IamA Tim Canova running as an independent against Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Florida's 23rd congressional district! AMA!

What is your plan to clean up the pollution crisis facing Florida?

We need to stop subsidizing Big Agribusinesses, factory farms, and Big Sugar, all sources of major agricultural runoff pollution into our water ways. The Red Tide in the Gulf of Mexico is fed by runoff into the Mississippi River. The blue green toxic algae with cynobacteria is fed by runoff into Lake Okeechobee. Time to end billions of dollars in these subsidies. Instead, let's subsidize small family owned farms that are organic. In addition, I would introduce legislation to have the Interior Department buy out the sugar farms south of Lake Okeechobee and convert them back into Everglades marshland to allow the Lake to drain naturally and recharge the aquifers. Wasserman Schultz takes hundreds of thousands of dollars from industrial and agricultural polluters, including Big Sugar, and she votes for these subsidies on the House Appropriations Committee. She's never introduced any legislation to address these issues.

What are the cons of running independently?

We have been subject to a mainstream media blackout and social media throttling and shadow banning (that's one big reason we need Net Neutrality, to prevent social media giants from acting as Big Brother in censoring our speech). Perhaps that would have happened anyway, but it seems that running as an independent and questioning the outcome of my last election are like third rails.

Do you support medicare for all or a different form of universal healthcare?

Yes, I support HR 676, the Medicare For All legislation in the House, I've supported this bill since it was introduced, and I've support universal single-payer healthcare for decades.

Thank you, i appreciate your time.

Thank you!

An obligatory question of all progressive independents: if you get more traction in this race, are you worried that the outcome might actually be the election of Republican Joe Kaufman? Who knows? In a race where control of the House is in genuine doubt, one or two such races might determine the identity of the Speaker -- and the future of Trump's agenda.

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I've already got a lot of traction on the ground with the voters where it counts. I'm not worried about electing a Republican here. Less than 25% of registered voters are Republican in this district. Tough for a Republican to come in 2nd in a 3-way race. Independent voters are almost as big as Democrats here.

Homelessness and generational poverty are rampant problems frequently ignored by elected officials. What kinds of policies would you support to end both problems?

We need a New Deal for our generation, including construction of public housing, Medicare for All, a national jobs for all program (a federal jobs guarantee), income support, voluntary national service program, tuition-free higher education -- much of the kind of universal benefits that my dad's Greatest Generation got with the G.I. Bill of Rights.

How do you envision to finance all those?

U.S. economic history and Modern Money Theory suggests there should be no problem paying for such programs by federal borrowing. As a law professor, I have studied and written about the 1941-1951 pegged period, which shows that the Federal Reserve can simply buy up Treasury securities in any amount to keep the yield low (to keep Treasury borrowing costs manageable). We should raise a Robin Hood financial transactions tax (something I've supported for many years, it used to be called a Tobin Tax), and raise the progressivity on federal income tax. We also need a national infrastructure bank that's funded in part by the Federal Reserve. We had such a bank, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, from 1928-1957 and it helped build much of our infrastructure. the US is one of the only advanced countries without such a national infrastructure bank today.

Why did you lose last time and what are you doing differently this time?

We are not convinced we lost in 2016. We had a huge field operation, knocking on 10,000 to 12,000 doors a week. Our internal numbers showed us winning big, and that was everyone's experience on the ground. When I sought to inspect the ballots to verify the election results, the Broward Supervisor of Elections destroyed all the ballots in violation of numerous state and federal criminal statutes. And we were not allowed to inspect the software that created the digital scanned ballot images. That software is "proprietary", the intellectual property of the private software vendor hired by the corrupt Supervisor, a Wasserman Schultz ally. This time around, we have some of the nation's top election experts and recount lawyers keeping their eyes fixed on our election. I will be ready to contest the election from day 1.We did a lot of things right in 2016, and we are once again building a big field operation powered by a growing army of volunteers.

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What’s your stance on marijuana legalization in Florida?

In 2016, I supported Amendment 2, the Medical Marijuana Amendment. I support Miami-Dade and Broward County decriminalization, giving police discretion to issue civil summons for first three personal use offenses. I believe state voters should approve legalization for Cannabis for responsible adult use.

What are the latest updates on the environmental concerns in Florida?It seems that Florida waters and beaches aren't as clean as they used to be. Why is this not a bigger story down in South Florida?

The beaches and waters on the Gulf Coast continue to experience a lot of destruction, with dead fish washing up on the shorelines, and miles of dead zones near some of the coasts. This should be such a bigger story and I'm constantly speaking out on this. There's blue-green toxic algal showing up in the waters near Stuart and apparently as far south as the canals of Fort Lauderdale. Big Sugar is very powerful here and perhaps the corporate media is afraid of undermining the tourist and marine sports industries.

