Tamara Zwinak Candidate U.S. House of Rep. Dist-11

The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifies when a President may transfer power to the Vice President and under what circumstances.  Section 4 of the amendment provides for the Vice President and Congress to convene for the purpose of transferring power when the President is unable to do so.   There is no doubt Congress has power to act under the Twenty-fifth Amendment. America must be prepared to transfer power when a President is unable or unwilling, due to incapacity, to perform the duties of office and transfer power voluntarily. Setting up a process to engage the powers of Congress and the Vice President under the Twenty-fifth Amendment is apolitical. Our national security depends on the President's fitness.  The President may not refuse to submit to an independent fitness for duty examination. The President is not a private person. He is a public servant required to be fit for duty 24 hours a day. All public servants, and especially the Pr...

US House of Representatives District 11 Thank you for completing our candidate questionnaire for The News & Observer, The Charlotte Observer and the Herald-Sun. Your answers will be published in our voter guide and may be lightly edited for spelling and grammar. Our goal is to help voters understand candidates' views on important policy issues. Email address * zdthm49@gmail.com Political party (if applicable) * Green Age as of November 3, 2020 * 68 Campaign website * https://ushouserace2020.blogspot.com/ Occupation * Social Worker Education * Master's Degree, Social Work Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought) * Rockland County, New York, Orangetown Legislative seat. Please list highlights of your civic involvement: * Advocating for the disadvantaged; mentally ill, drug addicted; disabled; Veterans; military families; immigrants; food stamp recipients; the elderly; Aids patients; suicide prevention and crisis resolution; Green c...

Tamara Zwinak, Green candidate for U.S. House of Representatives outlines her position on a multitude of issues prioritized by her campaign.  Pandemic Response I believe the political climate in Washington has set the stage for the pandemic crisis.  The coronavirus pandemic has killed over 180,000 Americans of which nearly 50% are seniors and Black and Brown people.  Of those who have recovered, thousands still suffer from lingering symptoms that may leave them permanently disabled.  Over 35 million people are unemployed, millions more are discouraged workers and only half of the unemployed receive unemployment insurance.  My immediate plan for managing the pandemic includes Social Distancing, Mask Mandates, Rapid Testing with Immediate Results, a Safe and Effective vaccine available to all; production of PPE, medications and vaccines in the US; and testing of waste water. Sustainability My economic policy is grounded in the concepts of sustainable...

1) What are your top 3 scientific priorities for the upcoming year? 1) The coronavirus pandemic: Deliver a safe, accessible, affordable and effective vaccine and innovative ways to dispense the vaccine to 500 million people in 20-21. 2) Increase innovative ways to rapidly reduce CO2 emissions to reduce global warming; the death of coral reefs; forest fires; and droughts. 3) Innovations to bring sustainable packaging without petroleum based materials or styrofoam to market and rapid ways to capture and collect plastic waste in the oceans, streams and on land.   2) How do you plan to ensure access to COVID-19 testing, tracing, treatment, and personal protective equipment (PPE) for all North Carolinians, especially workers in the highest risk jobs? By providing federal funds to the states to accomplish these tasks.   3) What is your strategy to mitigate infection risk in hot spots that contribute to community spread such as meat processing plants, nursing hom...

Upon election, what do you think is the most important policy or action for you to accomplish in your first year? Answer The most important policy or action that must be accomplished the first year is to manage the pandemic. The coronavirus has killed nearly 200,000 Americans of which nearly 50% are seniors; and Black and Brown people. Of those who have recovered, thousands still suffer from lingering symptoms that may leave them permanently disabled. Over 35 million people are unemployed, millions more are discouraged workers and only half of the unemployed receive unemployment insurance. My immediate plan is to manage the pandemic with Social Distancing, Mask Mandates, Rapid Testing with Immediate Results, a Safe and Effective vaccine available to all; production of PPE, medications and vaccines in the US; and testing of waste water in order to reopen schools and businesses safely.  Employment, income security ...

 2020 Disability Rights North Carolina General Election Questionnaire US House Question 1 I am a candidate for US House of Representatives Dist-11 from North Carolina with a Green platform focused on Healthcare (including the pandemic response), Sustainability (protecting the environment and responding to climate change), and protecting Social Security for the disabled with the goal of passing Universal Basic Income. US House Question 2 As a disabled person, I benefited from Vocational Rehabilitation programs and without them I may never have graduated from college.  I will pass legislation to federally fund Vocational Rehabilitation programs to pay for college tuition, books and travel expenses for eligible disabled clients.    US House Question 3 Rural communities have seen hospitals close and doctors move away as the profits are not sufficient to cover the cost of running a healthcare business.  Government has a role to play in healthcare if we w...

  Who are you? Tell us about yourself. Ms. Zwinak previously ran for office in New York as a Green Party candidate for an Orangetown County Legislative seat in the late 90s. Her campaign set the agenda for healthcare reform, sustainable development, and social justice decades before these became a staple of every politician's campaign promise; the agenda for the climate change movement and the police reform movement. Before the coronavirus pandemic, it was encouraging to watch millions of people all over the world out on the street marching for climate change and now millions are marching for Black Lives Matter and social justice. The coronavirus pandemic has made it apparent that these issues intersect. As the Republicans push for more drastic crack downs using military force to silence protestors, they have nominated candidates who no longer represent the American people. This party is now on par with a domestic terrorist group, with QAnon candidates an...

COVID-19 is having significant negative effects on the WNC job market while the area’s cost of living has continued to rise. What will you do to create employment opportunities that pay a living wage?   The pandemic shuttered business and caused record unemployment rates. Govt. stepped in to provide stimulus checks and additional unemployment benefits. As a member of Congress, the way to create employment opportunities in the region is by lowering taxes on business or offering tax incentives. In a capitalist economy, free markets are the best way to increase employment and to start new and innovative businesses. I support raising the federal minimum wage to $18 an hour.   How does your approach to climate change address its accompanying social challenges, such as climate-driven migration and disproportionate impacts on low-income communities?  We are in a global emergency that is much larger than climate change. The pandemic is the result of the destruction of the r...

President Trump announced shortly after midnight that he tested positive for the coronavirus and reporters are asking how is he able to keep the country safe from the virus when he hasn't protected himself? Trump has repeatedly refused to wear a mask.  On Wednesday, he held a campaign rally the day after a raucous debate with presidential candidate Joe Biden, whom he mocked for wearing a mask. To protect the public and the Executive Office, I am calling for President Trump to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment immediately, until he has fully recovered.     Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 2, 2020

 Bryan Overstreet, Special Projects Producer WLOS-TV Asheville, North Carolina                                       Cell: 804-263-8551 E-mail: bsoverstreet@sbgtv.com Re: Candidate Questions 1)  Why are you running for office? I am a Green candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives-District 11.  For decades the environmentalists have exerted great effort to protect nature.  This week the UN Summit on Biodiversity gathered experts and leaders from around the world to talk about the progress we have made protecting biodiversity.  Our goals have not been met.  We are in the final hour of our fight to protect nature and our place in it.  If we do not act immediately, one million species face extinction in the next few years.  Human activity has already caused the e...