 jobs and I've had a federal position that had a security clearance and I think I you know I've had both white collar and blue collar jobs and I think I can relate to just about every Vermonner in the state. Very good thank you so much Peter Becker. Marsha Horne you're running as an independent? Yes I am. Could you please tell us why you're running and what qualifies you for the position? While many challenges face our society, our economy and Vermonners this year, Congressman Welch has his own agenda that is to change this country to socialist. In place of a focus on entitlements such as HUD, FASFA, fuel assistance, food stamps, Medicaid, Congressman Welch is attempting to eject socialism either piece by piece or as an overriding principle that would affect medicine, education, business conduct and even rental properties. I am a Republican with a bachelor's degree in political science from Wheaton College, further studies in economics, financial analysis, corporate finance and market analysis with more than 10 years experience as a stockbroker and now more than 10 years experience in digital marketing. I have a deep understanding of our democracy, economics and the needs of many people here in Vermont that strive to achieve and provide the very best for their children. If elected I will join my fellow Republicans in the House with the work of promoting the initiatives of the Republican platform that include substantially lowering prescription costs, restoring Medicaid, closing US healthcare and ending the dependency of this country on Chinese imports. We'll be through COVID in this pandemic in three to six months or perhaps well into next year. It will end. However, the commitment to America stands announced two days ago by House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, to move the United States supply chain for medicine, protective medical equipment and technology out of China and increase US manufacturing. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. All right. So Christopher Halally, you're running for the party of Communist USA. Please tell us why you're running and what qualifies you for the position of Congress. George, thank you so much for having me. My name is Christopher Halally. I currently run a small farm here in Versa Vermont. What qualifies me, number one is I wore the uniform. I was an officer in the United States Army. I commissioned as a second lieutenant in 2011 in the infantry. And I graduated airborne school. And it was in 2015 when I resigned my commission after seeing all of the wars of empire that the United States was conducting abroad regime change wars of oil for exploitation of other countries and other people's natural resources. So of everyone sitting here, I've seen first hand, I volunteered in 2017 and fought against the Islamic state in Syria and saw what US imperialism has done. I took a stand and I fought against the same jihadists that were supported by the United States by Israel by Saudi Arabia, by the UAE, the real access of tyranny. And I've seen firsthand what this nation does to other nations around the world. I've traveled to Cuba. I studied and lived in China. I've been to Venezuela. And I've seen how other people yearn for their self determination and to get out of the boot of the United States. So I believe that I'm qualified having seen what I've seen, having experienced what I've experienced. Currently, I'm a graduate student at Dartmouth College. I have a few graduate degrees. I have a triple bachelor's degree in philosophy, history and political science. And I believe that with my experiences and my background being a first generation American, that I can fight for the working class against capitalism, against imperialism and war, and against the rising threat of fascism, both in our country and around the world. Thank you very much. Christopher Lolli running with the party of Communist USA. Did I, I don't think I said that correctly. Tell me again the name of the party. You're correct. The party of Communist USA. Okay, wonderful. Thank you. Jerry Trudell, you were running as an independent. Now is your moment to tell us why you're running and what qualifies you for the position. Are you there, Jerry? Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Yeah, can you hear me? Yeah. Okay, great. Number one, I'm running because we need more than band-aid solutions. Number two, I've put together a detailed proposal called the green print for a new economy, which involves large scale locally grown chemical and pesticide free food, tier one, tier two, large stale, industrial based 3D printing that is community owned and operated. Number three, an empowerment program, which includes a component for opioid addiction. Now that being said, my qualifications are as follows graduated from Northern Vermont University. I studied history, sociology, cultural anthropology. I also am a licensed pilot, my skillset and areas of knowledge include art but are not limited to aeronautics, both aviation, automotive mechanics, as well as basic electricity, environmental science and forest ecology. Last but not least, I have an extensive background as a community organizer, extensive background as a community organizer in New York City, where I put together and work with the trust for public land to put together a land trust willing to save the gardens, yes, in New York City. That is my now the last but not least I'm running because these F 35 boondoggles are driving burly Chonians and their pets bananas. I've been on the ground. I talk to pet owners who tell me their pets are shaking like a leaf and they're setting off every car alarm on the block. This is ridiculous. Excuse me, but this has nothing to do with defense. What about the fence of our economy? Now Peter Welsh supports this he and so does the entire congressional delegation. That's why I'm running for Congress. Do I have any more time left? You're done. Thank you so much, Jerry. I'm gonna welcome so much. Thank you. I'm gonna remind our viewers if you'd like to give us a call. If you have a question for the candidates, our number is 802-862-3966. And we're going to go on to the next question with Mary and Barry, who's the Republican candidate. Miriam, tell us how in this complex budget situation that the country is facing, you will represent the needs of Vermonters. Thank you. I lost my page here. I think with the COVID crisis, and in the case of any national crisis, sometimes the budget has to dip into deficit. Obviously we want to keep that deficit as short-lived as possible. I think that now's the time to invest in tax breaks for small businesses to provide incentives. I think now is a time for a lot of innovation. For example, whether it's the schools that we have to innovate and find ways to teach and reach our kids and how to continue living and trying to be healthy in this time of a pandemic. And I think that we can cut a lot of waste from the budget. Families have to do that when things are tight. And I think that we can do that as well in the government. How to come back and thrive from this for Vermont and for the US? It's going to take work, definitely. It's going to take teamwork. And we'll need to reach across both sides of the aisle to do this. We can't do it alone. And I'll definitely team up with other Republicans to put that forward. But certainly cooperation and