Wayne Steele

Border Wall

• Wayne is for a high-tech, electronic wall of metal power polls. The wall would be equipped with military-grade cameras, motion sensors, seismometers, and ground penetrating radar. These types of sensors would activate drones to the area being breached, which will follow suspects until Border Patrol can arrive to escort the people back over the border or arrest them if they are smuggling drugs, firearms, or explosives.
• Mr. Steele is not for a physical wall people can just damage, drive around, crawl over, or build tunnels underneath.

Medical Cannabis

• Medical marijuana should be decriminalized for medicinal use and legalized nationwide.
• Expungement of records for non-violent offenders and non-child related offenses.
• Restoration of Voting Rights.
• States should be mandated to allow the sell of medical cannabis with a prescription.
• Private and public health insurances should pay according to copay and deductibles for this type of medicinal treatment through prescription drug coverages.
• Recreational use should be left up to states’ rights.
• A 5% federal sales tax should be collected: 3% for paying off the debt and 2% towards education, mental health, and rehabilitation programs funding.

COVID-19 Pandemic

• Continued allocation for COVID-19 research should be funded through federal and state programs.
• Continued allocation for vaccines should be funded through federal and state programs.
• Continued allocation for antiviral drugs should be funded through federal and state programs.
• Continued allocation for antibody treatments should be funded through federal and state programs.
• Continued 100% payments by all health insurance policies should continue for all forms of COVID-19 treatment.
• Mask requirements should be left up to states and local governments.
• Vaccine requirements should be left up to governments and private companies.
• At this point, most people have enough information about COVID-19 to make an informed decision for themselves and Survival of the Fittest is at play.

Crime & Justice

Education

Public Education

• Teachers at all levels of education should be able to write-off up to $10,000 per year from their Gross Income for supplies of their classrooms and for what they buy for effective teaching.
• Online public education for K-12 should be expanded, and all teachers should be trained how to teach in an online format.
• Failing schools should be funded at a rate of 150% of the funding of the best performing school within a state.
• Funds for school events, activities, and tutoring should be set aside for teacher overtime in addition to their salaries.
• Maximum class size should be 15 students.
• Common Core should be eliminated and teachers return to the ability to teach in a way they're comfortable with, as long as students are learning.
• The different ways in which people learn should allow students to be taught and tested in individualistic ways, not just in the cookie-cutter way the Department of Education have blocked students for decades.
• Students from Preschool to the Doctorate level should be tested based upon their own type of learning skills.
• Armed guards dressed as civilians should be stationed outside of all schools in plain clothing. If teachers feel comfortable, they should have the right to have a locked safe in their classroom for guns and ammo.
• Preschools and Pre-K should be tuition-free for ages 2.5-5 years in public school systems. Parents should have the voluntary choice of whether to start their kids in Preschool or until Kindergarten.
• Parents should be able to send their children to any school, even if in a different district, with no tuition charges.
• There should be no diversion of funding for public schools to charter schools. Left to states’ rights, states may setup their own separate funding for charter schools using non-federal funds, such as taxes. Wayne would introduce federal legislation that would bar states from using federal education dollars or any type of federal fund to setup or fund charter schools.
• Schools should reserve the right to retain students to repeat a school year if the student has yet to learn everything needed to succeed in the next grade level. There is no shame in “failing” a grade. It is people who place shame on the child. Many successful adults have failed grade levels and have had to takr remedial classes in college.
• Books and the utterances of words should not be banned from schools. Book lists should be made for parents to help their child choose which books to read within an appropriate grade level. We should not be living in the book 1984 or Fahrenheit 451!

Higher Education

• Limit vocational, tech, and community college tuition rates so that Pell Grants pay 100%.
• Out-of-State tuition fees should be banned.
• A ban on Colleges and Universities charging lower tuition rates for on-ground versus higher rates for online classes should be instituted. There should be a flat rate across the board.
• A portion of a federal 5% sales tax on all cannabis products should be used to help pay for education from Preschool to the Doctorate level.

Student Loan Debt

• A 2%, non-variable, and non-compounding interest rate should be locked until December 31, 2099, on all student loans.
• All student loans written from January 1, 2000, until current, should be rewritten for the original principle of 2%, non-variable, and non-compounding interest and reduced based upon how much one has been paid on the loan thus far. If the loans are paid off, refunds should be issued of the excess interest amount.

