Eric's message on policy

I agree with Frederick Douglass that “It's easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”, and it's essentially why I passed on reelection from the Arizona House of Representatives seven years ago. My sons were in their impressionable years, and I couldn’t miss them. I, like many of you, wanted to ensure my children were ready to enter this world strong and well and make cherished memories to carry through a lifetime. Now, as my sons enter adulthood, I question the world they will find.

The time spent with my children has been beautiful; I am proud. As a single parent, however, I know first-hand the challenges of raising children and finding economic stability in this abandoning, lopsided economy. The greed rooted in our economy robs families’ ability to live even humble dreams and I refuse to accept it, not for others and not for mine. While the billionaire-led oligarchy hold their thumbs on us, they rake in millions to billions of dollars overnight. And that, my friends, doesn’t make me a concerned or disappointed father, it makes me a pissed off father. And we’re doing something about it in this campaign.

Over the last twenty years, I’ve worked among all levels of government – state, tribal, and federal – and with some of the highest elected officials. If there is anything I’ve learned, it is that intentions are everything, and in these moments bad intentions are precisely what we are up against. Even before the insanity of the Trump administration, the United States began as a deeply unjust place. While the U.S. rightfully celebrates remarkable feats, especially over recent generations, and extraordinary innovation since its formation, it must also come to terms with its guilty past. This is a country that, at its founding, treated Indigenous Peoples as savages, protected chattel slavery and treated women as nothing more than a reflection of their husbands and deprived them of equal rights. And many of those earliest intentions didn’t end, they simply transformed, and we don’t have to look any further than today’s draconian policies to know this.

Today, those cruel intentions are directed at: women, in particular their right to autonomous bodily choice; undocumented immigrants; 2SLGBTQIA+ persons; those on the autism spectrum; our differently abled; the genocide of Palestinians; tribal sovereignty and treaties; Indigenous ancestral territories; public lands; scientists; journalists; judges; universities; law firms fighting injustice; public education and more. To rid ourselves of our ills, we must root out the problem, no matter how uncomfortable that may be and no matter how far back we must go.

As a Diné (Navajo) man, I see a different future: one that puts people and decency first and treats our neighbors and families as they should be treated. One that prioritizes basic human rights such as universal healthcare, a livable wage, affordable housing, fully funded public education and adequate and clean drinking water.

The future is now, so far as what is due to those who’ve earned it. The individuals who chose to defend this country in uniform await that which is due, a solemn debt that continues to go fully unpaid. As for Social Security and Medicaid, who would’ve thought we would have to protect our taxpayer funded programs from billionaire oligarchs looking to line their pockets at our expense? We will protect the integrity and viability of these critical government programs that many of us depend on.

The future is now, so far as the climate crisis. Scientists nationally and internationally with overwhelming consensus assert that climate change is real, present and caused by human activity, in particular carbon dioxide emissions via fossil fuels. If we do not significantly curb what is causing climate change, rising global temperature will lead to increasingly intense heatwaves, drought, wildfires and continued sea level rise. Such conditions can lead to severe weather pattern shifts, leading to more intense rainstorms in some areas and drier conditions in others. All of this will severely impact our health, local ecosystems and infrastructure; in other words, our ability to live in peace. We must address these causes head-on as well as prepare adequately to be able to effectively respond to these emergencies.

The future is now, so far as unchecked technological advancements. Experts standing at the intersection of commerce and Artificial Intelligence (AI) point to a fast-approaching economy where many service industry workers and others will be displaced and replaced by AI and robots. This emerging reality is developing so rapidly that we are less than ten years out from having to adjust and respond to its anticipated and unanticipated effects on you, me and our communities. Beyond that, questions as to how such technology will impact environment, personal privacy, national security, small businesses and other areas must also be addressed, now.

The future is now, so far as whether we achieve peace. I stand principally with the formal statement provided by the Elders and Medicine Peoples Council titled “Unite and Work Together for Peace”. We stand on largely unceded ancestral territories of Indigenous Peoples, where they, with their knowledge systems, stand ready to guide and facilitate solutions for a rebalanced place, the spaces from which we all learn, work and play. As the Council stated, “No one can survive without clean Air, clean Water, and a clean Earth. We cannot breathe money; we cannot eat or drink money.” These voices have repeatedly sought a seat at the decision-making table to reestablish such peace and wellness for all, only to be sent to the back of the line or ignored altogether. My policy aims to include their strengths as we collectively problem solve some of our most urgent, shared issues.

The issues are many. I add dire sensible gun safety measures, robust criminal justice reform and small business viability as key areas, and they certainly are, across our district and across the country. Regardless the issue, know that fair, humane and accountable government is crucial to the future we seek, and is central policy priority.

Respectfully,

Eric Descheenie