Aaron Hermes

Election Integrity

The technology and systems currently used to record the vast majority of votes in this country are flawed and rife for potential abuse. Correcting the flaws and safeguarding the process must be our upmost priority, otherwise no other laws or policies really matter. Because without a true democracy of and by the People, the establishment elite will simply install who they want in office, and those people will make the laws as the establishment class sees fit.

But there are solutions and it's not too late if we take action now. We can solve this problem using ancient technology like paper and ultra modern technology such as blockchain. My proposed solutions would involve at least 5 layers of protection to make sure our votes are not in any way tampered with. They would be written into law as national standards that all voting districts and private companies making the voting technology would need to adhere to.

Protecting the Second Amendment

The 2A is not about deer hunting, it's about our Natural Rights including our Right to defend ourselves from a tyrannical government if needed. Those Rights don't come from signed pieces of paper, they come from our Creator and the Founders understood that. Our government is designed to be subservient to the People. Our collectively chosen governance has no authority to take away Rights it didn't create to begin with. As it is, there are too many gun regulations. How can States and cities create gun laws that don't respect our Constitutionally protected 2A when the U.S. Constitution is the Supreme Law of the land? Not one person I've asked can tell me. What we need is education and safety training around guns. I'm open to other ideas, however you won't see me supporting any type of "Red Flag" gun legislation that would preemptively take away someone's right to bear arms without due process. We have over 300 million guns in the public's hands. There is no law that will make them all disappear and any attempt to do so will only leave them in criminal hands. Notice there aren't ever mass shootings in places like courthouses and secure buildings? Perhaps, albeit sadly due to the times, armed guards, checkpoints, and teachers with the proper training and credentials who request to carry in our schools are the best ways to protect our children without infringing on law-abiding citizens' Rights. No one wants to see innocent lives taken, most especially in our schools. However those types of attacks are extremely rare, as emotionally charged as they are. Pretty much in every modern case mass shooters have been on psychotropic drugs as well. Maybe that needs to be studied more in depth. Gun violence is actually at historical lows when looking at FBI statistics. What goes underreported are the numbers of lives saved by guns, which is estimated to be in the millions per year. So count on me to stand tall for the Second Amendment and for the education and safety surrounding guns.

Supporting Our Troops

I fully support our troops. They deserve the best equipment and medical care available, especially after they’ve bravely served our country. I applaud President Trump in these efforts but more can be done as well. Our troops also deserve not to be put into harm’s way without a clear and present danger and objective reasoning. I will support the troops by giving them the tools and medical care they need while also not supporting endless wars with unclear objectives that create a never-ending state of war. If our country is in danger or threatened by another State or terroristic entity, and when diplomacy is no longer an option, then I have no issue with defending ourselves with the appropriate military response. I also believe in Peace through strength, and our military must continue to be the mightiest in the world. I support the troops, because without them defending our People, our Liberties and our Constitution, the Republic we hold so dear would cease to exist.

Internet Bill of Rights

Big Tech has too much influence and interference in our electoral process. It's come out that the biggest search engine in the world with over 90% of online search traffic changed their algorithms to benefit the Democratic presidential nominee to the tune of 2.6-16 million votes in their favor in 2016! A company with that much traffic and influence should not be lawfully allowed to do that, and not taking action now creates a dangerous precedent which could very well be the undoing of our democratic republic.

We need to reign in Big Tech and get them out of the business of secretly meddling and colluding in our elections. We should consider sunshine regulations allowing certified 3rd party access to private algorithms insuring the American People are not being maliciously manipulated in our modern Internet centered world. We also need stronger whistleblower protections for employees of private companies. Sunshine is a good disinfectant and we need more of it.

Big Tech also needs to end their censorship of independent voices who are exercising their non-violent free speech rights. It doesn't matter if Big Tech wants to favor the left or right politically, if Big Tech is censoring individual's free speech while also changing algorithms to affect elections then I take big issue with that. I would call it out whether they were siding with Democrats, Republicans or Independents. It's reprehensible behavior and can't be allowed.

