Christian Cano

Economy Policy Statement

Right now, we face a very unique economic situation. Though we are no longer in a recession and unemployment continues to shrink, I have seen firsthand that the recovery has not lifted everyone up and this is a problem that needs to be addressed immediately. Yet, instead of addressing the problems we face, including income inequality, a minimum wage that needs raised, and lack of upward social mobility, our congress continues to move towards tax cuts that benefit them, the wealthiest of Americans. We need a society in which everyone has the same opportunity at success regardless of wealth, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or any other basis. It is time to begin to bring the climate of opportunity back to every day citizens, and back to those in the Ninth District of North Carolina.

We have a booming metropolis right here in Charlotte, which is a hub of major economic activity. Yet, in parts of Charlotte and our other rural counties we see many families living paycheck to paycheck. Factories that were once an economic boon are long gone. Industries are dead. Meanwhile, our representative is taking international flights costing upwards of $16,000 per seat, riding the coattails of the Trump Administration. This is more than some people make in a year. There is much work that needs to be done and we shouldn’t expect people to have to uproot their lives when we can bring economic prosperity right back to the district.

In order to bring back that climate of opportunity, I know we must first work with what we have. In North Carolina we have vast agricultural and infrastructure opportunities to begin to help bring jobs back to our district. In fact, infrastructure is one of the only concrete ways a congressperson can single handily create jobs. Let’s begin to rebuild our roads, bridges, dams, and highways. We saw firsthand the downfalls of poor infrastructure when the eastern portion of our district was wrecked by Hurricane Matthew last fall. There was needless life lost and damage done because of our poor infrastructure. We need to begin to put our constituents in jobs where they no longer live paycheck to paycheck and can continue to benefit the community they live in.

In North Carolina, one of the only things we cannot grow is citrus. Everything else is fair game. Let’s begin importing and exporting between other states and countries to bring revenue back to our district and improve lives for our farmers and those who work in agriculture.

Along with encouraging and incentivizing small business, I plan to help regulate the tax code and make sure big businesses and corporations pay their fair share of taxes. The Trump Administration is pushing for huge tax breaks for the wealthiest, which will clearly hurt our district. Hardworking Americans don’t need to be supplementing multi million dollar corporations. In fact, we need to stop supplementing companies like Wal Mart who can easily pay their employees at least $15 an hour. When companies pay living wages, we all benefit and that is money saved for taxpayers on the back end.

I believe in an American economy that works for everyone, not just the top few. I believe the plan I have outlined is the best and most efficient way to get back to a district, state, and country that give the same opportunity to everyone. So let’s begin to promote agricultural and the trading of it. Let’s rebuild our infrastructure as we crack down on corporate tax loopholes and raise the minimum wage to make sure every citizen of the Ninth District and every citizen in America has the same opportunity as everyone else.

Health Care Policy

There are 320 million citizens currently living in America. Before the Affordable Care Act went in to effect, 15.7% or around 49 million people did not have health insurance. Now, after multiple years of being law and many repeal attempts later, less than 10% of the population goes without coverage. There are now around 25 million more people that now have access to affordable and decent health care yet this is under attack by the GOP efforts to repeal it. As we stand today, the house and Robert Pittenger have voted to strip away those benefits from their constituents. Indeed, the ninth district would see the most people thrown off of health insurance of ANY republican controlled district in the entire country.

We know that no one person’s life has more value than anyone else’s. Unfortunately, that was the system we were working with before the ACA and the system the republicans want to return to with Trumpcare. Those with lower incomes, seniors, people with pre existing conditions and so many others could lose their health insurance. We do not believe in a society where any individual cannot see his or her doctor out of fear of insane medical debt. We do not believe in a society where hard working Americans go without the care they need because they fear they will no longer be able to put food on the table. Simple Medicaid expansion would provide health insurance to 30,000 in Mecklenburg County alone. We have one of the highest uninsured rates in the country here in North Carolina and republicans still want to make it worse/

We need to be moving towards either a public option or a single payer system, not going backwards to the pre Obamacare era. It is not feasible in the long term for higher income earners to have to continually subsidize those at the lower end of the chain as insurance companies run the show. We know that is it morally wrong for medicine and health to be a for profit industry. And as we see insurance companies complain about lower revenue, we must ask ourselves why we pay higher premiums while the CEO’s of the top five insurance companies continue to rake in annual pay upwards of 10 million dollars annually. Besides the obvious moral aspect, this is one of simple economics. When everyone is paying into the system, the overall cost that Americans pay for whatever service they may need will go down.

I will continue to support the affordable care act and do everything in my power to protect it from republicans like Robert Pittenger, and once elected, begin fighting for legislation that includes a single payer system.

