JOHNATHAN MCFARLAND
FOR U.S. SENATE
Johnathan's Priorities:
Johnathan would like to see Missouri move forward, to reap the benefits that progressice states enjoy. Before that is possible though, we must address our most difficult issues, and explore innovative, creative solutions. Outlined below are Johnathan's top priorities. Please take some time to review his plans for our great state!
Protecting Missouri's Workers
Johnathan does not support harmful "Right to Work," legislation. Unions have fought long and hard to guarantee employee rights. Where unions are established and where any employee benefits from said union, dues should be paid guaranteeing union strength and their ability to provide for the membership. Unions benefit everyone, and should be allowed to remain as strong as possible, and encouraged to expand.
He also believes that equality with Unions is imperative. Unions provide a template for all employers regarding treatment of workers. Because of this, if minorities are excluded from obtaining union jobs, it creates a disenfranchised, low-wage work force that is more appealing to employers than union workers. This results in lowered wages for all workers.
Johnathan supports a $15 minimum wage. It is important to the economy of our country that employees everywhere have a livable wage. It is well known that wages have not increased at the same rate as inflation. There is also significant imbalance between the increase in wages for top earners versus the average worker. Correcting this imbalance, as well as adjusting the work week, will have a hugely positive impact on Missouri's economy.
Finally, Johnathan is opposed to the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). Trade agreements like NAFTA, and the TPP put the success of American and even international business ahead of the American worker. We saw the economic decline caused by NAFTA, and TPP would have a profoundly negative impact on the working class in the U.S. He believes it to be a wholly un-American concept.
Criminal Justice Reform
Our criminal justice system has been revealed in the past two years, as extremely biased against minorities, the mentally ill, and disabled individuals. From policing to sentencing, from overworked public defenders, and crooked prosecutors, to our crowded prisons; reform is necessary from top to bottom.
Johnathan supports the decriminalization of marijuana, and programming to begin the review and release of persons sentenced to more than ten years in prison for marijuana related charges.
Police should not be equipped to wage military campaigns in our neighborhoods, no matter what the situation. They are not trained to react appropriately with such equipment, a point which has been strongly indicated that in the events of the past two years. Our armed forces, which spent $602 billion in 2015, should be made available if any such military operation is needed. Equipping police to act as military against American citizens does not adhere to the idiom with which we, as a nation, identify.
Johnathan believes that police should be required to wear body cameras, that cannot be turned off. In addition to this, he supports implementing and emphasizing deescalation training, substance abuse intervention training, and intrinsic bias testing, which would indicate persons who would require additional training and possibly therapy. Police should be trained to identify mental illness, and cognitive disorders, and how to appropriately help those individuals find routes to assistance.
Johnathan also opposes capital punishment in Missouri. We pride ourselves in this country on our ethics and morality, but continue to practice barbaric methods such as the death penalty. An alarming number of people on death row were convicted without reliable DNA results, and we cannot guarantee that our system of determining guilt is without flaw or bias. The death penalty is used disproportionately against minorities, which indicates bias within our criminal justice system. There is simply no reason for a civilized society to implement the death penalty.
Sustainability in Missouri
It is imperative that we make a serious effort to ensure Missouri is on a sustainable path. Large portions of our major cities are in ruins, our air quality has worsened since 2013, and our economy is not recovering fast enough to prevent our population from further decline.
Our negative impact on the environment is strongly indicated by research and science. We cannot afford to continue practices that are destroying where we must live. Fracking, mountain top removal, reliance on fossil fuels, and waste creating nuclear energy all must be phased out, and replaced with sustainable energy options. Doing so would have the added benefit of job creation. Johnathan favors an increase in the use of solar energy. Solar installations in the state of Missouri have increased in use and continue to decrease in price; dropping 66% from 2010, 12% of that in 2015 alone. Missouri is now ranked 19th in the nation for installed solar capacity.
We must embrace innovation in technology, and entrepreneurship to experience the success and growth that other cities across the country currently enjoy.
Johnathan's platform centers around building a sustainable Missouri. Including plans to increase use of renewable energy sources, improve our air quality, increase household income, create new jobs and revenue, and develop a more inclusive state government. He would like to see a Missouri that is a prosperous state; for, and by, the people.