Tim Donnelly's Principles 

Candidate for California's 8th Congressional District 

1. Build the Wall.  Secure the Border,  Enforce all immigration laws without favoritism and restore our national sovereignty and the rule of law. President Reagan had it right:  'A nation without borders isn't a nation.'  Unchecked illegal immigration has cost California taxpayers over $20 Billion per year, diverting resources that could go to taking better care of our veterans.  But the real cost is the lost lives at the hands of illegal alien criminals and gang members who prey on the community and enjoy 'Sanctuary' status in California due to the policies of Gov. Jerry Brown and the Democrat-dominated state government.  As a Congressman, I will fight to defund so-called 'Sanctuary States' and will not rest until our communities become sanctuaries for law-abiding American citizens again.

2.  Full Repeal of ObamaCare.  This disaster of a program has driven up the cost of health insurance in order to provide a socialistic safety net to millions, who have their policies subsidized at the expense of citizens who work.  ObamaCare must be fully repealed, the government must relinquish health care back to the free market, then we need to remove restrictions and allow insurance companies to compete across state lines.  Competition will drive down costs, and increase quality.  

3. Incentive Job Creation by cutting regulations and pushing for lower tax rates across the board for everyone who pays taxes and contributes to the economy.  Two additional things must be done to spur job growth by the private sector:  1) Reform entitlements so that work, not welfare becomes the more profitable choice.  2) Shrink Government by introducing the same efficiencies and technology that have transformed every aspect of the private sector, cutting the dependency on human   Every time it's been tried, cutting tax rates has always spurred economic growth and job creation.  I will not only oppose all tax increases, but I will work to lower the tax burden on every Californian. 

4. Defend our inalienable, God-given, natural rights:  that of life (the unborn and elderly), liberty (Self Defense and the Second Amendment) and property (Private Property Rights) from Government infringement. 

Life: I believe that life begins at conception, and that it is the duty of our government to protect all life.  As your Represenative, I will vote to defund Planned Parenthood, and will never give my vote to an Omnibus bill containing any funding for Planned Parenthood.  

5. Take care of our Veterans. This starts with respect. We live in the greatest country on earth, thanks to their sacrifice. We must prioritize Veterans healthcare and treat them better than illegal aliens.  That starts with reforming the VA, and allowing Veterans to see private non-VA doctors in order to expedite and improve their care rather than sentence them to long wait times in a failed system. As Americans we must acknowledge the traumatic brain injuries (TBI) that afflict many of those who return home, seemingly healthy and whole, but who are left to fight this hidden killer alone.  And then we must treat them accordingly as we would like to see ourselves or a family member treated.  Making these changes is a starting point to keeping our promises to those willing to sacrifice everything for our freedom.  In order to cover additional costs, we need to eliminate all benefits paid by taxpayers for illegal aliens, cut wasteful government departments, bureaucracy, and reduce the size and scope of government to a Constitutional footprint.

6. Stand with the President against Islamic Terrorism. I fully support President Trump's travel ban and believe it should be enforced.  At present we have no way to vet immigrants from Muslim countries to determine who are radicalized with the intent to slaughter innocent Americans in the name of Allah. Rather than voting to fund the Obama refugee program like my opponent did, I believe it should be defunded and ended completely.  

After San Bernardino, I will never apologize or be politically correct about the threat that took the life of the father of two boys who play on my son's football team.  This is deeply personal to me, and I will never be silent no matter what the outcry from the leftist enablers of Radical Islam within our Federal Government.

Block immigration from all terror-sponsoring or terror-tolerating countries.  There is no Constitutional right to come to the United States.   All Mosques which teach jihad, or embrace the radical sects, should be on watch by the FBI and other national security agencies, infiltrated for the purpose of preventing another San Bernardino type terrorist attack.  (One of my neighbors, a 37-year old father of 6, who's sons played football on my son's team.  This is deeply personal to me.)  We should block the implementation of Sharia Law and not grant Muslims any special treatment within any of our institutions.  Once granted, those special exemptions are impossible to undo.  The 1st Amendment guarantees freedom "of" religion, not special treatment of any one faith.