What would your victory as an independent be a message to a whole country?

I believe winning as an independent would be a big message at a time when 46% of registered voters nationwide are No Party affiliation, with more independents than Democrats and Republicans combined, and with 71% of millennials and younger now independent. It would inspire others to run grassroots campaigns as independents, and provide the kind of competition that could push the Democratic Party to start reforming.

Would you support not only pulling out of the middle eastern countries that we're currently occupying, but also decreasing the military budget by a significant amount?

Yes, that would be ideal. It's unacceptable that arms producers in the US and elsewhere seem to be on every side of every conflict. When I was growing up, arms control and disarmament was a major part of the nation's agenda and the international agenda. That's when it was nuclear arms race between the US and Soviet Union. We need to revive this agenda and for conventional arms as well. We must have regional and global arms reduction talks, all the arms producing countries should be required to reduce sales, and there must be conversion programs to convert swords into plowshares, perhaps by reviving space exploration.

Why aren't you watching the Kavanaugh hearings now?

Haha! We scheduled this AMA before we knew what today would bring with the Kavanaugh hearings!

I met with one of Senator Bill Nelson's top aides in South Florida a few days ago to express my opposition to Kavanaugh's nomination. Based just on his record as a judge, there's more than enough grounds to vote against him.

https://twitter.com/Tim_Canova/status/1045335283464622081

Why did you oppose the TPP? Or did you? It's hard to tell from what you wrote. If you didn't oppose it, then why throw it into your spiel?

Yes, I did oppose the TPP. I believe the TPP would have outsourced millions of American jobs to low wage countries that also lack health and safety and environmental protections. It would be part of the "race to the bottom" that's been hollowing out our manufacturing economy and undermining American workers. In addition, I'm very familiar with the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions that allow foreign investors to challenge our health, safety, environmental and labor regulations in offshore arbitration panels that are stacked with corporate lawyers. ISDS shifts the costs of regulatory compliance from large corporations to taxpayers.

This might be out of left field, but how do you feel about the "Florida Man" stereotype of the state that exists online due to what appears to be a large amount of bizarre news stories coming out of FL?

Thanks for doing this!

Florida does seem to be the epicenter of some disturbing trends, from environmental apocalypse to election rigging, and all kinds of bizarre news. But I do love Florida and always have!

This is not meant to be a "don't waste your vote on a third party" because both political parties have failed us. If you win, how do you plan on making headway through their utterly corrupt practices of quid pro quo vote bartering and the bullying of junior members to vote in unison with the party?

If I win, I'll be the only independent in the U.S. House of Representatives. I will not be bullied to join any party in voting. I have never done "call time" or raised a penny from any corporate interests, and I certainly don't intend to start when elected. I have no idea if my election will help the movement to clean up all the corruption, but I will be doing no harm, I will never be part of these dirty quid pro quo deals.

What is your plan for attacking the obesity and opioid epidemics?

The numbers I have seen from population health gurus is that obesity will cause so many health problems in the future that the potential cost of medicare in the mid future will exceed the global GDP.

I will be giving a keynote address at the Vegan Block Party in Coconut Grove on Saturday evening, October 5th, about how the plant-based economy can save us from ecological disaster. This is why I spoke about ending subsidies to Big Agribusinesses, factory farms, and Big Sugar, and replace with support for organic family-owned farms. A plant-based diet would address the obesity crisis. Meanwhile, states that have legalized cannabis for medicinal purposes or for responsible adult use have much lower rates of opioid addiction and overdose deaths. Wasserman Schultz takes so much money from these special interests (Big Pharma, Big Agribusinesses, Big Sugar) that she will never be part of the solution.

Do you support publically financed campaigns, the abolition of the electoral college, and the adoption of a single transferable vote system as methods to make our elections less corrupt and more representative? If so, where would such issues rank on your priorities?

High up on my priorities are publicly financed elections and election security and integrity, which requires moving to a system of 100% hand-marked paper ballots, counted by hand in public by non-partisan or trans-partisan teams of citizens. We should ban the electronic voting machines, they are inherently vulnerable to hacking and software manipulation.

Abolishing the electoral college could raise other difficult issues. Without the electoral college, candidates will spend most of their time and resources in the big metropolitan areas (NYC, LA, Chicago, and a few others). A deadlocked election would require a recount of every election district in the country. This needs a lot more study before going down that road.

