to gerrymandering, thus I will drive legislation giving the People and not politicians the sole right to determine district lines.
State your position on immigration policy.
Politicians who promise “to secure our border” are completely out of touch with the realities of the situation nor do they understand the logistical demands of “manning the border” as if we were in some kind of James Bond film. The alleged immigrants “invading” our nation are none other than asylum seekers who we are bound by law and international treaty to accept. Any “crisis” is of our own doing when the GOP gutted the DHS and Judicial Branch’s budget. I will restore these budgets so that our law enforcement and legal system can efficiently process these refugees and monitor migrant activity throughout Latin America and not just our southern border. If a border must be manned, let it be the much more manageable southern Mexican border.
State your priorities on foreign policy and national security.
When we saw protestors in the Arab Spring, Ukraine, or Hong Kong rise up against their oppressors, we saw them wave the American flag. While we may bicker at home, abroad American Exceptionalism means something as our ideals are not just American but ideals for all mankind. To maintain this view, we must honor our commitments and defend our allies against the Axis of Evil that is Russia, China, and Iran. We must restore the preeminence of our diplomatic corps and expand our int’l aid to fight Communist Chinese influence. We must bolster our industrial base to provide all the means to resist tyrants. This is not an either-or choice; we are capable of helping ourselves and our allies bathe in the Light of Liberty. These I will fight for.
State your position on environmental policy and natural resource management.
I will not entertain any debate on the existence of climate change nor the anthropological causes of it – this is settled science. The DoD has stated that this is their primary national security risk and I will not accept inaction nor obstruction in Congress. China right now is leading the world in green tech development. If we fail to act, we are in danger of losing this new economic sector to them, costing us more jobs overseas as others trade with them instead of us. I will launch 2 megastructure initiatives bringing jobs to Ohio: Instruct the Dept of Int to devise a national water resource management mega-project to divert excess rain from flood- zones to those drought-stricken, and direct the DoE to finally commercialize fusion energy.
State your position on healthcare policy.
I will expand Medicare to all and restore the guarantees of Social Security weakened by the GOP – your health & retirement are not a matter of political debate. Shoring up national healthcare is the most surefire way to reduce your monthly expenditures and put money directly back in your pockets. Healthcare assurances will be broadly applied and I will not tolerate any exceptions based on sex nor accept the encroachment of religious thought on the well-being of 51% of Americans – a woman’s body is NOT the domain of the government to legislate. I will also use our industrial hub mentioned above in answer #1 to focus on advanced medtech development to increase commercial activity between the national medical hub of Cleveland and our district.
What role, if any, should government take to ensure no person is discriminated against?
The Equal Protection Clause of our Constitution is the single greatest defender of our inalienable rights that has stood the test of time from repeated assaults by reactionary forces as even the current SCOTUS has upheld the “strict scrutiny” standard. I will revive the national discourse on passing the Equal Rights Amendment which will elevate women’s and LGBTQ+ rights to this strict standard. I will leverage the power of my Office to provide internships and federal civics experience to our youth of ALL ethnicities and work with NGOs supporting such causes to provide professional networks to nurture career development and upward mobility. Our national motto is “E Pluribus Unum” – our diversity is thus one of our greatest assets.