Expanded Student Loan Forgiveness Program

The Environment & Infrastructure

Just how the great Republican Teddy Roosevelt accelerated the protection of our national and natural treasures during his tenure as President, National Parks, Landmarks, and Monuments should be protected from private destruction.

Agriculture
Small farms and family farmers should be supported by locals and protected from large corporate agricultural companies. SNAP food cards should be allowed as payment to local farmers who own markets and sell at Farmer's Markets. SNAP benefits should be increased based on one's dietary needs connected to documented health conditions.

Consumers of food should have a Constitutional right to know what is contained in their food: every additive, preservative, and man-made chemical used to raise and make food.

Fracking
Fracking should be stopped and banned because of the unknown damage that has taken place in Oklahoma and other areas of the country.

High-Speed Rail
A 40-year infrastructure project needs to be created, which would be similar to the Eisenhower Interstate System. High-speed rail is more fuel efficient than cars, buses, and planes, and we need to reduce travel costs to make it easier for people to get around the country for jobs and vacations.

Recycling
Every garbage pick-up company should be mandated to have a recycling pick-up plan option across America, with the option to participate left up to the household.

Energy
Energy consumption from solar and wind need to be exponentially increased through tax breaks for companies, business owners, and homeowners alike.

Environmental Protection:
Americans should be guaranteed clean water and air as a right in the Constitution.

Coal Miners & Training:
We need to create an education program to train our coal miners to become solar panel and windmill engineers and technicians.

Any coal miner who wants to retire early at 55 years of age should be able to do so without penalty.

All coal miners' healthcare expenses should be paid at 100% for the rest of their lives for their service in powering our nation. They have many health problems and should live as comfortable a life as possible.

Expanding alternative energy education nationwide in our community colleges, tech schools, and universities should be implemented immediately. Wayne appreciates degrees at his alma mater, Everglades University in Boca Raton, Florida, in areas of renewable energy, environmental policy, marine resources, and sustainability.

Guns

2nd Amendment Rights

• If one believes in the Constitutions, they should support the right to own guns and firearms, but Wayne believes “a well regulated militia” has been lost in the mix of bluster.
• Mr. Steele was not for banning any certain gun or ammo until the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting in which police did not engage the shooter even though they were also armed with military-grade weapons to overtake him. Now Wayne is for banning AR-15s and AK-47s. Since police are going to rely on Supreme Court cases DeShaney v. Winnebago County and Castle Rock v. Gonzales which ruled they don't have protect the public, then citizens should not have weapons to overpower police.
• Bump stocks and high-capacity magazines should be banned.
• A ban on the sales of firearms and ammo to those under 21 years of age should be passed federally.
• Red flag laws should be a federal mandate. Felony indictment should be pursued for those who make false red flag reports in retaliation of a friend or family member for wasting the court's and People's time.
• Those who are severely mentally ill should not be allowed firearms: schizophrenia; untreated PTSD or Major Depressive Disorder; those who have had a suicide attempt within the past 5 years; and those who have not sought adequate treatment since.
• A process where two mental health professionals and a court decision should be the only way rights are suspended, besides those named above, and all three must agree.
• A process to regain rights after rehabilitation should include two mental health professionals and a court decision, where all three agree.
• Those who have attempted or committed unlawful murder should not be allowed firearms.
• Someone who has been convicted of a violent misdemeanor like domestic assault, violent felony, rape, incest, and human and drug trafficking should lose their right to own firearms for life. It should not be the blanket felony rule in any state.
• Those who have legally lost their rights should have random house checks to make sure they are in compliance with their revocation status.
• Background checks should be completed before issuance of any ownership of firearm. No time limits on how long the background check can take to come back before issuance should be allowed.
• Background checks should occur on all private and gun show sales and gifts. People’s legal status to own a gun may be unknown if they have never purchased a gun through a store, or their legal status to own a gun may have changed since their last purchase.
• Once the background check is complete, the name and location of the firearm purchase should be deleted from the national background check system; no national gun registry list should be allowed.

Healthcare & The Affordable Care Act

Preventative Health

• Prevention is the first step to fight disease, and our current healthcare system is not setup in this way!
• All health screenings for diseases should be paid 100% when family history is present, at any age, as they prevent early death.
• Preventing disease from occurring in the first place, or slowing its progression, is the only way we will get the cost of healthcare down.

Mental Health

• Policies should cover mental health treatment for in-hospitalization and residential treatment at 100%.
• No yearly limits, such as per session limits, of treatment should be allowed.
• All forms of telemental health sessions should be covered at 100%.
• Outpatient treatment for partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs should be covered at 80%.
• Outpatient, private treatment should be covered at 80%.
• These stipulations should apply to Medicaid, Medicare, or private insurances alike.

