Steury, Yakym, Henry in race for Indiana US House District 2 previously held by Walorski

The Tribune is partnering with the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area and the American Democracy Project of Indiana University South Bend to publish candidates' answers to questions on the issues. The League and IUSB's ADP operates Vote411.org, a website with information about the candidates and their positions on key issues. The site also includes other tools to help navigate the voting process.

The Tribune has agreed to run candidate answers unedited, meaning any spelling, typographical or grammatical errors are the candidates' own. The Tribune is publishing only some of the questions from a selection of significant races. Additional questions and answers are available at Vote411.org.

Paul D. Steury, Democrat

Teacher

paulforall2022@gmail.com

paulforall22.com

facebook.com/paulforall22

Twitter: @paulforall22

William E. Henry, Libertarian

Disabled veteran; Co-Director of Liberty Offense; Habitat for Humanity ReStore Associate

contact@williamhenry.us

WilliamHenry.us

facebook.com/WillforLiberty

Rudolph (Rudy) Yakym III, Republican

Candidate has not responded.

What legislation and/or policies do you support that would help reduce healthcare and prescription drug prices?

Steury: Healthcare costs in America suffer from a lot of different issues. We have a much higher rate of administrative costs due to our complicated and adversarial insurance system. We need to streamline this, whether through a public option, single-payer, or expanded medicare system. Eliminating the administrative overhead by supporting the establishment of a real healthcare system is key to cutting costs. The inflation reduction act started the process of introducing negotiated prescription drug prices to save all Americans money. We need to keep expanding this and make sure we can use the power of the federal government as a primary buyer toOn top of this, less grand efforts like capping insulin copays at $35, something my opponent voted against, should be pushed at all opportunities. The American public already pays an incredible amount in support of research and development in our medicines. If US dollars go into development, medicines should be affordable for US citizens to purchase.

Yakym III: Candidate has not yet responded.

Henry: I would like to see government phased completely out of our personal healthcare. I believe government involvement has stifled healthcare innovations and has driven up the cost of basic healthcare needs. Outside of crimes, personal rights violations, and malpractice protections, the government doesn’t need to be involved in our personal healthcare choices. My experience in the drug laboratories helped me understand how arduous and costly it is to get the data and analytics done to get drugs approved. Before drug companies can get their medications to market the regulated process requires them to spend millions to gather the data needed to submit. This takes several years in many cases before drugs go to market. It also means only the richest and most influential pharmaceutical companies pass without much challenge. The larger companies lobby for difficulty, because they can afford the cost. Smaller companies can't. The current costly process drives the price up on all medicine.

What do you think are the biggest threats to US democracy and fair elections and how should they be addressed?

Steury: The biggest threat to US Democracy IS the attacks on fair elections. Voter fraud is nearly nonexistent. In study after study, it is nearly impossible to find any person that would commit in-person voter fraud with only a handful of cases every year out of 100s of millions of cast ballots. What is a danger though is threats against elected officials. Wild accusations of fraud when court case after court case offers no proof. We must put an end to these threats and ensure that every citizen is able to vote. I strongly support the John lewis voting rights act. I would also support stronger penalties for any person threatening election staff or elected officials. Additionally, patterns of false accusation must incur some penalties, depending on the severity.

Yakym III: Candidate has not yet responded.

Henry: We rely on the Secretaries of state to conduct fair and impartial elections, and in a time of more digital capability, we need to be able to completely verify and audit all elections so the people trust the process. We saw a lot of people upset after the last election in 2020 to the point of disorder. Libertarians want to ensure people have faith in our elections and the process and remove any partisan games. In the state of Indiana, currently only five of the 92 counties are audited to verify the vote. Voters can easily receive a secure receipt from their voting location. From there, they can track and verify their vote through a public electronic reporting system. This is a simple, affordable, and digital solution for precinct-up for tracking and verifying voting. We need to elect candidates like Jeff Maurer for Secretary of State, to ensure we have these simple, invaluable, and effective solution made by that administration to simply do better.

Inflation is at a 40-year high. If elected to Congress, what will you do to address this problem?

Steury: The main drivers of inflation are fuel and housing costs. This is a global issue in which the United States is roughly middle of the pack for peer nations. In the very long term, we have to continue opening new sources of green energy and support EV development to lower the demand for oil. That includes incentives and support for energy companies to make that transition. We also need to ensure strong labor support to make sure that wages keep up with inflation. In the short term though, we must enact policies that support the public. The Earned Income Tax Credit, monitors oil companies for price gouging, ensuring renters are protected from large rent hikes. The fight against inflation isn’t just about keeping prices down, it's about keeping wages up. That will have real effects on American income and let us build the next generation without leaving our neighbors behind.

Yakym III: Candidate has not yet responded.

Henry: I want to combat and challenge any budget increases. We must demand agencies tighten up their administrations and start giving the best service to their customers who employ them, the American People. I believe our government is receiving too much at this point and needs to be limited. There is a lot of fat that can be trimmed. Every agency is an investment of the American People. If an agency or a program is seen as depreciating in value and no longer cost-effective, the people have the liberty to lower funding, or close that investment down, or stop paying for poor services or products. Since 1913, the Federal Reserve has continuously depreciated the value of the American Dollar through inflation. We should have known there was a real problem in 1933 when President Roosevelt, by executive order forbid coin hoarding and holding silver and gold coins in the United States. We can’t continue to operate our country in such a deficit. We are negative more than $31 Trillion.

