Scott Ploof

scott.ploof@selu.edu
985-981-4895

I. Iraq War

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita proved that by deploying our national guard to foreign lands leaves
us vulnerable here at home, by both attacks and natural disasters. The overabundance of funds
that is being spent in Iraq needs to be redirected to the Gulf Coast Region to fund the ongoing
recovery from our devastating storms and floods. The equipment that is necessary for our
military to rescue or defend our citizens has been damaged or destroyed in war and needs to be
replaced so that we are prepared for future disasters.

II. Single-payer Health Care

It is my belief that the United States should look to Canada for a model for our health care
system. By establishing a Single-Payer Health Care System, we would be able to drastically
reduce the cost of health care by allowing the government to negotiate with providers.
Consumers would enjoy equal or better care than they currently receive because hospitals and
private practices could remain privately owned. This system is the logical balance between the
universal coverage provided by socialized health care and the diversity of consumer preferences
that is provided under a free-market system.

III. Fair Trade

The WTO, NAFTA and DR-CAFTA are based on the flawed philosophy of globalization and favor
the desires of multinational corporations over the needs of workers. Under these agreements,
small farmers are overtaken by agribusinesses (which are subsidized by the government) and
local industries are edged out of the marketplace due to their inability to compete on economies
of scale. By moving their operations to smaller countries with weaker economies and a less
established government infrastructure, corporations are able to bypass environmental and
workers’ safety regulations. To counteract this, we must provide tax incentives for companies that
produce domestic jobs and impose tax penalties for those who outsource their operations.

IV. Voting Integrity and Full Public Funding

To solve the crisis facing our electoral system, we need to eliminate private contributions to
candidates and institute a publicly funded system. Currently, our elected officials spend much of
their time courting lobbyists, prostituting the powers their positions in order to obtain funding for
their elections, rather than working for the good of their constituencies. Having our candidates
rely on public funding for their campaigns would eliminate their dependency on lobbyists and
transition us to a “government for the people”. Gerrymandering is not ethical and should be
recognized as a criminal offence with harsh penalties. The Legislature should not be the only
entity responsible for drawing our districts. Our State Supreme Court should have to approve any
changes made to the boundaries of voting districts. To ensure the integrity of election results, our
voting laws should require voter-verified paper audit trails for electronic voting machines, open
source code and mandatory random recounts.

V. Poverty

As the wealthiest nation in the world, it is shameful that our poverty rate is increasing rather than
decreasing. I want to ensure that our social safety net does not become unraveled but rather
strengthened. To do this, we need to establish a fair minimum wage so that our working class
can support their families. We need to reduce the tax burden on our middle and working classes,
which would help raise their standards of living and decrease the gap between rich and poor. By
providing efficient public transportation in our cities and towns, we will relieve our elderly and
working class citizens of another unnecessary and suppressive burden.