Abortion Policy Statement

Oftentimes we hear the other side of the aisle tell us they believe in smaller and less intrusive government. They tell us we need a government that is off our backs and out of the way. Yet, the very same officials that shout these ideologies turn around and try to tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her body based on their own personal beliefs. I cannot think of a way in which government is more involved in your life than if they are telling you what to do with it.

If a member of congress tries to make it their job to dictate to women how she should treat her body based on their personal religious beliefs, they needed to be kicked out of office. Decades ago the supreme court ruled that women have the right, under the fourteenth amendment, to have access to safe and legal abortions. There is no reason to begin to infringe upon or reduce this right as we know it today.

Our number one interest in regards to abortion is to first protect women’s health and their right to choose. I believe the government should stay out of what any woman may choose to do. Instead of limiting access to abortions and forcing women into difficult, sometimes life threatening decisions, we need to ensure the access to abortion is expansive and safe.

I also respect that everyone has his or her own moral, sometimes religious views on the issue and these opinions are allowed and accepted so long as they do not actively attempt to deter women from their right to choose. I will fight every day to make sure no one politician’s objection to abortion forces a woman into a dangerous and unsafe situation. We need to improve women’s healthcare and access to safe procedures they may need, like abortions, not make it harder for them.

Education Policy Statement

I know education is crucial to every person’s development. In fact, if I had not had the right teachers to encourage me and give me the tools I need to be successful, I would never have had the strength to run for US Congress. Yet today we see that teachers are more disrespected than ever. In our state alone republican leadership has drastically hindered our local teachers and school’s ability to effectively impact our children’s lives. We must stop with budget cuts that slash public schools funding. We want teachers to enjoy teaching in North Carolina, not run away from it.

This is not about politics. As long as we continue to slash teacher pay and school funding under incompetent leaders like Betsy DeVos, we sacrifice the next generation’s ability to improve our world. Public education is vital to most young people’s success. I know that a child’s opportunity at success should not be defined by his or her zip code. Why are we putting roadblocks in front of our future? We need to make the path as clear as possible.

Meanwhile, the money that should be going to fund our school systems is instead going back into the pockets of the top five percent of earners. It is not reasonable to slash taxes at the expense of a child’s education, like the GOP are trying to do, Let’s spend wiser on public education. Let’s make tests fairer to everyone. We need to have a level playing field to make sure everyone has the same shot at success.

I also know that we can not afford to continue strapping down our college graduates with paralyzing amounts of debt. I supported President Obama’s initiative to make community college free. This allows hard working students the chance to make something of themselves. I also support lowering the cost of undergraduate schooling. No student should live in the fear of not going to school because his or her parents are not wealthy enough to cut a check for school. Again, this is not politics. This is about making sure every single person in this country has the chance to succeed. These are just a few of the steps we can take to achieve this.

We can and will do better than our norm. As your next congressperson, I will fight every day to ensure that we spend effectively on our public schools, make community college free and accessible, and significantly reduce the amount of student loan debt our current grads and students face.

Climate Change Policy

One of the deadliest problems facing not just the United States but the entire world is Climate Change. If we do not take immediate action to combat the drastic effects that climate change poses on our world, there will be dire consequences. Our next generation will feel it significantly and then generation after that even more so. But we do not have to look the far into the future because it is already happening. And while it is not too late to fight it, we are getting awfully close to blowing our last opportunity to turn things around.

One of the most direct impacts of climate change will be felt right in our district. We have vast opportunities with our agricultural in the Ninth District and throughout the whole state. If we continue to sit idly by, we allow temperatures to rise and heat waves to stretch which in turn will kill our crops, destroy opportunities to grow things such as corn, sweet potatoes, soy beans, live stock, fruits and so on. This will greatly damage, if not completely destroy, our state and local economy. Instead of snipping at one another about the causes of climate change, lets work to slow and stop it by reducing state and global carbon emissions, moving towards clean energy, upgrade our infrastructure in energy efficient ways, and change the way we consume.

While the effects of climate change down the road have been documented, we can still look to the present to see its effects. Fifteen of the past sixteen years have been the hottest on record and 2016 is at the top of the list. We are seeing increased wildfires, longer and hotter summers, and a significant rise in sea level.

I know that our participation in the Paris Climate Agreement is pivotal to the fight on climate change even as Trump teeters on the edge of taking us out of it. I will support climate efforts whole heartedly and continue to fight at every opportunity I get. Not just for the economy or our district, but for our children and our future. The world looks to America for leadership and they are watching what we do on this issue. We must not continue on the backward path we are on. We must take action now.