Crossing State Lines
All private health insurance company policies should be sold and accepted across state lines through the insurance networks; Medicaid, Medicare, and Medicare supplement plans should be accepted across state lines. People drive great distances to stay in-state for healthcare, and this can prevent people from receiving life-saving care earlier to extend their life.

Dental, Vision, and Hearing Coverage
Dental, vision, and hearing are physical health issues. All three of these areas of health should be covered by private policies, as well as Medicaid, Medicare, and Medicare supplement plans. Hearing loss has shown to be in correlation with dementia, and dental health has been shown connection with heart disease. This ties back into Mr. Steele’s vision for preventing disease for better patient outcomes, increasing life expectancy, and health insurance savings.

Reproductive Health
Reproductive health is the right of a woman and man, not their employer.

The Affordable Care Act

• Keep protections for preexisting conditions from denial of coverage
• Keep parental insurance until 26
• Keep subsidies, but use taxes collected from medical marijuana to offset them
• Keep preventative care at 100%

Naturopathic Doctors: Naturopathic Doctors

• No matter the state one lives, Naturopathic Medicine Doctors should be able to provide primary care to patients.
• Patients should be able to have consultation for care from both allopathic and alternative medicine physicians.
• States should be banned from barring licensing these physicians.

Alternative & Complementary Preventative Medicine

• Patients should have the right to have Massage Therapy, ChiroAcupuncturepractic, Acupuncture, and gym memberships paid by health insurance companies at the same copay, deductibles, etc., if they choose.
• The savings on medications and surgeries from these forms of treatment should cancel out the need for an increase in premiums for these added services.
• No yearly limit for these services should be allowed, such as a per session limit.

Vitamins and Supplements:
Vitamins and supplements should be set to a mandated quality and ingredient standard by the FDA in consultation with pharmacopeia standards. Mr. Steele would propose legislation which would enforce these standards by a third party such as the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) or similar, and paid by health insurance companies based on a copay with prescription for those of any age.

Prescription Availability & Drug Prices
Patients should be able to order prescriptions through mail-order, directly from the manufacturer, even if the manufacturer is foreign, with doctor's prescription. The FDA should certify the use of drugs from other countries. This will create more competition with local and national drug stores.

Single-Payer Health Insurance
A public option to buy into Medicare should be set for ages 26-64. This would create competition to bring private insurance premiums, co-insurances, and yearly out-of-pocket maximums down.

Medicare For All
Mr. Steele does not think Medicare-for-All is the answer as private health insurance companies do provide better reimbursement rates to providers than Medicare and Medicaid. If we move to a Medicare-For-All system, doctors and facilities will be less likely to accept public insurance.

Opioid and Addiction Epidemic
The opioid epidemic should be tackled at the mental health level more than at a law enforcement level. If drug availability is stymied, people will just move on to other hard drugs. Treat the cause, not the symptom!

Current politicians aren't going far enough to save people's lives.

The U.S. has a mental health crisis at pandemic proportions, especially those who are undiagnosed. Mental health issues and PTSD most times are the cause of anxiety, depression, suicide, homicide, and all drug addiction.

Immigration Reform

“...The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father...”

Ezekiel 18:20

Wayne Steele believes people who were brought over any border of the United States illegally by their parents, family, friends, or mules, and have remained here since, should be able to attain full naturalized citizenship if they have committed no violent crime or felony.

• Extra money should be allocated to process the naturalization of citizens.
• The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) should be enforced immediately, and the naturalization of childhood arrivals should be as fast as humanly possible.
• We should have no caps on the number of asylum-seekers, no matter their country of origin.
• The border should be opened to asylum-seekers to apply at Consulates and Embassies in other countries. The asylum-seekers should be evaluated and background checks done there, rather than locking them up in cages here. If they are in immediate danger in their country, we should expedite the process through Interpol and foreign governments for background checks.

Inflation & Gas Prices

Ways to Give Relief:

• Suspend the National Gas Tax for 1 calendar year
• Encourage states to suspend their gas tax and yearly vehicle registration fees for 1 calendar year, and rail against those states who do not
• Investigate corporations for price gouging and prosecute when necessary
• Pass the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Prevention Act
• Places caps on insulin and other prescription drug prices

Social Security

Increase in Monthly Benefits
Retirees and the Disabled shouldn't have to decide between bills, food, and medications.

