Creating Jobs and Rebuilding the Economy:

Wendy is a small businesswomen who knows what kind of jobs the 1st District needs. This country needs a plan to create a sustainable economy and it must start right here in our Main Street communities with small businesses and manufacturing. Statistics show us that 78% of new jobs are created by these sectors of private industry; not big business or Wall Street. Decreasing the number of  vacancy signs on Main Street and creating more manufacturing jobs in the United States are key to sustained economic prosperity.

Wendy has the common sense solutions to bring about change. For too long, Congress has been playing political football with our nation's economy. That is why Wendy released five simple steps our government could take to reinvigorate our economy and create tens of thousands of jobs. 

Made in America Initiative:

Wendy believes in the American worker. We must reinvest in manufacturing. For every new manufacturing job, two and a half other new jobs are created.  We must begin to restore our manufacturing base and the way to do that is to support the American innovators and start-up companies that already exist. Today, there are 500,000 kitchen table and garage manufacturers alone and we need them to grow!  Additionally, we need small community banks that can help mentor and grow their communities without being subjected to the overarching controls of their corporate counterparts. The Treasury Department has tied up $26 billion that was marked for this purpose; it is time for that money to be put to good use.

Wendy knows we must protect our local products.  Our economy loses money on the millions of imports disguised as American Made products like Maryland Crab Cakes (Philippines) and Chesapeake Bay Candles (China).  Product fraud is a job killer!  We must act to enforce our Country of Origin marking laws. What does it cost? Nothing. What we gain is a 10% penalty on all products that do not follow our Country of Origin marking laws. Everyone should have the right to knowledgably choose between an import and an American made product.

Protecting the Bay:

Wendy knows that the Chesapeake Bay is our District's most important resource. It is both the heart and soul of our community and the backbone for many of our area's vital environmental and economic interests. The economic importance of the Bay cannot be overstated, as it is important for so many industries ranging from cultural tourism to the seafood industry. It is not just a moral imperative that we pass a clean Chesapeake Bay on to the next generation; it is of vital importance to the economic well being of Maryland. 

Wendy has a plan. In order to ensure a clean bay we must do as much as possible to develop and implement the best practices for the agricultural and seafood industries as well as guarantee that surrounding states are subjected to the same environmental standards as our industries. Keeping the Bay clean is a team effort and it takes the efforts off all of the states in the region to get the best results.

That is why Wendy is in favor of working with farmers to ensure that a fully funded Environmental Protection Agency can protect the environment while protecting the rights of the farming community. We simply must be good stewards of the environment for ourselves and for the next generation of Marylanders. 

Defending Women's Rights and Equality:

Wendy knows that true equality is only achieved when the rights of women are protected. 

That is why Wendy will vote to protectwomen's rights by ensuring that women are not paying more than men on the healthcare premiums and that guaranteed access to preventative services such as contraception, mammograms, and cervical cancer screenings be covered by health insurance companies. 

Wendy understands that too many of our rights would be endangered, if the issue of choice were to be revisited at this point in our history. Andy Harris and his fellow Tea Part Republicans' war on women must end and it must end now. The continued desire of the conservative movement to strip women of their rights is beneath us as a nation. We have been a beacon of freedom and equality throughout the world; our policies and politics must again reflect that. 

Wendy believes that nobody should be treated as a second class citizen. That is why she is proud to support marriage equality in Maryland and would vote to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act if elected to Congress.

Protecting Our Seniors:

When Social Security was first enacted in 1935, our country made a promise to take care of its seniors throughout their retirement. Now, however, Republicans want to break that promise.

Plans to privatize Social Security and do away with Medicare represent the worst form of betrayal. We, as a nation, are struggling and protecting and strengthening these programs are some of the most important actions we can take to strengthen our economy and our society. 

In this era, keeping the promise of Medicare and Social Security is one of the most important actions our government can take to regain all of our trust.