using the strengths of all of the people that are in Congress and all the knowledge base will be vital. Thank you so much. Peter Becker, tell us what your approach is to the budget deficit that we have and the needs of Vermonters and how they will be met by the federal budget if you're a Congressperson. Well, when I get to Washington, I want to make sure that Vermont gets its fair share of any economic recovery funds. Being an independent, if I won't have the stigma of belonging to any particular party, I think whoever becomes president and whatever party takes over in Congress in the Senate, you don't want to be on the wrong side of that. Being an independent, you won't have any, you won't be associated with either party. You can work with both. And partisan politics is I think the biggest problem in this country. And if you can avoid that and get along with everybody, I mean, this country is supposed to be about, you know, united we stand divided we fall. And united we do much better than we do when we're divided. All right. Well, very, very good. Thank you. Marsha Horan, tell us how you will represent Vermonters when decisions about the US budget are being made. Sure. First of all, this Vermont and this country are facing economic challenges unforeseen. As I intend to vote for all necessary programs to ensure recovery. This Vermonter will be on your side, a vote in favor of educational funding votes and this vote in favor of economic assistance in favor of direct funding to individuals and families is critical. Those dollars are well spent and we'll find their way to businesses and manufacturers from workers and families and so on through every sector of our society. Keep in mind that this situation isn't bleak. This nation's wealth includes extensive cash and gold reserves, standard drilling rights, but also its people also understand that the current crisis will honestly soon be behind us. If elected, I'll be there to continue the unfunding of paper and a leave and expensive extravagance, even though its costs were trimmed down to $750 billion a year. Unfunding US healthcare can save over $500 billion in tax credits and state subsidies a year and release more than $1 trillion held in escrow for the sake of its solvency. Reducing retail markups on pharmaceuticals can reduce medical prescription costs by $300 billion a year or more and that savings goes to people, individuals who are in need of prescriptions and instead of putting that money into the hands of Walmart and Walgreens, people have it in their own pockets. Thank you so much. Sorry, because I can't see you. I can't give you the visual cues, so I'm learning in on your question. Christopher Halali, can you tell us what your approach to budget would be on behalf of Vermonters? I think first and foremost, on behalf of Vermonters and the entire working class all over the country, we must cut the military budget by at least 50%. It is unsustainable to have over 1000 foreign military bases while Russia has less than 30 and China has less than 10. That's insane. Billions of dollars are wasted every year to support a bloated empire, to support a bloated military industrial complex that wreaks havoc and bombs and launches drones and does covert actions and coup d'etats and regime change around the world. What have we gained from 20 years of this quote unquote war on terror? Today, the Taliban is stronger than in 2001. That's a failure of our of both political parties and the US Empire. It's a failure. We've lost all the wars that we fought in Iraq is a catastrophe. Libya is a disasters. They're selling slaves there. Issyria is a is also a disaster. Everywhere we've gone, we've reached destruction and nothing has been gained. Nothing. So the first thing to do is to cut the military, retract all troops from abroad, bring them home and put all that money, all the trillions of dollars we spent on war and destruction and empire back into building infrastructure in this country, providing free healthcare, free education, childcare, if you really believe in family values and our pro-life and are committed to the people in the working class, then you have to be against the wars of empire. You have to be against all the violence that we wreak all over the world. Thank you very much. Jerry Trudell, your view of how you would represent for moners when making decisions about the US budget. Well, if I were elected, I'd bring with myself a heaping open of political capital, probably more than Mount Mansfield and Tamil Sums put together and I'd know how to do it to do what to do with it in a conciliatory fashion. I think an election by myself as an upset candidate with a no budget campaign would send political shockwaves through the political establishment. Now, let me, by the way, I just want to say, Chris, I'm not a communist. Never have been. I'm a small businessman, but I believe that the F-35s are the tip of the Pentagon Boondog budget. You did touch on that. Yes, it is true. We're spending almost a trillion dollars not to mention the 2.4 trillion we wasted, flushed down the tubola on these ridiculous wasteful immoral wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is a failure of the two-party system right there, my friends. They need a wake-up call, and that's what I would do. As for Vermont, my green print for a new economy would also be a national model. And yes, it will be based on investment in the community, in the community, not in corporations and arms manufacturers. I don't know if I have any more time or not. How are we doing there? You have 20 seconds. Great. Well, let me close by saying that we need to reinvest in America. Defense of our economy. That's what I'm saying. Defense of our economy. Not attack on our economy in the name of defense by the bloated Pentagon budget. What do you think about that, Peter? Tell me about those F-35s that you still support. In any case, that's all I'm saying. I yield. I would just suggest that when you come around again, maybe don't speak so closely. Okay. I'll tone it down. I apologize. I get going there. No, it's just that you're distorted. Yeah. Okay. All right. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Chris. Oh, Lauren, I'm sorry. Thanks to all of you. Congress, your view of how you will represent for Monner's when making the US budget? Thank you. You know, the budget is a reflection of our values, whether it's your town budget, it's your state budget, or it's your federal budget. And also the budget has to be designed around meeting the immediate needs that for Monner's and people in this country have. So, circumstances change and the budget has to be adjusted to meet the challenges in the moment. You know, when we had a war, we had to borrow a lot of money in order to win that war in World War Two. But we have a COVID crisis. And since March, this economy has been into a collapse. Social distancing has meant that we now have the highest unemployment since the Great Depression. And it's brutal on so many Vermonters. Think about those businesses in downtown Montpelier, those restaurants like Honey Road in Burlington or Jasper Hill Cheese in the Northeast Kingdom. Every one of these has been dramatically impacted, our dairy firms. So my view, where we've had this national event of a COVID crisis, not caused by you or me, not caused by any of these businesses, but where you're