That's why I support an Internet Bill of Rights. Just because we are visiting or interacting with a private server or company doesn't mean we don't own our data and the content we create. A simple analogy is this: If you take a picture at the park then visit your friend's house and bring over a print of the photo to share while you're visiting does your friend now own your photo or have the right to copy it and sell it to their friends? Of course not, and neither does Big Tech have that right just because we visit them on private servers.

The exact contents of this Bill would require rigorous debate but my intentions would be to make our personal data secure and our Rights respected in digital public squares and social media sites. There is too much manipulation, too much selling and sharing of our data without our consent and too much spying going on and we need to end it, now. That includes ending the boundless and warrantless spying by the Federal Government as well! The Government above all else needs to respect the Constitutional Rights of Its People not to be searched without a warrant, and in this modern Digital Age that might need some more spelling out inshrined in Law. I'm a proud nerd and I know how to ask the right questions and phrase the correct laws to fix this.

The Big Media Complex

Fake News used to be laughed at as a theory but now everyone takes it for granted as fact. It's because 90% of what Americans see, read and hear is controlled by 6 parent corporations along with their 250-300 executives. We can't allow this level of monopolistic control over the flow of information. There is way too much control and too many filters in place and we need to do something about it for the sake of our dear Republic. The lying and manipulation by Big Media is out of control and needs to be reigned in, now. Elect me and I'll see to it.

Income Tax

When the income tax was created a little over 100 years ago it was a voluntary 1% tax on the top 1% of wage earners. Somehow our federal government managed to stay in business without it for over 140 years beforehand. I believe our country can survive and thrive without the income tax again, if not immediately in full then at least in a much less burdensome fashion for the middle and lower class income earners. Did you know the top 50% of wage earners pay 97% of tax revenue collected by the IRS, while the top 1% pay about 27% of the overall total? The bottom 50% of wage earners only pay 3% of the total tax revenue collected!

I would propose eliminating income tax completely for the bottom 25%-50%+ of earners with tiered rates leading up to the first tax bracket and a sensible plan which would end up generating more overall tax revenue. Did you know that the Trump tax cuts ended up generating record amounts of tax revenue for the IRS?

Reducing the National Debt

Reduce Federal spending and Debt! I know a thing or two about saving money and paying off debts as a small business owner and will be looking at ways to lower our budget and national debt at every turn!

Strong Border Security

While a wall is especially important in some places along the border we also need high tech border surveillance systems with quick-response teams who can respond to illegal crossings, malicious suspects and terroristic threats. Using drones, ground sensors, remote cameras and other tech should be just as important, if not more so, than a wall when it comes to strengthening and protecting our borders. Our border patrol needs to have the capability to respond to any portion of the border within a small timeframe. I'll support common sense measures that support them.

We also need an immigration system that works. My family is a family of immigrants, like most Americans. But immigrants who came here legally. Without borders and rule of law we will have no country at all. Some people actually want open borders and I oppose their idealistic fantasies not based on reality or sustainability. I want to help others as much as possible. But without restoring and correcting our problems here at home first we won't ever be able to sustain help for anyone else. There's a lot of work to do in order to fix the immigration system and I'll do what it takes, while protecting American's interests first.

Combatting Human Trafficking

I would do everything in my power to end human trafficking and child kidnapping, supporting any initiatives that combat the problems we face. The hundreds of thousands of children that go missing per year in the U.S. alone is simply unacceptable. That includes strengthening our border.

Health Care for All

I don't believe health care is a natural Right because it involves the service of another human being, and no human is born indebted to serve another on a fundamental level. However, I believe that healthcare is a privilege and service we can afford and should provide for ourselves, our loved ones and our future generations at fair and affordable rates. I believe it's humanly and humanely possible. The sad fact is there's too much "industry" in the "Health Care Industry" and not enough Health Care. The sad fact is there is too much greed and closed loop systems in the Health Care Industry that prevent the grassroots fair-market economy from doing its thing to maintain balance and the best prices for a respective service or drug.

