Jason Lewis: 2020 Election Guide
Welcome to WCCO.com's 2020 political guide!
We reached out to all Minnesota candidates running for U.S Senate and U.S Congress this fall. Candidates were asked to provide a two-minute video discussing their platform as well as answer a set of our viewers' questions.
Above is the video and below are the answers Jason Lewis provided. This is not a paid advertisement nor does WCCO endorse any candidate.
Responses from Jason Lewis, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate:
Do you believe racial disparities exist in Minnesota and across the country? If so, what policy changes would you propose to combat this?
The government needs to strongly and forcefully enforce our laws to root out instances of racial discrimination where they exist. Under the Fourteenth Amendment, no action can deny anyone equal protection. I unequivocally support that and would continue to do so as a United States Senator.
Do you believe the federal government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been adequate? If not, what could have been done differently? Do you believe there should be a national mask mandate?
Between the China travel ban (which Democrats opposed and decried as xenophobic) and actions taken to shore up medical supplies and resources to "flatten the curve," the Administration's approach has proven effective. Having seen a drastic reduction in cases and mortality rates, it's time to fully reopen our economy. As to the question of a national mask mandate, I believe that individuals and business owners are best able to manage such decisions, but if government is to take action it must be at the state level in accordance with the Tenth Amendment.
What policy changes would you propose to jump-start the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? Should the federal government pass an additional stimulus bill? If so, what should it include?
I was all in on "15 days to slow the spread" and its initial extension so that our health care infrastructure could shore up and "flatten the curve." I have been proposing since April that we lift once and for all this economic lockdown that has plagued and derailed what had previously been the best economy on record, thanks to the tax cuts I helped pass in Congress. Americans indeed need more relief from the fallout surrounding COVID and the lockdown, such as SBA loan forgiveness which I support and my opponent opposes, based on her latest "NO" vote on COVID relief bills.
What do you think is the root cause of the civil unrest in our community and across the country?
The genesis of the unrest in our communities has been Democrats' tolerance and even tacit encouragement of violence. I believe its catalyst can be traced back to the night when Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey issued a stand down order to the officers protecting the 3rd Precinct Headquarters as well as the government's failure to ask for the National Guard. Democrats decided they were okay with miles' worth of government property and small businesses being burned to the ground. The situation was made worse when Senator Tina Smith called for more "righteous protest" after days of looting and arson and said that the role police play in society is "dangerously wrong." Government's most fundamental duty is to protect life, liberty and property, and radical Democrats have decided to completely abandon that duty.
Do you believe that funding for police departments should change, and if so, how should those funds be redirected? Should the federal government implement national police standards?
As the husband of a former St. Paul police officer, I proudly stand with the brave men and women of law enforcement and I'm proud to have been endorsed by nearly every police union in the state. Not only am I vehemently opposed to the radical defund the police movement, I believe more funding and resources are needed now in the wake of this plague of violence that is now gripping our nation, and I would support those measures in the United States Senate.
Do you support legalizing the recreational use of marijuana?
I support the states' right to decide this issue.
What are your thoughts on climate change? What policies, if any, do you support to address it?
We can address these issues without crippling our economy as those on the far left have proposed we do with insane proposals like the Green New Deal. I support the Enbridge Line 3 replacement pipeline, which is currently so old and dilapidated it can only run at 50% capacity. My opponent repeatedly refuses to take a stand. We can have clean and responsible copper and nickel mining on the Iron Range while simultaneously protecting the boundary waters. Only narrow-minded radicals would view this as a binary choice.
Do you believe the Affordable Care Act should be replaced or revised? If so, in what way?
I am proud of my efforts to reform Obamacare and lower premiums, deductibles, and drug costs while in the 115th Congress. We now have two competing visions of what direction health care in America should take. A market-based system of private medicine with a safety net, or a heedless slide into a single-payer government-run system.
Democrats now insist the only way to fix the skyrocketing premiums and deductibles that have been foisted upon us by Obamacare (which conservatives like me warned would happen) is to embrace a single payer style healthcare system such as "Medicare For All." Plans such as those supported by my opponent could force up to 50 rural Minnesota hospitals to close.
Moreover, for all the justified concern over rising drug prices, much of the out-of-pocket increase is manifestly due to shrinking drug formularies and sky-high deductibles under Obamacare. In other words, a lack of coverage.