tremendously hurt. The federal government is the only fiscal and it's the only governmental entity that has the fiscal flexibility in capacity to help out. And that's why I was a strong supporter of the CARES Act, that got $2.2 trillion back to individuals with that $1,200 check with with unemployment benefits, with payroll protection that was really helpful to our small businesses, and with money that helped our state local government hang in and we need more Apologies. The next question we're going to start with Peter Becker. The question has to do with the US health care system has, it's been really revealed the inequities in the system in this COVID period. What would your next step in terms of health care policy be as Congressperson? Well, I think the politicians in the last 17 years have been focusing on health insurance. To me, what's really important is health care accessibility. We got to assure that, you know, if a homeless person is sick or injured, that they can find a hospital or a doctor easily so they can be treated quickly and with the highest health care available in the world. I think we've been pretty successful in doing that. And that's why I think health insurance is secondary to health accessibility. And I think the politicians should focus on that. We also need to bring the cost of health care down. Just recently, I think as the auditor in the state gave a report that health care costs in this state have just been skyrocketing much more than what the cost of living has been each year and compared to other states too. And I think he focused on especially hospital costs. And I think we need to eliminate certain things like unnecessary testing. We also need to lower this prescription drug costs. I think we can do that by having more competition. Allowing people to, you know, maybe buy prescriptions online. Okay. Very good. Okay, thank you. Yep, don't forget we have 90 seconds to answer these questions in. So you've got to give us the reader's digest version. Marcia Warren. Thank you. While the civil rights acts of 1964 and 1968 protect all Americans from discrimination based upon race, color, religion, sex, national origins, and more recently, sexual orientation with excuse me, there is no language that protects Americans from discrimination with regard to health care. Abuses in the health care system are painfully clear with black and Latino Americans being targeted many instances, medical students, health care workers and many people here in Vermont and countrywide are fighting for change. First, let's amend the civil rights act of 1964. Again, as it was amended to include sexual orientation to include health care, you won't find discrimination in education or at a bank or restaurant because the awards that a court will grant to compensate those discriminated against are lucrative as they should be. Discrimination is illegal. However, health care isn't listed in the amendment or in excuse me, in the law let's fix that. Now let's address prescription costs. The market from wholesale to to retail from farmers is astronomical. In lowering prescription costs, we won't curtail research and development. Working with pharmaceutical companies to develop a timeline for implementing cost restrictions and reductions is essential. However, thank you. Thank you so much. Christopher, hello, what would be your next step in health care policy when you go to Washington? I believe in a free universal high quality health care system. I cannot possibly fathom how this country which sent astronauts into space and landed on the moon cannot provide every American health care. Why? Why is that such a it's not rocket science, provide clinics for everyone, provide hospitals for everyone, provide health care for everyone, train doctors at no charge, have a health care system that's robust. I mean, people have our empty slogans, you know, God bless America, we love Americans, United we stand. Well, if United we stand, isn't it patriotic to have every American and every person in this country have health care? Isn't it, isn't it patriotic for everyone to be able to have access to all the needs that they that they have in terms of medical needs? I just can't fathom how the richest country in history cannot provide health care to all of its citizens. It's unheard of. If if places like China with triple the population can have clinics in the smallest rural villages with rice paddies, why can't the United States have that? Why are we closing rural hospitals and clinics? It's it's unthinkable. But it's all because of capitalism. It's all because of big business and big corporate interest, which many of the politicians in our entire system are beholden to. And so I'm going to fight like tooth and nail for the working class, for workers and farmers who deserve to have health care as a human right, who deserve to not have to worry about going into debt or losing their house or farm because they have medical emergencies. This is not rocket science. Thank you very much. Jerry Trudeau, your first step on health care policy. If you go to Washington. Well, I would fund a wellness bus as a demonstration project. Wellness is not just the corporate buzzword. All they've taken over wellness means not getting sick as much wellness means reduced reliance on pharmaceuticals. Would you folks know that we are the most over medicated? We need more pharmaceuticals for capital than anyone else. I would agree that we need to go beyond discussion of coverage and deal with delivery of services. Yes, I agree with that. I think we need walk in clinics instead of our emergency rooms being profit making centers for the hospitals because we don't have walk in clinics. Now, this is nuts and bolts here. I'm a nuts and bolts guy and I do have a background in health care. I actually organized a free walk in clinic at the corner of the six six and B garden in the lower side of Manhattan to demonstrate wellness. Wellness is not just a buzzword. And yes, we need to build our health care system with wellness as a central component to reduce reliance on pharmaceuticals not just lower their costs. Alright, so I guess I've put this into enough of a nutshell. You haven't told me to stop talking yet, Laura. How are we doing? Jerry, I think you need your own little stopwatch. You've got 20 seconds. Great. Well, focus on this wellness is not a corporate buzzword. Wellness means not getting sick as much not needing pharmaceuticals as much getting to the root of the problem. Now, the first thing I would do is I would fund a wellness bus as a demonstration project in the state of Vermont. Okay, we're elected. Okay, thanks a lot for listening on to the next. Yep. Congressman Welch, your view of the next step in health care policy in the US. Well, I support universal access to health care for every citizen regardless of their income. I've been a longtime supporter of a single payer system. That's one way to achieve that goal. And we're going to have that debate again. I was a strong supporter of the Affordable Care Act and that extended health care for millions and millions of Americans. We are having an enormous battle with the president about health care. The president is actually continuing in his effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act to repeal it with literally no alternative to replace it. And in fact, when this COVID crisis