How can we fix the Social Security system so that it doesn’t go bankrupt over the next 15 years? Do you support reducing benefits, raising taxes, or some other solution?

Steury: We have to protect the benefits earned by Americans, including social security. Removing the income tax cap would be an important step to bolster the system. But to ensure no loss of benefits, we would also have to consider other options. A one-time infusion of funds to the program would be one way to strengthen its solvency over time. Other estimates ask for increases in taxes or other measures and we have to look at all of them. Currently, 9% of seniors are under the poverty rate, which is already too much. If social security were allowed to go insolvent, that rate could jump to nearly 40%. We must consider all options. The Republican senate though, led by Rick Scott has said they want to make programs like social security sunset after 5 years without reauthorization. They want to take away those benefits earned over a lifetime of work if the whim of the Senate won’t reauthorize. We cannot allow this.

Yakym III: Candidate has not yet responded.

Henry: Our Social Security program is failing. I would like to see Social Security eventually phased out, or replaced. We do not have ways to interact and grow our own dollars. Americans should be given an option to opt-out and create alternative investment or retirement savings opportunities. This way those individual investors, The People, can watch and interact and plan with the dollars in their personal account. I’ve heard my whole life Social Security is going bankrupt, and citizens can’t effectively plan a future around a fund that so many have their hands in, but aren’t replenishing. It isn’t like we haven’t seen this coming, and I believe right now we have a great opportunity to create alternative opportunities and give the future generations programs that bring financial success, and/or simply sunset the program altogether.

What is your position on when abortion should be legally permitted? Do you think that Congress should pass a law to make abortion legal (or illegal) in every US state, or should such decisions be left to the states?

Steury: Roe must be codified by Congress. It is not the place of the government, federal or state, to force people to endure pregnancy. The issue must remain between the pregnant person, their doctors, and whomever else they choose to speak to. Pregnancy is far too dangerous for the unprepared, with too many lasting potential issues for the government to involve itself. We must protect women, not force them to undergo pregnancy for the benefit of the state.

Yakym III: Candidate has not yet responded.

Henry: Although I have a personal aversion to the idea of abortion, I respect medical privacy, and I understand these procedures are needed in instances of rape, incest, and medical necessity. I believe mental health plays a huge role in these personal medical decisions. If any legislation moves at the federal level, I will fight to ensure privacy and safeguard the personal mental health aspect to remain closely intact with the physical health aspect. It should remain left to the individual, their family, and their doctors to decide the best medical options for their future. I believe the government should have no role in controlling or dictating our individual healthcare choices made in private. When we relinquish control of our own personal health choices to the government, the government will begin to further limit our personal health choices. The government’s job isn’t to dictate personal health decisions, it’s to protect those decisions.

Many Americans are concerned about mass shootings, especially in schools. What specific federal gun laws would you like to add or repeal?

Steury: In a country like ours, with so many people living in rural areas, far from any timely response from police or emergency services, people have to be able to defend themselves. We have communities of hunters and sportspeople that are responsible gun owners. None of these groups need weapons designed to give soldiers superior killing power at range and speed on the battlefield. The majority of mass shootings occur with new weapons sold without proper oversight or review. The Protect our kid's act is a great start. But we need the help and input from responsible gun owners to put a system in place to protect our schools, concerts, and churches. We already have two generations of American kids traumatized by shooter alerts. I’ve had two students shot in recent years. We have to work together so we don’t need bulletproof backpacks anymore.

Yakym III: Candidate has not yet responded.

Henry: I would like to see most, if not all, gun laws repealed. Indiana is now a constitutional carry state and we have already seen positive acts and eliminations in response of attempts made by criminals. I believe in the unopposed Constitutional right to carry responsibly. No person or location should be presumed unarmed, or defenseless by anyone. Police protocol presumes all civilians could possibly be armed; we should make that the policy of would-be criminals too. It’s in our best interest to abide by our Constitution and preserve our individual right to bear arms. Good people will eliminate threats as they reveal themselves in the moment. When seconds matter, the police are minutes away, and we must be able to act in the moment. The Supreme Court ruled police have no constitutional duty to protect citizens, and they proved that in Uvalde and Jefferson High Schools in Texas. We must all be allowed to defend and protect ourselves, our children, and our publicly owned property.

In an era of political polarization and negative partisanship it is often a struggle to promote bipartisan compromise, collaboration, and even courtesy. How do you see yourself fitting into this political landscape?

Steury: I come from the background of being a teacher and environmental educator. We have to work across partisan lines with anyone willing to do so. I don’t care where someone comes from as long as they are willing to move forward together. This does not mean I will ignore bad actors in office that are holding our country and planet for ransom for their own gains. But I will always work with any person acting in good faith to try to make things better for the next generation.

Yakym III: Candidate has not yet responded.

Henry: I believe we all agree on more than we disagree. We all agree we need to do things differently, and some leaders have seemed unwilling to reach across the aisle and compromise on several nonpartisan issues. I am willing to work with anyone who will put in the work to make something positive happen for a nonpartisan solution. I think everyone can agree we should balance the federal budget. I think we can all agree our veterans should have the best healthcare available. I believe we all shouldn’t be paying so much in taxes. I think Americans shouldn’t be spending so much on their health insurance premiums or prescription drugs. I believe we need to end war. If you believe these things too, it’s a matter of compromise on how we get so many things done. I believe I am a candidate who can advocate real solutions and fight on behalf of all Hoosiers in Congress.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Steury vs Yakym vs Henry in race for Indiana US House District 2