7. Reduce the size and scope of the Federal Government. End the IRS, End the Dept of Education and End federal oversight via Common Core over local education.  The Founders intended for us to rule ourselves—instead of having multiple layers of bureaucracy attempting to micromanage our lives.  By allowing the mission of government to creep so quietly into so many aspects of our lives, we are witnessing the slow, painful death of our Liberty and our natural, God-given rights. When Government expands, freedom must necessarily contract.  What our Federal Government must do is that which is enumerated in the Constitution and nothing more.

Mankind has always shown an inordinate capacity to abuse power.  The Founders reacted to this human failing, by splitting the power into distinct branches with specifically enumerated duties.  This keeps any one branch from becoming "king".  And the branches of gov't counterbalance each other, the design of which was to keep each branch in check.

8. Support parental rights to make medical decisions for their children rather than government mandates. As Americans, one thing we cherish above all is liberty and the freedom to make medical decisions for ourselves and our children, rather than have government make them for us.  God gave children to parents, not the state.  I will oppose any and all attempts by the Federal Government to come between you and your child.  

A lot of people in the media characterize me as 'anti-vaccination', but if I am, that’s news to me—and my kids.  I vaccinated my boys.  All of them.  But only after reading all the pro’s and cons.  Perhaps making an informed choice for the health of my children is ‘extreme’ to some people, I don’t know, but on that issue I’m Pro-Choice.   During my time in the Assembly, and for a few years after, I engaged in a battle to protect the very limited freedom that Californians had to ‘opt out’ of some or all vaccinations.  

I don’t believe the government should be the final say on what goes into a child’s body; that right belongs to his/her parents.  California achieved some of the highest vaccination rates in the country, while also respecting the right of individuals, allowing medical, and personal belief exemptions.  Now, that delicate balance has been destroyed by the legislation I fought against and the freedom to make that choice for yourself and your child has been outlawed.  

9.Stand for the first amendment and end censorship in silicon valley. Increasingly, we see the rise of new monopolies in Silicon Valley conglomerates control most of digital and social media.  Companies like Twitter, Google, Facebook, Apple, etc. are openly political and use their incredible reach to censor and silence any speech they don’t like. Free Speech rights and the First Amendment must be protected everywhere—even in this new digital space.

On August 6th, 2018, Big Tech including Apple, Google, Facebook, YouTube and Spotify colluded to ban speech they don't like. This is way beyond a fight over fake community standards (which the hateful left somehow never violates), nor is it strictly about #FreeSpeech, since these tech titans are technically 'private companies' which are publicly owned by shareholders. There's something much more sinister at play, straight out of Orwell's 1984. Conservatives are being unpersonned. Now, you may not agree with them. That's not the point. When the platform for '#freespeech' is effectively owned and controlled by a handful of monolithic corporations, your right to '#freespeech' can be 'vaporized' for all intents and purposes.  That's because they have the unilateral power to 'de-platform' someone they don't agree with, essentially erasing their footprint from the digital 'public square'.

The First Amendment specifically protects the power of the press to be the watchdog of government, but who's watching the watchdog and who can control it when it becomes a monster? And those targeted are naturally those who've become the biggest threat to the collusion of the media and the political establishment. That means only conservatives, constitutionalists and supporters of President Trump.

10.Land Use/Federal Control:  The Federal government claims "ownership" of close to half of our land in California (45.8%), something the framers of the Constitution never could have envisioned.  Federal land use in the West and in California, in particular, needs to be re-evaluated in the interests of citizens of each state.  By converting tracts of Federal land back to state control, the land could potentially be used for productive purposes, and better serve the interests of the people of California, and the 8th District.

11. Pro-Life: I’m one hundred percent Pro-Life!  I believe life is a gift from God, and begins at conception.  I will be a co-author on the Heartbeat Protection Act (HR 490), and I’ll never vote to give one Red Cent of taxpayer money to Planned Parenthood.