hit in so many people who did have employer sponsored health care and lost it because they lost their jobs, the president was trying to block those folks from having access to health care through the Affordable Care Act. That's unconscionable. Now, the second thing in this Mr. Becker said, and he's right, we've got to deal with the cost of health care. What pharmaceutical this is an example, but what the pharmaceutical industry is doing to us is ripping us off. You know, they come up with good care in some cases. Drugs believe you pay, but they then kill us with the cost. When you have a drug that's going to cost $300,000, nobody can pay for that, whether it's an individual, a company that's providing health care to its employees or the taxpayers. So there has to be a government that's willing to work on behalf of consumers and citizens to stand up to price gouging that is embedded in so many parts of our health care system. Thank you very much. Mary and Barry, Nurse Barry, what is your approach to the health care policy of the United States as the next step? Well, sure. First and foremost, as having had the honor to work with veterans in health care situations, I believe that no veteran should have to jump through these crazy hoops to get health care. My father lived too far away. This was before they changed some of the rules about what doctors you could use. My father was not well and lived too far away from White River Junction to get there to become part of the VA system. And so he paid privately because he just wasn't able to make that trip. The walls are coming down for veterans health care, but I don't think any veterans should have to pay a cent for their health care. If they've put their lives on the line for our country, then we need to we need to take care of them. And so that's for the veterans. Having worked, I do work with case management. I work with Medicare. I work with Medicaid. There are also for health care, there are a whole lot of hoops to jump through so that people can, for example, in a long term care situation, get their full 100 days of Medicare benefit that requires a team of case management to meet their needs and to help them get the benefit that they've worked for all their lives. I think we need price transparency. The way you go to a you go to a restaurant and they tell you how many calories will go to the doctors and they say, okay, if I check that spot on your cheek, it's going to cost this much money. We need to know that beforehand that will help us all make better choices. I believe in competition. Okay, I believe in competition. All right. Thank you very much. This next question we're going to start with Marcia Horn. I'm just going to remind our viewers that you can certainly give us a call at 802-862-3966. We are running this program from the studio so we are happy to take your calls. Marcia Horn, what's your view of the Black Lives Matter movement? And what steps do you think need to be taken in Washington to respond to the concerns raised by this movement? Sure. First, let me start with this. Breonna Taylor was shot and killed in her home by police. Who had the wrong house? Ida Tiana Jefferson in Fort Worth, Texas in 2019 was shot and killed in her home by police. Badham Jean was in his home eating ice cream and was shot and killed by an off-duty officer. Who had the wrong house? There are many others. We need to end no-knocked search and seizure. Police need to be accountable for their actions before the law. Police need to adhere to a standardized procedure that precludes the taking of a human life in such situations. Periodic assessments should be in place to assure emotional and mental stability. I am not entirely in agreement with Black Lives Matter. I disagree with defunding the police. Here in Vermont, the movement includes planning and strategy specifically designed to migrate Black Americans to Vermont. We heard one Black Vermont explain that he didn't like being treated by a white health care professional or living in a white neighborhood. Adding bias and delineating between races isn't the answer. Furthering a divisor isn't the answer. Equality doesn't mean equal distribution of racial demographics for a suburb, city town or state. Such a configuring of neighborhoods, cities, towns or states is illegal. You won't find laws allowing local state or federal governments the power to displace or move people or to keep people in a locale. Thank you. One sentence. You will find definitions to the powers of government that preclude entities from doing so. Thank you. Thank you very much. Christopher Halali, your response to the Black Lives Matter movement and what policy steps would you pursue if you are in Congress? Well, just last evening I was with the Black Lives Matter activists at Battery Park and we marched to City Hall in Burlington. I'm a supporter of Black Lives Matter. I think it's important as someone who is a citizen of this country to understand the history of this country and that's a history of colonialism, settler colonialism. It's a history of the complete genocide of the indigenous people, the trumped-up idea of manifest destiny that somehow this land was God-given to the settlers and the colonialists to take it, and then of course the enslavement of million of Africans through a worldwide network. Right now the Black Lives Matter movement is another chapter of the Black working classes centuries-long struggle for dignity and equality. This country's founding fathers and mothers came up with beautiful ideas but it was at the same time when they developed an idea that a slave was that a black person and enslaved black person was three-fifths the human. I mean these were enlightenment thinkers who didn't follow their enlightenment values to the end. I believe that it's necessary now to have conversations about reparations, to have conversations about getting rid of all these centuries-long systemic racial structures and I think the only way that can be done to lift the white working class and the black working class which have been divided along racial lines is to move from capitalism to socialism, to create a society in which the entire working class, black, brown, indigenous, white, whatever you are, is all workers are equally treated and have dignity and have access to resources and have access to decent jobs, healthcare and education. Thank you very much, Christopher Halali. Jerry Trudell, you are next. What's your response to the Black Lives Matter movement and what policy would you pursue in Congress? You're going to need to unmute your phone or maybe Aidan has muted you, I'm not sure. Terry, you're muted. Is that better? Yes, there we go. Great. Okay, great. Well, number one, I think the year 2020 is long. Can you hear me? Yes. Okay. The year 2020 is where we end. The latest chapter in the long history of the racial justice movement, this is long overdue. The fact that we have so much racism should not be a surprise to anyone who has studied it such as myself. Now, as far as solutions, what I'm proposing actually the Black Panther Party proposed community control of the police, which means what? Just that. Monthly meetings, accountability, control of the hiring and firing process, and an end to the immunity that policemen have for beating people up. Now, I was down in New York City, I was beaten up by these undercover police