Taking a Stand – Economy, Health Care and Education
By Ronald Mitchell
I believe with strong leadership, hard work and a dedication to problem solving, we can improve the lives of our society and create a new vision for Northern Virginia.
The Economy
There is an enormous need to improve the economic climate within our communities throughout northern Virginia. Thousands of families throughout NOVA are struggling to afford the expenses associated with life, including childcare. To help families within NOVA I support President Obama’s strategy to expand the child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to help provide relief for parents and care givers. Currently only 35 percent of the first $3,000 incurred from childcare expenses by a family with one child and a family with two or more children the first $6,000. The credit is not refundable, therefore upper-income families unreasonably benefit while families that earn less than $50,000 a year obtain less than a third of the tax credit. I advocate reforming the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to ensure low-income families to receive more credit for their child care debuts.
Additionally, it is imperative that we create training programs for clean technologies.
I advocate for additional funding to expand federal job training programs to include green technologies training, like advanced manufacturing and weatherization training. This type of job training program will help fuel our economy and create sustainable green jobs.
I support President Obama’s plan to help expand lending to small business through tax cuts and assistance to community banks. The program is designed to have $30 billion in returned cash for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) made available to help smaller banks lend to local businesses. Small businesses are the fabric of our economy it is imperative that we provide financial support to create jobs, ignite entrepreneurship and innovation.
Health Care
The Healthcare system in this country is broken and I will fight to fix the system. The United States pays more than any other industrialized country, yet lacks national coverage for all Americans. At the same time, healthcare is inextricably linked to our future fiscal health. Therefore, in order to reduce costs and improve quality for all Americans, three principles must be met in any legislation that passes congress: (1) national coverage; (2) ending insurance company abuses; (3) providing choice and competition in the market.
To meet these principles healthcare reform must contain several different provisions. First, we must find a plan to increase the number of Americans with healthcare. If done properly, it would expand the insurance pool, include more Americans and reduce the costs of premiums. Second, Americans must be protected from the worst insurance company abuses by ending their practices of denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions, capping total coverage, and dropping or reducing coverage when people get sick and need it the most. Additionally, reform should mandate how much of a patient’s premium must go toward their care, as opposed to the marketing, profits and salaries for insurance companies.
To provide choice and competition into the market reform should include a national exchange, whereby individuals and small businesses can join together to expand the insurance pool for cheaper insurance. Included within this exchange should be a national option. A national option would be non-profit and have the ability to provide comprehensive care for the best price. Including an American option in the exchange would keep private insurers costs from rising and keep them honest.