What do you think has changed in your district between 2016 (your first run) and 2018? If elected would you serve as an independent or a Democrat?

If elected, I would serve as an independent. It's now year 10, as opposed to year 8, of a Great Depression for many people. I know too many folks with advanced degrees driving for Uber, young people between 18-34 more likely to be living at home with their parents than on their own. More than 90% of income gains have gone to the top 1% of households. We need a bottom up recovery, not more trickle down.

In addition, Wasserman Schultz is even less popular now than two years ago. Her disapproval numbers are near 60% in the district. Last time, people assumed Hillary Clinton would win and Wasserman Schultz would be high up in that administration. Now a lot of folks realize it was Debbie who paved the road for Donald Trump's election and massive Democratic defeats going back some years now. People are even hungrier for change.

What's your opinion on the Awan Brothers investigation?

The Justice Department seems to have swept the investigation under the rug by departing from the House Inspector General's findings from August 2016 that concluded there were serious cyber-security violations.

What is your stance on the orca "Lolita" and do you support the efforts to move her to a sanctuary? If not, what is your stance on the state of her current enclosure?

I have joined in several protests outside the Miami Sequarium to free Lolita and move her to a sanctuary. She's been in captivity for close to 50 years. Enough already.

How would you address corruption, racial bias, and abuse of powers within the police force?

We need real community policing, police forces that look like the communities they police. Provide incentives (or mandates) for police to live in the neighborhoods they are policing. We need body cameras for all police, and civilian review boards for outside oversight.

Racial tensions have also risen since the 2008 financial collapse, both in the US and abroad. We need a New Deal program that lifts up many people who have been forgotten and left behind. This is what Martin Luther King, Jr. was calling for at the end of his life, a GI Bill of Rights for his generation, public works and jobs programs for people of every race and ethnicity and gender.

If you have time i have one follow-up question:

Specifically what type of incentives would you look into implementing? Tax Deductions/Exlusions? Bonus Wages? Better Benefits?

Thank you again.

I believe in universal rights and universal duties of citizenship. I would favor a voluntary national service program, giving all citizens the ability to serve for a few years in return for tuition-free higher education or vocational training. This is just one example. Another would be Medicare For All.

Do you think we can harnass the Russia hysteria to get blockchain based voting implemented?

I hope so. As well as 100% hand-marked paper ballots counted by hand in public by non-partisan and trans-partisan teams of citizens. If the Russians (and 11-year old girls) can really hack into our election systems, then why aren't more members of Congress calling for such election reforms?

Would you support a proposal to have government run banking services administered through US post offices?

Yes, I have long supported Postal Banking. As a law professor, I have written for many years about public banking and spoke as a keynoter at the 2013 Public Banking Institute annual conference.

Do you think the Democratic Party is beyond saving or is there still a chance for reform if you and enough other uncorrupted candidates are able to win?

I honestly don't know. It pained me to leave the party because I have had an emotional attachment going back to childhood, learning about Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, serving as a legislative aide to the late US Senator Paul Tsongas (a Democrat from Massachusetts). It's clear that here in Broward County, it's beyond saving at this time. If I'm elected as an independent and many others follow, then perhaps the party reformers will win the day. But I'm not holding my breath on it. The party is so tied to huge predatory corporate interests that it may be irredeemable.

Do you support a Universal Basic Income? If so, how far off in the future do you think it is?

Yes, I support UBI, and would like to see it tied to a federal jobs guarantee for all able-bodied citizens. The American people are ready for progressive reforms, from Medicare for All to jobs for all, but it's the entrenched corporate interests that are stopping such reforms.

Give her hell, Tim.

Question:

Can you describe specifically what you would do at the National level, to push forward Progressive causes and initiatives, if anything?

Yes, we have a big progressive agenda, which you can see at the Issues pages of our campaign website at https://timcanova.com/. I'm pushing for campaign finance reform, overturning Citizens United, adopting publicly financed elections and Free Air Time for candidates. I'm calling for a green and solar New Deal to convert to renewable energy, provide jobs and support incomes, a national service program tied to tuition-free higher education, Medicare for All, a national infrastructure bank, ending the drug war and mass incarceration, and much more.

I'd ask you what you're doing to earn my vote but you answered that in the title, so Coke or Pepsi?

oh I'm sorry, are you a bunch of DWS lovers here?

Thank you. It's not been easy to run as an independent, but this is what's needed. Enough of Tweetle Dee and Tweetle Dum choice of two corrupt parties. I'm not saying it's possible in every district of the country at this moment, but it's about to happen here in Florida's 23rd CD!