Nancy Wade, Candidate for U.S. Congress, 5th District

Candidate Full Name: Nancy Wade

Office: U.S. Congress, 5th District

Party: Green Party

Email Address: nancy@wadeincongress.org

Web Site: wadeincongress.org

Campaign Name: Wade In Congress

Campaign Office Mailing Address: P.O. Box 408370, 4850 N. Broadway, Chicago, IL 60640

Phone: 773-850-1629

Survey Questions (Character limit of 2,000 per response)

1. Please tell us about yourself, your background and why you believe you are qualified to hold this office.

I am a life-long activist. As an activist I have often been in the position of advocating with my elected representatives for progressive policies. I found that my representatives listened more to their moneyed donors than to the people. Taking Gandhi's advice to "Be the change you wish to see in the world" I decided to run for congress to give people in the 5th District an opportunity to vote their progressive values.

I served as President or Vice-President of my local civic organization, Horner Park West Neighborhood Association 1991 - 2007, and lead campaigns to win a park and playground for the local school, protect the neighborhood from predatory real-estate speculation, and close a drug house on my block. I served on the Pritzker Local School Council 1995 - 1997. I was a volunteer organizer with MoveOn 2008 - 2011 before becoming active in the Green Party in 2011.

Education: Masters of Teaching Language Arts, Northeastern Illinois University 2005. Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Communication, University of Minnesota 1978.

2. What are your thoughts on President Obama's plan for military action in Iraq and Syria?

The demand for fossil fuels and the desire of the Western fossil fuel industry to control those resources is the root of a majority of the conflicts in the Middle East. We must immediately implement a broad-scale move away from fossil fuels toward sustainable sources of energy. The most powerful strategy we could have to end conflicts in the Middle East is to remove the motivation to defend fossil fuel interests there.

To defend fossil fuel interests now we are charging head-long into an ever-deeper quagmire in Syria and Iraq. We seem not to have learned the lessons of the phantom WMD's that were invented as an excuse for invading Iraq in 2003. ISIS, while a reprehensible group that has committed horrible atrocities, is not an all-powerful monster as it is being portrayed. I would not have voted to send arms to Syrian rebels that, as has happened already, will be either sold to or captured by ISIS. There are more effective ways to deal with ISIS, as Chelsea Manning has outlined:

3. Several major retailers recently disclosed they experienced data breaches. What can Congress do to help prevent this?

It is not necessary for Congress to become involved. Consumers are demanding greater security. American credit companies will be moving to EMV chip technology, as Europe already has. EMV chip technology is becoming the global standard for credit card and debit card payments. Named after its original developers (Europay, MasterCard and Visa), this smart chip technology features payment instruments (cards, mobile phones, etc.) with embedded microprocessor chips that store and protect cardholder data. This standard has many names worldwide and may also be referred to as: "chip and PIN" or "chip and signature."

4. Can the budget deficit be controlled only by spending cuts or does the federal government need to raise more revenue? If you favor more revenue, should there be a general tax hike?

There are many options for reducing or eliminating the national debt without creating more poverty and continuing to rob from the 99%. To name a few: By far the greatest federal spending is on the military, which consumes about 57% of spending. We should cut the military budget by 25% over ten years. End the wars that are actually a type of subsidy for the oil and gas industries. End subsidies for fossil fuel production. Offshore tax havens should be made illegal. Tax carbon production at levels that reflect the damage that such production is inflicting on the climate. Tax Wall Street speculation with a small transaction tax. This would cut a major portion of the debt as well as curb Wall Street's reckless gambling with our economy. Tax capital gains at the same rate as other income. Eliminate income tax for those making less than $25,000 a year, while increasing the tax rate on those making more than a million dollars a year to 45% and eliminate loopholes. There are many more changes we should make to balance the budget, make our economy sustainable, and protect the environment. None of them should involve balancing the budget on the backs of the 99%.

5. What are your thoughts on immigration reform?

Undocumented immigrants who are already residing and working in the United States, and their families, should be granted a legal status which includes the chance to become U.S. citizens within five years. Persons should be excluded from this process only if they present a clear and present danger to other members of our society. I advocate an immediate end to the deportations of those who have not committed a felony. I support the DREAM Act.

We must develop policies that are based upon a respect for human rights, justice, and fairness. It must be acknowledged that the trigger for such an influx of immigrants in this country has been largely due to unfair US trade policies. If it were economically possible to provide for their families many would choose to remain in their native countries. Any immigration policy should be seen a way to address all people's humanitarian needs as we undo the damage to local communities and chart a course toward sustainable local economies. The U.S. needs a complete overhaul of its immigration laws. Our current situation has created extreme social injustice. Millions of people are living and working in the U.S. with no legal status, making them subject to extreme exploitation and abuse. Immigration raids are terrorizing the immigrant community. Families are being broken up. Employer abuses of undocumented workers are rampant. Countries do have a right to know the identity of persons seeking to enter. They also have the right to limit who can enter in order to protect public safety. However, we should not be fortifying and militarizing our borders, particularly our southern border. We are at peace with our neighbors and should conduct ourselves as friends at peace.

We must recognize that there cannot be any true solutions to the conflicts created by immigration until we are able to organize globally to overcome the power of multinational corporations, which are engaged in an unending campaign to drive down workers' living standards everywhere. International cooperation and solidarity among labor organizations, to advance the rights of labor and raise such living standards globally, are essential to combat this trend. Until the power of the multinationals is curbed, we will continue to be confronted with seemingly "no win" choices.