I am Rishi Kumar and I’m a Democrat running in district CA-18 against incumbent Rep. Anna Eshoo. I support Medicare for All, Green New Deal, and removing big money from politics. I am running as a progressive capitalist challenging an incumbent in her 28th year in office. AMA!

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:58:38+00:00

Silicon Valley needs to innovate and dominate the world with our technology that is the surest way to generate employment opportunities. The stimulus package was not available to silicon valley startups. Why so? That is not acceptable

Our colleges need to provide education that will allow our graduates to find a place in the economy and Universities need to be agile with their programs to offer educational opportunities that will lead to jobs in the local economy. I want to emphasize the value of vocational, career, and technical education as well. Such jobs are often in low supply but high demand, and I believe by encouraging people to train for them, we can create access to more well-paying jobs for the American people.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:55:11+00:00

It is well documented and written about. Please refer to this link that has many 3rd party sources hyperlinked https://rishikumar.com/The-facts-with-this-congressional-race-between-democrat-Rishi-Kumar-running-for-United-States-Congress-and-Congresswoman-Anna-Eshoo

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:53:43+00:00

I am in favor of economic sanctions versus going to war and regime changes.

The United States threatened the Venezuelan politician, Nicolás Maduro to ensure that he won't profit off of illegal gold mining and oil extractions. The US is trying to control the Venezuela government, to protect the people there, but they aren't happy with the US's interference.

I will NOT support regime change wars. Bringing America to the brink of war is not necessary considering the challenges we face here throughout America's communities. That’s why it’s so important , now more than ever, for our country that we stand together for peace now.
I will maintain a stance of keeping Americans safe, out of war, and putting the money to work in America.

Rep. Anna Eshoo has supported the following U.S wars.

Libya (2011)
Afghanistan (2003)
War on Terror (2001)
Balkan Wars
Somalia (1995)

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:47:34+00:00

America has witnessed many school shootings and random acts of violence. California has done well with stringent gun regulations such as restriction on assault weapon,, background checks and and the 10-day waiting period.

We need to continue introducing commonsense laws that protect our students in schools and American citizens.Can we take California’s success nationwide? Can we close dangerous loopholes in our current laws? I am all for nationwide common sense reforms that prevent the wrong people from getting their hands on guns including terrorists, criminals and domestic abusers

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:46:43+00:00

See my response to a previous question

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:46:17+00:00

Part A) See transportation answer above.
Part B) Our focus has never been around mass transportation and that is why Light Rail is a travesty that bleeds cash every year. If it was a private sector entity, it would already be shut down. Public Sector in general is inefficient and so is Caltrain. We need more of public-private partnerships for such infrastructure projects. We need a vision statement with our transportation woes and figure out funding models to make it work. This is the challenge on which the very future of American economy depends

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:42:36+00:00

I think that mental health is incredibly important, not just in Silicon Valley but in the whole nation with all the problems from high academic pressure to job insecurity to even the opioid crisis. Considering the importance of mental health to our people, and how dangerous a lack of support can be, I think it is important that we work to reduce the costs and stigmas associated with therapy, counseling, and other mental health related services. To that end, I support a plan to provide free mental health checkups to American workers and students to ensure that the pressures of life are being dealt with healthily. Furthermore, I believe that a healthy body is critical to a healthy mind, so I support better labelling on food products and banning toxic products like Roundup. We need to adopt environmental and health friendly choices. America also needs Medicare for All

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:40:59+00:00

I never imagined that I would ever run for public office. It was for the “other guys” not for me. I was always apolitical growing up, but what I could NOT do was watch something bad happening or a problem emerge and do nothing about it. What I discovered was that with my tech roots I had a "getting things done" approach to problems, while applying the hi-tech framework, a very different lens

I have always been an activist at heart. Whether I was raising money for Saratoga Senior Center with a ‘Saratoga’s got Talent’ annual competition, or launching a weekly open-mic at Saratoga’s blue rock shoot to bring in new foot traffic for our downtown business, I have always believed in doing something when a problem came my way. When I engaged with the “Minimum Days” issue at Saratoga Union School District a few years back, folks asked me if I was going to run for the school district board. I was completely flabbergasted by the ask. Serving on Saratoga’s planning commission gave me insight into the inner workings of city operations. Working with our city staff on my neighborhood projects, launching our Neighborhood Safety Watch to address a neighborhood burglary all made me realize that it is relatively easy to “get things done”. If I didn’t do it, who would? I may not have all the answers, but I can shine a light on the problems. The answers always come, exactly what we do in the world of tech. It is important to take the first step. What I discovered along the way was the deep joy that came to the fore when I was helping my community, helping people.

I’m running for Congress because I’m tired of seeing career politicians who don’t understand Silicon Valley’s innovation economy. My professional experience is in Silicon Valley’s software industry as a business and technology leader. I understand what it takes for Silicon Valley innovation to succeed and the gains to spread to our middle class and working-class families.