officers myself. I know what it feels just to the police to try to deal with. Oh yeah, police brutality is nothing new. Police brutality should not be tolerated. As for the Black Lives Matter movement, both at home here in Vermont and nationwide, it's shedding a spotlight. According to an article in the Journal, that would be the Wall Street Journal. An analyst of the auto insurance industry is saying, well yes, there's a there's discrimination there as well. Well, I'm not surprised. We have police states across this country. You know what a police state is? I know I lived in New York City. 90% of the people in Rikers Island are non-white. African-Americans are six times as likely to be beaten up, to be arrested, etc. These are the facts. And we've got to solve them on the local and the national level. So do I have any more time, Lauren? No, we're out of time. You're out of time. Thank you. Perfect. All right. Thanks for listening. Congressman Welch, your response to Black Lives Matter and what do you think needs to happen in Congress? I support Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter is finally awakening the responsibility that all of us have to deal with the legacy of what happened to indigenous people when Europeans came. And then the legacy of slavery. You know, it was over 400 years ago that that first ship arrived with 20 kidnapped Africans. And then there was slavery right up through 1865 in the Civil War. And then that short period of reconstruction where African Americans by then, former slaves were allowed to get educated to fully participate in the political process and they made enormous contributions. And then it stopped with the Jim Crow laws that started in the 70s. And what is so searing about that episode where Officer Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds was not that just we were witnessing a bad man doing a very, very bad thing. He was doing it with his hands in his pocket. He was casual. He felt that he was in a culture where the department would have his back, where the community would have his back. That's what racism is. And that has to be challenged. And in Congress, in the House, it's being blocked in the Senate. But we passed the George Floyd Justice and Placing Act. It's long overdue and there's much more to be done. Thank you very much. Mary and Barry, your response to Black Lives Matter and what you do in Congress to pursue justice for Black folks. Your first thing I'm going to distinguish between the phrase Black Lives Matter and the organization Black Lives Matter. If you look at the Black Lives Matter website, it's far more than Black Lives Matter. And from wanting to erode the nuclear family to the other mix's roots in it, it's very close to tied to a fundraising one with the Democrats. Which if you want to meet the Democrats, that's your money. Okay, fine. Mary and I'll interrupt you for one second. Jerry, can you mute your phone? Oh, sure. Yeah, let's do that. And then I maybe I can hear Miriam better. Sorry. No, I was just too much distortion. Let me mute you. All right. Okay. Ah. Keep working on the meeting and you keep on the question. Go ahead. So I do want to distinguish between the hearts cry. I'm, as a Christian, I think we're all made in God's image and some of us are gloriously pale and some of us are gloriously chocolate and all the colors in between. And so I think that justice for people needs to be justice for people. And I'm so heartbroken by the divides that are there. And I think that we can reach across the aisles. We can all of us in Congress work together to say, hey, let's let's set some standards for police operations. Let's set some standards for training, for support. I'm not in favor of defunding the police, but I am in favor of let's get them the support they need. Let's get a national standard for them. And then as far as what something's happening on my computer, I apologize. So I just, I feel that every soul is important and should be treated with respect. Very good. Thank you very much. Peter Becker, your response to Black Lives Matter and policy follow-up that you would pursue in Congress, please. You may want to unmute. We have eliminated overt racism with laws and regulations. Now we need to eliminate what I call latent racism. The Black Lives Matter movement to me is a result of years of pent-up frustration with latent racism. However, violent demonstrations, destroying small businesses, harassing people, and tearing down monuments and defacing public properties is to me not the way to go. However, I do feel that we need to eliminate symbols and vestiges of racism in the old Confederacy. Ironically, the Democrat Party itself is probably the biggest remaining vestige of racism in the Confederacy. It was started by a slave trader. Democrats started the Civil War. They caused the Civil War. After the Civil War, Democrats in Congress fought every kind of civil rights legislation that came across their desk. The Democrats say they, well, our stripes have changed, but they haven't and you just looked through history. Woodrow Wilson, he actually resegregated the federal government. Harry Truman was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. And Johnson was a well-known racist. Thank you, Peter. We're done. We're going to move on to the next question. Yeah. So, Chris Halali, we are starting with you. Is democracy under threat? And what do you think we need to do, if so, to restore it? I think I would ask if we ever really had democracy in this country. I mean, voting every four years or every two years is not really democracy. Democracy is being actively engaged from the community on up in the actual processes of governance. And I think most people in this country, they certainly don't agree with a lot of the bloated military spending, but they don't have a say. Lobbyists have a say. You know, most average Americans don't want to pay, you know, an arm and a leg for healthcare costs, but they don't have a say because the healthcare industry, the pharmaceutical companies have a say. In our capitalist system, corporations, monopolies, and they're lobbyists, they run everything. They're the ones who run and control everything. If people want the real 1984, it's this. It's all of these big bankers, big financiers, these big military industrial, prison industrial complex people who are running the show. The Trump and these parties are just a face to a system where there is tremendous wealth concentration. In the world today, 62 people hold the wealth of half of the world's population. That's three billion plus people. 