Mark Small

KENT ABERNATHY emphasizes his military career. His website goals: defend Constitution, pay down debt, honor veterans & support our military. He’s sd, in regard to Afghanistan: “‘We need to remain committed to the Middle East.’” 3/40

MY REPLY: For centuries Afghanistan’s mountains have impeded conventional military; also Afghanistan is not part of the Middle East. 4/40

ANDREW BALES says left is moving us closer to socialism & eroding our rts. He will protect the unborn & our Constitution, individual freedoms and will “create jobs. He will lower debt, cost of health care & cost of health coverage. 5/40

Website: says his position closely mirrors Trump. Bales says the “Impeachment fiasco” potentially disenfranchised 64 million Americans, and he favors legalization of pot for medical uses. 6/40

MY REPLY: 67 million Americans were disenfranchised in 2016. I believe that is worse. 7/40

MICAH BECKWITH describes his biblical values, education & work experiences. Website: he will defend “true CONSTITUTIONAL conservative values...” & he understands “Biblical history and American history.” 8/40

MY REPLY: biblical & American history not synonymous. USA: ppl of many religions & beliefs. He says: morality only based in scripture; atheists, agnostics, Hindus, Muslims cant be moral. Q: Can those incapable of morality B allowed to vote? 9/40

CARL BRIZZI: former Indpls prosecutor, vows 2 fight alongside Pres vs mainstream socialism, warns of violent gun-toting criminals & progressive politicians w/liberty effacing agendas Says winner must B elected because INCD5 becoming increasingly ‘purple’ 10/40

MY REPLY: Policies one advances should persuade opposition. Recent GOP has used voter suppression to fight demographic shifts. 5th Distr increasingly purple = people’s disgust w/what the GOP has become. 11/40

ALSO: Mr Brizzi not averse 2 govt assistance on personal scale. As the late Gary Welsh wrote, Mr Brizzi wasnt required 2 pay anything for 50% interest in company that owned an Elkhart IN office bldg valued at almost half-a-mil. 12/40

ALLEN DAVIDSON is an engineer who promises to work on infrastructure. He ran in 2014 - he was a guest on my podcast - and 2016 as a Democrat. He since has switched parties. 13/40

DR CHUCK DIETZEN describes his life and education, but gives no policy positions. He has stated “Socialized medicine does not work.” Website: promises to protect our constl freedoms & says he’s a “Pro-life” candidate. 14/40

MY REPLY: Socialized medicine works for 35 of the 36 countries ahead of us in health care. 15/40

BETH HENDERSON describes her work in health care case mgmt, that she is entrepreneurial & a job creator. Website she promises to keep taxes low, cut burdensome regulations, and protect the Constitution. 16/40

She says she will fight government overreach into our lives, protect the 2nd Amendment and the unborn, reform healthcare, rebuild our military and secure our southern border. 17/40

MATT HOOK describes his work in law and accounting. On his website he expresses concern for the environment. MY REPLY: Bravo! on the environment. 18/40

MATT HULLINGER gives more on issues than biography. He is pro-life, pro-second amendment, and pro-school choice. He would extend the 2017 tax cuts, legalize medical marijuana, and repeal estate taxes and Obamacare. 19/40

MY REPLY: Pres T Roosevelt: When U get rid of estate tax, you hand over command of country's resources 2 people who didn't earn it/sd estate taxes are necessary 2 preserve equality of opportunity. Tax cuts? Trickle-down has damaged our economy. 20/40

DANNY NIEDERBERGER gives bio, nothing on issues. On his website he says he is pro-life, pro-second amendment and would defend the Constitution. 21/40

VICTORIA SPATZ grew up in “socialist-controlled Ukraine,” believes ltd govt always better, & health care decisions should be made by individuals in free market, not by bureaucrats & spl interests + worked on Trump’s campaign & founder of Hamilton Co Tea Party. 22/40

MY REPLY: Large corporations love limited government - once the corporations are chartered. In our health care “free market” the bureaucrats who make our health care decisions for us are IN the private sector. 23/40

RUSSELL STWALLEY says we need 2 bring country back in line due 2 straying fr Constitution & what “founders” intended. He wants to end endless wars, impose term limits for the House and Senate and would “drain the swamp.” 24/40

MY REPLY: The Framers considered - and rejected - term limits. If you impose term limits, you stray from the intent of the”founders.” 25/40

On several main themes run amongst my opponents: 1) PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION: It seems these candidates believe our courts should interpret Constitution consistent w/original intent. Sounds like a good idea except you can’t find that intent. 26/40

Delegates to the 1787 Convention left no records of their proceedings and few records exist from state ratification conventions. Process of amendment & intervening events like, say, Civil War make the Framers’ intent moot. 27/40

We need to protect The Constitution, but from people like my opponents and trump. 28/40

2) SOCIALISM is bad. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that in a 1924 “Dictionary of Socialism, there were “canvassed no fewer than forty definitions of socialism...” 29/40

“Socialism is best defined in contrast with capitalism ... and as a proposal for overcoming and replacing it.” Capitalism is like the NCAA hoops tournament for businesses, except history shows that businesses do not always play clean. 30/40

Also, once the tournament is over, there is no re-set for a new tournament. Too much capital is required and, with all that power, the winner usually sues to protect its gains. That’s what happened in the 1890s. 31/40