Social Security Calculation of Yearly Raises
The Consumer Price Index for the elderly should be the basis for cost of living raises at the beginning of a year. This will give a more accurate rate of the yearly increase in the cost of living considering medication costs.

Funding Social Security
Social Security Tax on Income:

Raising the Retirement Age

• Raising the Age of Social Security eligibility should continue to be based on birth year
• Raise the Age of Full Retirement for 1970-1979 to 69 years old
• Raise the Age of Full Retirement for 1980-1989 to 71 years old
• Raise the Age of Full Retirement for 1990-1999 to 73 years old
• Raise the Age of Full Retirement for 2000 and thereafter to 75 years old
• Match the Age of Full Retirement Age between men and women from 1970 until present (full gender equality)

Medicare

• Match the Retirement Age to the Age for Medicare Eligibility

The Constitution: The People’s Rights

The rights of government officials and government workers should be limited; the rights of the People should be broadened.

Elected officials have overstepped their own authority and have expanded their illegal activities for their own personal gain long enough. They do this while protecting their fellow colleagues, even if they're of a different party. The People should take back the power instilled in them by the Constitution through their right to vote.

Illegal activity is just as rampant in the government and those of higher socioeconomic status as it is for poor people and on our international borders. BOTH are important to combat and bring Justice forth, but only one side is able to pay the right people off. Mandatory minimums for lawmakers who break the law should be written into law.

Ukraine

• We must do all we can to help and fund Ukraine within the confines of a non-NATO country.
• We must help Ukraine because we have once before seen a dictator march westward across Europe.
• Ukraine needs to be admitted to NATO as soon as possible.

Veterans & The VA

The Selective Service

Registration

Women and all people should be required to register for the Selective Service in the case of a draft ordered by the President. This should no longer be only for men. (Full gender equality)

Treatment of Veterans

Treatment

The treatment of veterans in today's time is one of the things that fires Mr. Steele up and makes him mad more than anything.

Being raised next to a WWII Vet who did not need for anything after he returned: The government built his house for him and included farm land around it for him to raise crops. This included his healthcare, which was paid for with the newest technology, like prosthetic legs and when the motorized wheelchair came out - he got whatever he needed. This made Wayne grow to love and be proud of our country because we took care of our service men and women.

Today, based on the treatment of military men and women, it leaves one not feeling as proud! Actually, angry!

We disgrace and embarrass them if they have a mental health condition. They are left pulling teeth to be paid enough to keep their homes. Many vets have no home or life stability, and that affects their mental health. Many have more traumatic physical damage than vets of years’ past! We ask people to volunteer to serve and then throw them away like trash. It's a disgrace and embarrassment to the largest military and richest nation on Earth!

The Impact

Wayne’s childhood schools have been impacted by veteran suicides and cancer from burn pits. Suicides of veterans have severely increased over the past two decades.

Current Representation in DC

The current Republican Congressman of Tennessee's U.S. House District 4, Dr. Scott DesJarlais, isn’t even talking about this crisis at all! Mr. Steele believes it is a dereliction of duty of the U.S. Oath of Office and the Hippocratic Oath Dr. DesJarlais took, when he hasn't even introduced one single bill to help Veterans and Veteran's Affairs! He's only "cosponsored" bills with other Congress members, and had one resolution that didn't pass. He hesitantly sits back and takes credit for others' work.

Returning Vets Boot Camp

Boot Camp

We send our men and women to train for war: learn how to take care of their guns; train to go long distances in extreme hot, cold, wet, and dry weather; and build the mental wherewithal to handle the strain of wartime, fighting the enemy, and guarding their brothers and sisters in fight. ---It's called Boot Camp, BEFORE they're stationed somewhere or sent to war.

Return Boot Camp

Mr. Steele favors an more extensive form of reentry to get re-acclimated to civilian life.

Why is this? Is it the culture one should be ashamed if they are suffering mental distress from their time in service? Why is there not a long period of time to have classes and talk about how the skills they learned can be translated into getting a job or starting their own business? If it's there, how serious is taken?

We give job priority to hiring vets, but if they're experiencing flashbacks, night terrors, migraines, constant ringing ears, hyper-awareness and jumpiness, problems relating and talking to others, as well as an array of other physical health issues, then how do we expect them to hold a job and not turn to self-medicating with alcohol, prescription drugs, and drugs with no medical purpose?