62 people, three billion plus people. That's unthinkable and it's undemocratic. If you believe in democracy, you believe in democracy for workers and farmers to have an equal say, not to have a lower say compared to all the big businesses and corporations and monopolies. So I believe that democracy is under threat from these corporations, from the intelligence services, from the defense contractors, from all these people who seek to divide us while behind the scenes they all play golf together and have a good time. Remember, Trump went to the Clinton's, the daughter's wedding, everybody hangs out, all the elites hang out together, Republicans and Democrats, because they're in the big country club and we're not. Thank you very much. Jerry Trudeau, is democracy under threat? What's the biggest challenge? What would you do? Can you hear me alright? Totally. Okay, number one, the two-party poor excuse for political system is the biggest challenge to true democracy at the federal level. Most Americans aren't happy with the two-party poor excuse for a political system. It is nothing short of a racket. Yes, it is run by elites. Does not meet the needs of the people. So, analytically, what I need to do is to go to Washington, shape things up a bit in a creative way, and get some common sense into the heads of those fools on the hill. So that they were, you know, this is, the hill is considered to be the most exclusive men's club in the world. Did you know that? Yes. If a men's club, still largely, it is mostly dysfunctional. I say that the two-party poor excuse for political system is the main threat to democracy at the national level, and we need to improve it. If I were elected, it would be an upset. I would bring with me, I remind you, a heaping helping of political capital. Yes, we would send a political earthquake through the foundations of that conventional 20th century poor excuse for a political system and improve it. So that's my, you know, statement on how we improve democracy. Am I once again fitting into that 90 seconds? I've got a few more seconds here. No, you're all good. We're all good. Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. Congressman Welch. Welcome to you again. Please do. Congressman Welch, how would you characterize this state of democracy and what do you think needs to be done? It's really the most important decision that Americans are going to make in this election. What's the future of our democracy? Donald Trump's a threat to it. Peter, you criticized me for impeaching him. I do it again. That man is not fit to be our president. Now, we started out by banning people from coming into this country on the basis of their religion. Nobody does that. We've got a traditional Republicans who stood up for civil rights. In individual rights. Donald Trump has no loyalty to the principles of that. He, during the demonstration, a peaceful demonstration, got his attorney general to clear the area using significant force over by the White House and went out in a charade, stood there with a Bible as though he was defiant and as though he was standing up for something. He is trampling on the norms of democracy that have guided us for generations and generations, Republicans and Democrats. And my serious concern with President Trump in his conduct as our chief executive is his full embrace of a strategy of dividing us on the basis of the color of our skin, our national origin, our religion. And it's the job of our president, whatever party to bring us together and to build trust, not create division. This person is running rough shot over everything from the environmental protection agency to the Centers for Disease Control dictating to them what they should tell us about public health guidance based on political rather than scientific or public health reasons. This is the big challenge for us as a country to step back and reflect on this precious democracy that has endured but is fragile. This is the question that we all face. Thank you very much. Mary and Barry, is democracy under threat? What's the challenge? How would you address it? Say that definitely democracy is under threat. One of the things that I think we need to look at truly is big tech and big media. They have risen to the point of being utilities. So as utilities, people depend on them for information. And so I think that their censorship of opposing ideas demonetizing people that is wrong and needs to stop. I think that for a true democracy, we do best when we encourage dialogue between each other. The Constitution says nothing about you have the right to not be offended. Sometimes when we speak, we will offend each other, but in a free society we should be able to express our views and hopefully receive views as well. So we hopefully choose our words carefully. One thing I like to say about democracy, I was in my 20s working at Night Shift and I had the benefit of taking care of a fellow who had actually been in the legislature in Vermont. And he said it didn't matter to your neighbors whether you put up a Republican sign or a Democrat sign, people voted for you because they knew you and because they knew you were a good person. I think that that's just a really admirable thing and I'd love to see that come back that we stop so much fighting and start talking to each other and say, hey, I'm living my life as a good person and will you vote for me or hey, I see that you're living your life as a good person and I want to vote for you because thank you, Mary and Barry. Peter Becker, is there a crisis of democracy and what do you think needs to happen? You're muted. Unmute yourself. There you go. Sorry. Well, I agree with Jerry that partisan politics and divisiveness are the biggest threat to our democracy. This country should all be about United We Stand and divided we fall. Congressman Welch is a good example of the cancer of partisan politics. He's just obsessed with bashing President Trump. This has got to stop. We need to either eliminate these parties so there is no partisan politics or do something else that go in a different direction. We are at our best when we're united and we're at our worst when we're divided and healing the divisiveness in this country starts in Washington. Thank you very much. Marsha Horn. Certainly. Thank you. Our democracy is being under certainly is and by socialist left-wing democrats. Socialism education or reeducating referencing the Green New Deal that our rights might be denied to each and every American that doesn't take part in this reeducation process. I haven't seen the new 538 page document when the new Green New Deal was made available. And the oath of allegiance to socialism that was talked about doesn't include the concept of freedom of speech that is inherent in our democracy that allows for the left wing of the Democratic Party to be in existence. Unfortunately, the far left has taken over the Democratic platform and with what those people have in mind with what the new Democratic Party has in mind that political freedom would be inhibited. Freedom of speech would be inhibited. Human rights would be denied. Denied as a result so would the political ability to organize and fight to change this country back to what it was be available not as we know it. This country would change. Our democracy would be no more. And during a time of crisis during 2019 the government shut down for the longest length of time in the history of this country because left wing Democrats couldn't fund a 5.4 billion dollar wall and required a doubling of the foreign aid fund. Thank you. We need to get back to what this country is about. Thank you. I'm going to start with the first question. I'm going to change. Jerry, you are the first responder. I'm just going to remind folks that we're wrapping up in about 15 minutes. If there's any question from the public now would be a good time to get it in. Jerry, do you believe that climate change is happening? What do you think should be done to mitigate it? You mentioned your green new deal. Tell us about it. I don't believe what is mounting evidence that climate is changing. Let me put this into focus. What I'm calling