We need to cut the red tape when it comes to the Insurance-Pharmaceutical-Healthcare Complex to allow the free market to thrive, and it can't happen soon enough.

I am open to other solutions as well, but I will never support a mandatory tax or insurance bill for the privilege of being born in the U.S.

With no or lower income taxes it would also be easier to afford health insurance for low and middle income earners, especially if it was a reasonable fair market rate. If we can go to the Moon and maintain the largest military on Earth, surely we can accomplish fair market insurance rates and a compassionate and healthy future for the American People. I promise to work hard to achieve results.

Abortion

I don't like labels because I'm an independent thinker, but if you had to lump me onto a side I would side with pro-life. I side with the unborn human being who I believe is a human and a person when inside of it's mother. When does life truly begin? That point can be debated. But I believe a developed fetus is a precious, conscious and sovereign being, dependent on the mother but an individual nonetheless. I don't think an extra heartbeat, an extra set of lungs and a brain etc are body parts that make up the mother's sovereign anatomy. I don't think a baby doesn't have any rights until it is born. I mean, should someone who murders a pregnant mother be charged with one or two murders? I think two.

However, I don't believe in the outright banning of abortions either. If at any time the health of the expecting mother is compromised by the pregnancy then I believe it's her right and her choice to make that decision. But outside of health complications and maybe a few other limited factors (I want to hear from women and doctors about what those factors could be, I know rape is one), I believe abortions with a viable and developed fetus should not be allowed. Did you know there are over a hundred families looking to adopt for every single brand new baby born that's available for adoption? Did you also know that we are facing a possible population shortage and more people are having less children?

What we need to change is how we treat abortions as routine procedures when they are very serious business. Sadly, they're also a big business. We need to end the sale of fetal body parts from aborted humans, which I find abhorrent.

Make Congress Great!

We need term limits. We need to permanently end insider trading by members of Congress. We need to end the practice of Congresspeople simultaneously holding positions on boards of private companies which are significantly financially affected by laws they vote on and deals they receive. We need to end the revolving door of Congresspeople becoming lobbyists upon immediately leaving office. We need to limit the time spent fundraising while in office. Most Congresspeople spend between 30-40 hours per week fundraising, basically another full or part-time job. That's a lot of time that could be spent working for the American People! Make Congress Great!

Environment

Last but not least on this short list of my priorities if you elect me to Congress is standing up for the Environment. I love clean air and clean water, how about you? I was a Boy Scout growing up in Clear Lake (Troop 848) and I've always loved Nature and the Great Outdoors. I've always considered myself a custodian of the Outdoors and someone who wants to protect our beautiful lands and flowing waters. However, what I'm not a fan of are carbon credit taxes or the great carbon dioxide climate scare. CO2 makes up 0.03% of Earth's atmosphere yet it's the new environmental boogieman and we better pay trillions of dollars to private companies who do nothing to offset the carbon issue, all right now in order to survive! At least that's what the Democrats are telling us! What we aren't doing is focusing on much more pressing environmental issues, such as plastic and contaminants in our water and oceans. Heavy metals in our air and soil. We aren't focused on how outsourcing our power needs to places like Mexico, where they have far fewer regulations, just creates more net pollution that blows right back over the U.S. We have beautiful solutions at our disposal however. One of those solutions is hemp. Hemp can not only be turned into textiles and paper, but fuel and plastics that decompose quicker as well! That's right, we can grow our own fuel! One of the early Model T's in fact ran on hemp ethanol, which today can be produced at 1/5th the price of gasoline. We don't need to shut down the oil industry which has served humanity extremely well, and for which we have an endless supply of crude. However, shale pockets have been drying up and we need to work on creating more selections at the pump which are economically and environmentally feasible, while at the same time putting billions of dollars into farmer's pockets and the local economy, including those right here in District 22 where hemp grows incredibly well. (Anyone ever heard of a little town up north called Hempstead?) If we start producing more hemp for its myriad of uses then the prices will invariably go down as well. This is just one of many environmental issues I am passionate about.

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