Immigration Policy Statement

I have zero intention of ever supporting the mass deportation of over eleven million human beings from the United States of America. As a person of Hispanic heritage, I know first hand that immigrants can succeed beyond their wildest dreams when they are given the opportunity for success. This is what we should continue to encourage, instead of turning against one other because of the color of our skin. Our country can and will be better than the rhetoric we hear from blatantly racist President Trump and the republican leadership about undocumented workers. Besides the obvious moral implications of a mass deportation, there would be huge economic repercussions from such an event that could send our country spiraling downwards.

E. Pluribus Unum; out of many, one. We are not a country that should be rejecting people on the basis of discrimination yet that is exactly the republican policy. Contrary to what Donald Trump says, the Mexicans are not “raping, killing, and stealing.” In fact, we rely on the hard work and labor that immigrants often provide to our country. To “send them back” would be disastrous. I will fight with every fiber of being to ensure that if you live in America and are working, paying taxes, contributing to the economy, and are a law abiding citizen that you are not sent away from your family and that you are treated equally under our law.

We live in a society of inclusion. We never need to shun away individuals who wish to come to this country, contribute, and have their own opportunity as success. That is the core of the American Dream. I know all men are created equal and this is the mentality I will bring to Washington.

Instead of isolating from one another, lets begin to bring neighbors together by encouraging a reformed immigration system that allows those playing by the rules to have a fair path to citizenship and to help phase in any law abiding and contributing individual already here. And, if you are born in the United States it goes without saying you are already legally a citizen.

I will always support comprehensive immigration reform and will continue to advocate for the human rights of any person living in the US. We know that our country works better when all people are working together. Out of many, one.

Campaign Finance Policy

The simple reality is that right now in the United States of America those who have the most wealth now have the most influence and control over our electoral process. In the 2016 presidential election alone over a billion dollars was spent between the two candidates. That is not democratic, that is plutocratic. I believe that the best move to combat this is to overturn the citizens united ruling with either a constitutional amendment or court appeal. Whatever way it is done, it needs to happen.

Justice Stevens wrote in his dissenting opinion in 2010 that “a democracy cannot function effectively when its constituent members believe laws are being bought and sold.” Never has this been truer than in our most recent election cycle. We simply need to look at the rise of populism movements within both parties. Everyday Americans, including neighbors in our ninth district, feel that they have been left behind and ignored by the Washington elite. How is it fair for one person to be able to pump millions of dollars into an election cycle while the vast majority of people simply have the power of the ballot? Everyday that Citizens United is is in effect we continue to degrade the concept of “one person, one vote.”

We must not allow elections to be bought. Members of congress should not spend their days dialing for more money for the party and candidates should not be going from one fundraiser to the next. We need to be meeting with our neighbors and our constituents to under to understand the real needs in order to better the district and our country. The democracy is not intended to serve the desires of the elite yet that is exactly what we have in place with the culture of Super PACS.

It is time to get money out of politics and begin to address the actual problems we are facing. I do not expect my congressperson to be spending all of his or her time try to get another dollar from a hedge fund manager. That is not why we send them to DC. As your next congressman, I will fight to make sure that money is out of politics and everyday voices can be heard again.

Foreign Policy Statement

In our world today we our faced with many challenges, few of which match the potential danger that a terrorist attack has. There are many problems that need solving and the solutions are not always easy to come about. I do know, however, that fear for the sake of politics and gaining is not the answer. It is in times of fear that we make choices without considering the long term ramifications they might pose. It takes a real leader to step back and look for every possible consequence that every decision might hold. “Nuke them” is not an adequate foreign policy.

The threat of ISIS and any other terror organization in the US are very real. But we must also understand that we right now have US led collations and advisors on the ground in multiple countries as we also continue airstrikes on targeted locations. Absent of putting US soldiers on the ground, there is not much left in terms of force to escalate to. And let me be clear-I have no intention at present of supporting the use of United States Soldiers on the ground in countries such as Syria or Iraq. Each solider has a family, friends, and loved ones and the calculated risk of putting them in harm’s way is not worth the outcome, especially considering the amount of force we are already deploying on our enemies.

It is important for us to understand that an equivalent threat to an attack from the middle east is an attack from a homegrown terrorist, including US citizens. But we can combat both without using harmful rhetoric. Education and diplomacy are the best tools we have available to us.

I support the current fight we have against ISIS without anymore escalation unless absolutely necessary. Along with that, even eliminating ISIS itself will not stop terrorist attacks. We must not engage in unneeded wars and battles that give terror groups platforms to spew hate against us. To stop any homegrown threats, we must educate our citizens and have better access to mental health support. With the proper resources in place, we can make sure that we are not fighting our own people.

The dangers that face us today our real. But I believe that instead of succumbing to fear and hateful rhetoric that we can look at practical ways to keep our country safe. Your safety is my first priority as your congressperson and I will make sure that every choice we are making has your safety at heart. Let’s begin to find practical solutions and not radical ones that set us farther back. ^[5]