We need to institute a program which thoroughly evaluates vets on their mental stability before and after war, and gets them accustomed to being back in "regular" life:

• Risk for suicide
• Risk for drug use
• Risk for harming others
• Daily chores
• Lessons in what civilian life is like now
• Lessons in how they're safe now and the enemy is not around the next corner
• Learning their own signs of distress
• Learning when they need to talk and get counseling
• Learn how to process their trauma and daily stress
• Learn the signs of being suicidal or homicidal in their comrades and in themselves
• Knowing when to speak up for someone else who is in distress and may not be able to speak for themselves

Only upon release from both medical and mental health professionals that treat our men and women, should they be allowed to come home. Monthly (at least) visits with a therapist should be done for the first two years after coming home. There's no shame in needing more time to re-acclimate back into society!

Expansion of Mental Health & Medical Marijuana Treatments

Alternative Medicines

We need to expand what treatments are available at the VAs, VA clinics, and regular doctors that accept TriCare by increasing reimbursement rates, around the country.

Our vets want to feel better, function, and be free of addiction and intruding thoughts so they can be a contributing member of society, and they don't care the route in which they'll feel better.

Instead of having vets who take their own lives, commit domestic violence, and kill others because of the distress of their minds, increasing mental health treatment access in rural areas, not just metropolises, is essential! Tele-mental health sessions should be a required VA medical benefit.

Studying which strains of marijuana are best for what ailments and prescribing these proper strains of medical marijuana to vets, and all patients, is part of how we will lower the number of vet and civilian suicides. The truth is, people already use marijuana in private. - Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike, in states that haven't yet legalized even its medical use! Take this intrusion away from the federal government and give it back to all patients and their doctors to choose the best course of treatment for them!

VA Work Student Loan Forgiveness for Civilians

Those who work for a VA facility, in any profession, for 3 years, should have 50% of their current Student Loans forgiven.

Those who work for the VA facility, as any type of professional, for 6 years, should have 100% of their current Student Loans forgiven.

Any healthcare professional who owns a private practice and 40% of their patients are active duty, retired military, or veterans, should also have their current Student Loans forgiven after 10 years.

Professions

• Medical Doctors
• Naturopathic Doctors
• Oriental Medicine Doctors
• Acupuncturists
• Psychiatrists
• Psychologists
• Nurse Practitioners
• Registered Nurses
• Licensed Practical Nurses
• Healthcare Administrators
• Healthcare Office Associates
• Business Office Associates

Expanding access and coverage for the treatment of all mental and physical health conditions of veterans, will greatly benefit everyone. Civilians can get an education while helping many people across America.

Women's Health & Abortion

In 1973, W. A. Criswell, President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1968 to 1970, said this:

“I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a life separate from its mother that it became an individual person, and it has always, therefore, seemed to me that what is best for the mother and for the future should be allowed."

Roe & Casey should be Precedent.

Period.

Full Stop.

Republicans, Independents, and Libertarians get abortions too, not just Democrats!

Control by Governments, Companies, and Corporations

Contraceptives for the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections should be widely available, including in schools from Grades 7th through 12th; paid for by health insurance companies; and for all people. Companies should not be able to wield their own values on an employee (9th Amendment), such as decided by the Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. case.

Expansion of Adoption

Adoption should never be pushed in lieu of abortion.

The societal stigma against giving one’s baby up for adoption needs to change. Expanding adoption when women do not have the want or financial, physical, or mental health capability to raise a child is an important step toward lowering the number of abortions.

Wayne grew up around people who adopted children or had been adopted, and it can provide blessings for many. Mothers who give up their babies for adoption are courageous.

Federal law should be instituted in which states shall not discriminate against fostering or adopting babies and children to those of the LGBTQIAP Community. Religious organizations must be free to make their own decisions.

Sex Education

Sex Education and contraceptives should be age-appropriate starting at age 10. Abstinence education should be taught as another way to prevent pregnancy and STD transmission, but not the only prevention.

Pro-Life

Wayne is personally pro-life and not pro-abortion – most Democrats are not pro-abortion. But, Mr. Steele believes people have the right to:

• Control their own person without interference due to choice of religion or lack thereof (1st Amendment)
• Privacy in their person against search and seizure, which includes healthcare privacy (4th Amendment)
• Not be denied or disparaged by the rights of others (9th Amendment)
• Have no state bar the rights to one’s person in pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness (14th Amendment).

Thus, Wayne believes the government cannot legally control a person's body and the decision they make concerning their person.^[4]