for is the same thing that the Scientific American said is possible. A zero emission economy by the year 2050. A solar hydrogen economy. I hate to blow my horn but I've done homework on this. All of you students out there Google scientific American that there is a solution. I might chime in. It's not big box corporate money making schemes that have been exposed by the Michael Moore film Planet of the Humans which congressman Welsh supported. Let's take a look at the Lowell Mountain Boondog project. Did you know that it only contributes about 1% of the electricity to the grid of Vermont? Now I'm a forest ecologist. That we've destroyed precious fragile ecosystems. We've increased runoff with each one of those 300 megawatt turbines that should not be there. To put into perspective I certainly recognize the problem and the increasing urgency about it and that's because the Washington 20th century Boondog solutions big ticket projects is in many cases a waste of money. I urge everyone to watch the film Planet of the Humans by Michael Moore. It was censored. Now Michael Moore is an established filmmaker any film he may will gross 100 million box office he could get a distribution contract except that well he's blown the lid off this whole situation. You're welcome. I guess I've managed to get that in there. Thank you very much. Yes, so congressman Welch you're next. What do you think needs to be done to mitigate climate change you need to unmute yourself and do you support the new Green Deal the Green New Deal? Yeah, well climate change is our biggest existential crisis and our failure to address it has reached a tipping point think about what's happening now and yes by the way I do support the Green New Deal but think about what's happening right now 5 million acres have been destroyed, burned in Oregon, California in Washington. There's five major storms in the Atlantic one of which has pummeled our Gulf Coast climate change is real and it's doing incredible damage to the well-being of our citizens. The lead to mass migration in our U.S. military when they were assessing big threats to our national security with climate change at the top and my view is that we can and must address it because a continent nation doesn't deny the problem and that's essentially what President Trump is doing it engages in solving the problem and if we take on the challenge and this is the aspiration of the Green New Deal to find many, many ways in each different situation where we can take productive steps to reduce carbon emissions create jobs and have a safer planet and we cannot waste a moment to engage in an energetic effort to reduce carbon emissions and by the way our economy it's our big challenge. Thank you Congressman Mary and Barry you need to unmute there we go your approach to climate change and the Green New Deal I would say there are probably about three maybe four different groups when it comes to climate change discussions first we have the people that think that yes it's happening and mankind has caused it second we have the group that says it's happening let's call them agnostics or disbelievers or naysayers and then fourth there's probably another group that is a combination of ok let's look at this and what can we do how can we how can we steward resources responsibly from the individual let's do things like what do we do what do I do, what do you do as an individual for this I think that for example some of this Green New Deal stuff is going to pose a terrible hardship it is very hard to get any place to get to work I work with people who drive over an hour to get to their work I think that trying to press all this during the time of COVID when we need to be recovering about COVID that all the Green New Deal stuff is wasting time and money let's put it off let's look at evidence-based stuff as we're talking about but I just I think that forcing people to hire taxes and to drive electric cars when they can barely afford to drive a car that now they have to jump through all these extra hoops just so they can get to work so they can feed their families that it's disgusting that we are forcing people to meet these arbitrary benchmarks thank you thank you very much Peter Becker your view of climate change is a problem of our time if you support the Green New Deal all in 90 seconds okay thank you well I think the climate has been changing since the year 00 and I think it's going to continue to change no matter what we do however we don't want to exasperate the problem and change climates artificially I think we need to move away from fossil fuels I mean there's technologies out there that are allowing us to start to do that there are many electric vehicles coming to the market just this year and I think there's technologies that can produce abundant energy electrical energy without using fossil fuels they come in the form of possibly perpetual generators that can be located anywhere and we should all we used to talk about there used to be people that were called conservationists I don't know what happened to them but now there only seems to be environmentalists conservationists believe that man and nature can work together and I think we need to get back to that sort of relationship and have the best environment we can have thank you so much Peter Marcia Horn your view of the climate crisis certainly certainly first of all we need to extend tax credits for hybrid and electric vehicles that ends here that is critical critical to promoting all renewable fuel electric engines and reducing carbon emissions here in this country we've seen it do a lot of good that needs to be continued the Green New Deal for what it's worth is a socialist doctrine that is using climate change to promote socialist agenda a socialist agenda shame on you congressman Welch for supporting it for attempting to shift enormous power from the hands of the people of this country into the hands of the government and personal wealth along with it with that pretext this past May in the United States as the government was shut down excuse me the economy was shut down this country posted negative numbers with regard to the two degree algorithm while Russia posted five overall averages were just shy of one degree we need to get tough on Russia and China with regard to their pollution people in this country have been doing their part they've been switching to hybrid electric cars switching to pellet fuel also energy energy efficient fuel systems however keep in mind in 30 years the oil is going to be gone in 50 years the propane and the coal will be gone thank you Christopher Halally your view of climate change mitigation and the Green New Deal thank you of course the climate change is real the climate emergency is real you know I'm first generation American when I came to this country I was told to look up to all of the scientists the intellectuals the people at NASA I was told to you know look at wonder at the futurists and what this country can produce and it's the scientists the same scientists but I don't think it's you know once again it's rocket science that this is a real phenomenon that humans are causing it the number one polluter of the military all these jets every day F-35 and Vermont B-52s all over the world warships tanks drills once again why are we spending all this fuel and all this energy on the war machine we should