June 16, 2018
AN OPEN LETTER TO
Mr. Bob Viney
406 Walnut Lane
Mason, Ohio 45040
Dear Bob:
Thank you for your letter to me of June 5,
2018. I am the Democratic Candidate for
the United States House of Representatives for the Kentucky Fifth District,
having won the Democratic primary May 22, 2018.
My background is somewhat similar to
yours. I am a member of the Viet Nam
Veterans of America—although I never served in-country; a former Destroyer
Escort officer and member of the D.E. Sailors Association, and a Cold War
veteran. I worked with Submariners while
I was an Assistant Underwater Range Officer at the U.S. Navy Underwater Range
in St. Croix, U.S.V.I. After I resigned
my Commission with the Navy, I became a lawyer, practicing in Georgia, Florida,
and Kentucky.
Country above Party sounds good, and I know no
one who would run under the banner of “Party above Country.”
I agree with you that we need an “ACA Repair
approach” and to keep the ACA in its improved condition, rather than terminating
it.
I favor a pro-growth and pro-jobs economic
policy. I come from a family of
economists. My Father, Prof. James M.
Stepp, Sr. taught Agricultural Economics for approx. 33 years at Clemson
University in South Carolina. He and his
brother Hubert F. Stepp both held Ph.D. degrees in economics from the
University of Virginia. When I attended Clemson University for four
years, I majored in Industrial Management with a Minor in Economics.
I favor more access for all Americans to lower
cost health care. This is served by the
ACA, but it needs amending to overcome defects in the program.
Concerning Medicare, I propose and would
support, an amendment to the Medicare Act over a period of two years, reducing
the age of eligibility for Medicare by two years. That should have more public support than a
sudden addition of eighty per cent of Americans to the Medicare program.
I favor increasing everyone’s income for the
long term. We don’t need class warfare
here, we need to move everyone willing to work forward to a better future.
The Federal Government should spend more on
American Education, whether in the form of scholarships, fellowships, or
loans. A nation’s spending on education
determines sixty per cent of a nation’s personal gross domestic product. Thus spending on education this year affects
standards of living in America for the next fifty years.
The Roman Empire, around 382 A.D. (or A.C.E. if
you prefer) conferred Roman citizenship on all the residents of the Roman
Empire. We don’t expect America to be
forced into such a choice, but I agree that your statement that “immigration
must be based on the needs of the country AND humanitarian needs of keeping
families together”. If the Army can be
picky about their entrance of new members, so can U.S. Immigration. We need to get younger, stronger, more
healthy and better immigrants, all for a stronger America. Keeping families together should be part of
the American policy on immigration. We
should start having Congressional Hearings in January 2019, concerning the
present defects in our current immigration program, and how best to improve
it. America should not be a dumping
ground for the world’s unemployable, but we should give preference to people
who appear capable of holding a job in our changing economy. Preference in immigration should be
statutorily given to people who have been legal residents of the United States,
and also those who have served as members of the United States’ Armed Forces.
Thank you for your instructive letter
concerning what should be the issues of the current national political
campaign. Hopefully the two parties of
America will be more cooperative with each other after the 2018 elections.
Yours
truly,
/s/ Kenneth S. Stepp
Kenneth
Stepp
former
Lt. (Junior Grade) U.S. Navy
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