U.S. House, 2014 general elections

Districts 1, 2, 4, 6, 13

Name as it appears on the ballot: ARTHUR RICH – NC District 01

Full legal name, if different

Date of birth: 03-20-1977

Home address: PO BOX 696 GARLAND, NC 28441

Mailing address, if different from home:

Campaign website: WWW.ARTHURRICHFORCONGRESS.COM

Occupation & employer: TAX ACCOUNTANT & JOB DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT

Home phone:

Work/FAX phone: 910-588-4458

Cell phone: 252-624-5822

Email: ARICHFORCONGRESS@OUTLOOK.COM

Twitter handle, if applicable: ARTHURRICH2014M 1.If elected to the House, what is your highest priority for the next Congress? Please discuss what you would do to help it be achieved. My highest priority would be Jobs, for and from within, the First District. Negotiation across the aisles must begin, Representatives must begin to think and act in terms of the best interests of the people rather than party or ideology. New Jobs equal new revenue to deal with Health Care, Education, Senior Citizens, etc. 2.Some House candidates favor term limits and pledge, if elected, to limit the number of terms they will seek? Is that a good idea? Will you, if elected, impose terms limits on yourself? The term limits are best directed by voters, based on the incumbent performance. If the individual works constantly to improve the well-being of constituents, it would make no sense to limit performance. That’s the best idea. Imposition of term limits should be the people’s choice; not mine. 3.As a result of Citizens United and related factors, so-called “dark money” is pouring into American political campaigns without voters knowing where it came from. Do you favor or oppose measures to require that contributors be identified when their money is used to pay for political ads and other activities? I favor measures to require “dark money” exposed to the light. I do not believe corporations should be viewed as individual contributors. There’s a “Constitutional” question as to how and why this came about? The individual voter should not be put in position of competing with Mega banks, Corporations, etc. 4.The American economy is not producing enough jobs for everyone who wants one, especially not enough jobs that pay enough to support a family. Conservative critics say the reason is too much federal spending which crowds out private investment. Critics on the left say there’s not enough public investment in job-producing sectors, while private capital is flowing to other countries. Where do you come down on this issue? My program “Bootstrap Job Development” addresses this problem. We can from the District, throughout the state and Nation support and promote individual initiative in this area. We have invented, and acquired over 70 innovative products, services and projects which equate to thousands of jobs and this is just the tip of an Economic Development Iceberg. We seek public and private investment. The 35% tax rate on Corporations must be reduced to be competitive and recoup the outflow of private capital and jobs. With ISIS upheaval, unresolved matters with Al Queda, Taliban, et al; Federal Spending is unlikely to reduce immediately due to Defense requirements. American unity must overcome partisan indifference and Federal Acts and actions, must show progress at home and abroad. 5.Do you support increasing the federal minimum wage? If so, to what amount? And should it be indexed for inflation? I have proposed a minimum wage of $11.30 per hour “Tax-Free”. It is pointless to advocate a few dollars increase when taxes would reduce the net to worker proceeds. Inflation, specific to consumers must be analyzed. In too many instances, it’s just greed and price gouging. 6.On the Affordable Care Act, what should the next Congress do? Repeal it? Change it? If so, how? The Affordable Care Act, now imbedded, must be reviewed to see if “bugs” are out of system. Since we remain in a recession, the costs of development and implementation cannot be tossed aside to promote another program. New programs or operations must be thoroughly reviewed rather than hastily conceived and poorly implemented. Health Care must never be a partisan ball game. All must seek a mutually beneficial outcome for patients and providers. 7.Should undocumented immigrants be offered a path to citizenship? If so, what requirements would you impose? How should the law treat undocumented young adults and children who’ve grown up in the U.S. after being brought here by their parents? Undocumented immigrants are reflected primarily in Agriculture, Construction and related industries in North Carolina as well as most of the Nation. Shared responsibility by these utilizing the labor, as well as INS and Labor Depts. Must be discussed and analyzed as to benefits gained and losses to avoid. Young adults and children who’ve grown up in the U.S. must be guided toward productive citizenship. Dividing families can only result in a back-lash of ill will. Knee-jerk reactions are not needed. Again, elected officials must begin to work together toward a mutually beneficial solution. 8.Do you think climate change is a serious, even urgent problem? Do you think human beings are causing it? What environmental policies should the U.S. adopt to combat climate change, if any? Climate change; warming/cooling/disruptions- is very argumentative in the Scientific Community. It’s about 50/50 on what’s really happening. Weather conditions have been colder the past 2 years though a large bloc insists climate is warming. We exhale carbon dioxide and the oceans are loaded with it. Plants/trees and other foliage absorb it and emit oxygen. I advocate further study on the equitable balance between plant and animal life as well as definitive analysis of Artic melting and overall effect. Combine these with MFG/Agriculture/Life styles and answer will be there. 9.Is it time to pass a federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to protect the rights of LGBTQ people in the workplace? We have a Federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Rather than another law, enforcement where applicable should be sufficient. If not, then do the right thing! 10.Should union organizing be facilitated by changes to labor laws, including the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (ECRA)? As of now, the Employee Free Choice Act, as basically presented, should be to the benefit of Employer/Employee. This needs to be further refined with input from both parties. Positive Productivity results in an environment of “we together” rather than US vs. Them, or employee paranoia as to job security. 11.Do you support or oppose increasing tax rates on the wealthy, either to reduce federal debt or as part of a package to raise money for public investments and/or cut taxes for the middle-class? I believe the wealthy should pay a fair share of taxes, thus an increase. Dispersal of the monies should be carefully thought out to insure equitable distribution to areas and/or individuals reflecting most need. Properly applied, distribution of funds should show measurable progress toward improvement of existing conditions to entities receiving the funds. 12.What do you think of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s idea of expanding Social Security benefits as private pensions become less and less common? I have presented a concept, “Employee Mutual Security Fund” as an alternative to Social security; insuring personal choice by employees/employers toward long range future liquidity of a Security Program for employees without sudden or traumatic change to those now dependent solely on Social security. This provides a “freedom of choice” and added benefits over the worker’s time period without loss of equity and flexibility in planning. Sen. Warren’s seems well intentioned but lacks freedom of choice or answers to funding.