cut that back cut back the war machine I of course am a communist a Marxist-Leninist one thing for socialism Marsha Peter Welch is not a socialist the democrat support capitalism I hope you get the ideology correct here you have a real socialist a socialist to wear the uniform in this country who's seen the wars first-hand and who's spot on the front lines in the Middle East and I'll tell you one thing socialism is empowering the workers and the farmers not the corporations not the elites and the ruling class everyone here bootlicks and supports The key is to combat the climate catastrophe. We need to move to socialism. We need more than a Green New Deal. We need to transform our economy from an economy of waste, from an economy of plastics, from an economy of just overall consumption, to an economy that provides for the basic needs of all workers and farmers, and not for everybody's enjoyment and pleasure and traveling and cruise liners and things like that. We can live in a world that can mitigate the climate catastrophe and provide for peace, prosperity, and security for all workers and farmers. Thank you so much for moving on to closing statements. Congressman Welch, you have about a minute, if you can keep it shorter, that would be great. You better unmute. Better unmute yourself. Yep. There we go. Thanks. You know, I just want to acknowledge the frontline work in healthcare that Mary and Barry did. All of us are contending with COVID, but frontline workers have to deal with it every single day. As I said, I see this as the most important election in my lifetime, and it's important not whether I win or any one of the other candidates win. It's important whether Americans make a decision for monitors very much among them about the future of our democracy. That's imperiled. The norms that we've had, the trust that is required for us, even when we disagree, to come together to solve problems, to work out differences for the better of our country. Those are under assault now. So I want to thank you for hosting this. I want to thank my fellow candidates for participating in this great experiment that we all share, and it's called American Democracy. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mary and Barry, you're next with closing comments. Thank you, Mr. Welch. I appreciate that. I'm going to speak from my heart. Just, I know what it's like to labor for minimum wage, how to raise a family when you're worried about how to pay the bills. I know what it's like to go without insurance. I know what it's like to have the landlord knocking on the door saying, where's my money? I also know the pride of having worked and achieved something that seemed nearly impossible. I pledge to bring that to Washington, to bring the compassion and to bring the pride in what we can achieve, and we can achieve something together. Thank you. This has been wonderful. Thank you, Maryam, for joining us. Peter Becker running as an independent, as is Mary and Barry. No, Maryam is running as an independent. No, I'll do that. Sorry about that. Peter Becker running as an independent. Your question, comment. The Constitution starts out, we the people, not we the Republicans, or we the Democrats, or we the women, or we the men, we're all on the same boat. One of my favorite portraits is of Washington crossing the Delaware. In that boat, he's surrounded by people of various backgrounds, nationalities, ethnic groups, and they're all together. And they're working together for a common goal, common purpose. I believe Congressman Welch is a good person, means well, but he's been gobbled up by partisanship, and he's drowning in the swamp. I think the time has come for a change, a fresh view, and an end to the divisiveness and partisanship in Washington. Thank you very much, Peter. Marsha Horne running as an independent, closing comment. Certainly. I'm a Republican. And if elected, I'll be fighting for the ideals of both Republicans and Democrats of old, people who have their roots only set in the concept of entitlements, raising the poor out of poverty, providing funding where it is needed, tax only when necessary, so as to allow people to keep their own heart and body as much as possible. Congressman Welch and other left-wing Democrats have called this democracy broken. Legislation is difficult to pass, even when there is overriding agreement. DACA is one example. I feel that it is essential for voters, for people who's coming from Vermonters, to look to the future, to look to this democracy, this market capitalism, and stop the pipe dream, the socialist pipe dream. There is work to be done. And a lot of time has been wasted on the debate of socialism, of universal health care, single-payer health care. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Christopher Halle, your closing comments. Capitalism has failed the working class. It has failed workers and farmers in Vermont and around the United States. What we need to do, we need to end the wars. We need to close all the foreign military bases. We need to abolish NATO. We need to nationalize all major industries and seize the means of productions for the people. We need free health care, free child care, and free education from pre-K to doctoral level. We need to end the sanctions, the illegal and immoral sanctions against Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, Zimbabwe, the DPRK, and all the other countries that we put a boot on around the world. I say no to a new Cold War between Russia and between us and Russia and China. The same people who lied us into the war in Iraq are now pushing the anti-China hysteria, the anti-Russia hysteria, all of these things. No to a new Cold War. We need to end support for the apartheid state of Israel and we need a free Palestine. I believe now more than ever that the working class must rise up, must throw away these parties of capitalism and war, and abolish the system that we have and create a new one for workers' democracies. Thank you. Thank you very much. Christopher is running with the party of Communist USA. Jerry Tridell, unmute yourself. You have the last minute, the last word. Okay, can you hear me now? Yes, please. Number one, go to jerryfermont.com. That's my website, jerryfermont.com. I have a nuts and bolts plan that's well researched that will actually work. I stress we need approaches that do work, not save a bunch of money and get politicians reelected on the issue, which Michael Moore's film exposed. Watch Michael's Moore's film, Plan of the Humans. No, I don't support the Green New Deal. I support solutions that work. My green print for a new economy would work. My national green print would as well. And so once again, I urge you to go to jerryfermont.com. That's jerryfermont.com. Watch my videos. I have videos. And it's very easy to watch. Once again, I guess at the end of my minute, thank you all very much for listening, for watching, et cetera. And have a nice day, right? Thank you very much. Jerry Tridell running as an independent. I want to thank these candidates for joining us today. We're continuing our coverage and launching it tonight of general election 2020. Don't forget to vote. You can vote early, but you can't vote often. So just try to get your ballots as soon as you can. Thank you very much to the candidates. And from town meeting television, we send our best to you. Good night.