Ray "Skip" Sandman: 2018 Election Guide
Welcome to WCCO.com's 2018 political guide!
We reached out to all Minnesota candidates running for U.S Senate, Governor, U.S Congress, Attorney General, Secretary of State and State Auditor this fall. Candidates were asked to provide a two-minute video discussing their platform as well as answer a set of our viewer's questions.
Above is the video and below are the answers Ray "Skip" Sandman provided. This is not a paid advertisement nor does WCCO endorse any candidate.
Responses from Skip Sandman, Independent candidate for the 8th District:
Do you support changing the law to release non-violent drug offenders currently serving federal prison terms?
I do support decriminalizing marijuana. As a country, we have spent billions of dollars shuffling U.S. citizens into the criminal justice system due to non-violent offenses. We incarcerate more of our citizens per capita, by far, than any other county. The costs of housing and feeding these people is a huge waste of money. We are also losing out on taxes. I want to find a way to work towards fixing this problem.
Should Congress appropriate $25 billion to build a security wall along the U.S.-Mexico border?
We do not have the money to waste on a wall across our southern border. It will not make our country one bit more secure. Illegal border crossings are and have been at the lowest levels for decades now. Close to half of the people who are in our country illegally are what are known as "over stayers." These people came here on visas and remained after their visas expired. No wall can stop this from happening.
Should children brought to the United States with their parents illegally be given a path to U.S. citizenship, or should they be deported to their native countries?
The NACA or Dreamers should immediately be naturalized. These are Americans. We have educated these kids, and now, as they are becoming tax paying citizens, we are going to cruelly send them to countries that are foreign to them. This does not make sense from a humanitarian or economic viewpoint.
Do you think North Korea will "denuclearize," as President Trump says it will?
Kim Jong-un has no intention of "denuclearizing." For decades, the North Korean regime has sought recognition to legitimize their dictatorship. Kim Jong-un received that recognition when our president met with him. It has been reported that the North Koreans are already ramping up their nuclear program. This was a completely foreseeable response had the president listened to the experts. Once a country gains that knowledge, there is no going back.
Do you believe in climate change, and should the U.S. rejoin the Paris climate accords?
Climate change is a fact. We are the only country on the planet not signed on to the Paris climate accords. We need to be at that table. The U.S. is losing its leadership position in the world. That means we no longer have a say in how things are going in our world. This is a terrible position to negotiate anything from trade deals to peace around the globe.
Canada is retaliating for the U.S. tariffs by imposing tariffs of its own on Minnesota products. Among the Minnesota products: grain, aluminum, boats and boat accessories, packaged dairy products, ATVs, and much more. China imposed retaliatory tariffs on Minnesota soybeans and pork products. Do you believe it will hurt Minnesota producers?
In the short term, these tariffs will hurt Minnesota producers, but in the long run, prices will stabilize and even go down a bit.
