by Cristina Llorente-Drost
As an independent voter, I voted for Joe Heck three times when he ran for Congress. As his fellow church-goer, I know he is a good man, but now we are on opposite camps on some issues.
This has led me to change my vote and to throw my support behind Catherine Cortez Masto for U.S. Senate. Here’s why I changed my mind.
First, Heck is totally opposed to the funding of Planned Parenthood. As a matter of fact, he voted 10 times to defund it. He even went so far as to vote to shutdown Congress over the issue.
I support Planned Parenthood – especially their cancer screenings, which have benefited 20,000 Nevada women and girls. Additionally, sex education should be available to those who want and need it, which Heck opposes. Cortez Masto supports Planned Parenthood and received their full-throated endorsement.
Second, Heck does not support background checks for prospective gun owners.
Without background checks, guns can land in irresponsible, or even worse, criminal hands. This is evident with more killings attributed to ownership of guns by those who are more aggressive and violent. It is too easy for dangerous people to get guns and the purpose of background checks is to save lives. As a physician, why wouldn’t Joe Heck be in favor of saving lives? In states with background checks, 46 percent fewer women are shot to death by their partners and 48 percent of law enforcement officers suffer fewer shootings. Background checks take 90 seconds to run, and do not impede ordinary Nevadans from being able to get and purchase guns, while protecting us from criminal elements. Cortez Masto supports universal background checks.
Third, Heck supports the privatizing of Social Security. I am an 82-year-old grandmother who has paid into my Social Security savings throughout a lifetime of work as a teacher and librarian. I do not want to be surprised as to the amount that I receive monthly or to be surprised by the fluctuations of the stock market. I have a definite amount I need every month and am reassured to receive a fixed monthly amount.
In fact, like many others, I planned out my retirement and future based upon a fixed income. I hope that the present social security system will be strengthened for future recipients like my children and grandchildren, instead of being watered-down and gambled away by Wall Street. Wall Street invested half a million dollars into Joe Heck’s campaign for him to call Social Security a “pyramid scheme.” I don’t want to see my Social Security savings and that of others vanish like people’s homes during the housing crisis which Wall Street also created. The only pyramid scheme is what Wall Street would do to our retirement savings. Cortez Masto has vowed to protect and preserve Social Security the same way she took on the big banks and fought to win Nevada homeowners almost $2 billion in foreclosure settlements as Nevada’s Attorney General. We need that kind of leadership in Washington, D.C.
I have met Catherine Cortez Masto, and I appreciate that she understands my background. As the daughter of immigrants, she has vowed to fight for immigration reform and reduced family reunification times.
With this in mind, I have concluded that this time, I am changing my allegiance and will vote for Catherine Cortez Masto as my U.S. Senator.
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