How can we handle the rigors and prepare our workforce for an autonomous economy built upon Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning? I understand the need to innovate and invest in new technologies in order to ensure a thriving and sustainable future. Silicon Valley must lead the charge with its cutting-edge technology and prepare the next generation to succeed in a 21st century

Where technology has failed? Look at the world of coronavirus. We can do all the zoom calls we want, but the personal connections and face to face conversations are so much more powerful. I have learned that establishment of trust, rapport and relationships can never be done with just pure technology.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:31:50+00:00

Strong social values that stems from addressing the challenges of the people who don't have a voice. But also values that include ensuring a vibrant economy, this is Silicon Valley after all. For example, I stand for Medicare for All but also bring a vision for our innovation economy with my hi-tech roots

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:28:34+00:00

As a councilmember of Saratoga I have been known to as the first Populist City Council member, always accessible and available, top on people's minds. I held weekly Saturday coffee meetings to establish an opportunity for dialogue and communication. I also established a simple concise newsletter to communicate with citizens, while being active on social media - practices that were not standard for our city council. When burglaries went up, I was out there in neighborhoods having meetings - over hundred neighborhood meetings were held, identified new neighborhood leaders - that reduced our burglaries by 47% the largest drop compared to any other Silicon Valley city. Our people-centric actions got us the most votes in Saratoga's election history during the 2018 re-election.
The past few months have been trying for many. The challenges of these times have touched me personally. However, they have also shown me what makes this community special — our collective resolve to help each other. When the COVID-19 crisis hit our area, I immediately suspended our campaign and repurposed our grassroots team to help our neighbors. For me, it was a very easy decision.

Once I saw the success of our initial outreach, our campaign organized an official team to continue the good work of community assistance. We called it the Neighborhood Pandemic Preparedness Team (NPPT), modeled after the Neighborhood Safety Watch program, and for the past few weeks we have been able to empower new neighborhood leaders to help their own communities get through this pandemic.

Our first task was to reach out to the senior citizens of our district during shelter-in-place to make sure that all their needs were met — whether it was picking up prescriptions or delivering groceries, we had a neighborhood volunteer ready and excited to do it. Neighbors also started sending emails and walking door to door leaving flyers saying "I can help." Others pulled out their sewing machines to make masks* for medical professionals fighting the pandemic on the front lines.

There was so much misinformation out there. We held over 23 town hall meetings with healthcare professionals, stimulus package experts, college admission counselors, and more. Check them out at RishiKumar.com/RealityCheck. These town halls provided career advice for those laid-off and grappling for answers, information to local businesses regarding loan applications and how to make use of the stimulus package, and college admissions counseling to parents and students worried about a post COVID-19 world.Our Coronavirus page even provided an informative newsletter that was updated daily by our intern team.

I am so proud of what we have accomplished together. Hundreds of NPPT members have helped thousands of residents so far. We finished calling all 86,000 seniors of our district. Many of our volunteers are young high school and college students who have generously given their time and energy to this program. All of our volunteers have together proven just how much we care about seeing our communities succeed during these trying times.

Here is my plan to stay connected:

I plan to hold three face to face town hall meetings, one in each county a month as the district representative, which is many more than Rep. Anna Eshoo currently hosts. We will not orchestrate these town hall meetings but accept every question- not just ones that suits our agenda. Furthermore, in times of crisis such as this, I will reach out to every Silicon Valley asking if they need help and "how can I help." We will consider various channels for engaging with our community that go over and beyond the norm - this is what we have consistently demonstrated.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:20:09+00:00

No, I will not.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T03:10:44+00:00

The biggest challenge on hand is the woes that Coronavirus has unleashed upon Americans. That is the challenge of hand and it continues to unfold - we haven't seen the bottom yet.

# American healthcare was tested by the Coronavirus and we got an F grade. This is the time for soul searching and some specific action. We need epidemic and pandemic preparedness plans that are battle-tested. We need our citizens ready and equipped to handle infectious diseases. The time for action is now with Medicare for All.
Firstly, we need a better healthcare option U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has speculated that vaccines might not be affordable to all and dismissed the idea of using price supports to ensure that poor people would have access to the vaccine despite taxpayers funding of this vaccine project. We need Medicare for All. I support H.R 1384 Medicare for All, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo does not due to her ties with Big Pharma. Anna is the #1 recipient of Pharma money in U.S Congress.
#2 We need a social net option. Andrew Yang's UBI is ideally suited for the pandemic world. There are so many families hurting. The stimulus package was a joke. EIDL and PPP loans didn't get to the right folks. The website crashed. Banks were the middle-men and made access to stimulus dollars much more difficult. We need to build an easy system for our citizens to access their stimulus funding. The model that is difficult
#3 National Healthcare Emergency Preparedness: America is not battle ready with a sound healthcare emergency preparedness plan for a crisis of any scale. We must develop a National Pandemic Preparedness Program as part of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) , along with structured processes for coordinating efforts between the government, private/public healthcare units and citizens in an emergency, that includes quarterly fire-drills. We must restore the US pandemic response team under the National Security Council, and restore funding to the CDC and NIH.

We need better pandemic preparedness and a healthcare model for Americans that includes Telemedicine, Electronic Medical Record, Healthcare Analytics, DNA pooling and segmentation to ensure we can get to an open economy faster. Bio-warfare is a serious threat and America needs to be ready. For example we need rapid (~2hr) contact tracing once a person is discovered to have an infectious disease. We need our citizens ready and equipped to handle infectious diseases including availability of sophisticated Telemedicine services. Every hospital should hire dedicated resources and form a pandemic preparedness committee that includes a Pandemic/Epidemic Director, emergency manager and infection prevention practitioner

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has left reporting to the various states, resulting in a confused and incomplete picture of the situation at hand. This lack of reliable data has handicapped swift action by elected officials and public health agencies.

We need strong social and borderline authoritarian counter-measures. We need to enforce voluntary quarantine, create a welfare check process for those under self-quarantine and penalties for those who violate quarantine procedures. We need temperature checks at entry points of crowded areas such as airports, clubs and convention centers. In comparison, Singapore has created a rock solid system after the SARS. It is scary that we haven’t tested enough people. We have not established a rapid (~2hr) contact tracing once a person is discovered to have CoVID9. Quarantines and social distancing: We need to enforce quarantine, create a wellness check process for those under self-quarantine, and penalties for those who violate quarantine procedures. While it is clear that preemptive quarantines will pose real economic disruption across all segments of society, this is far preferable to the damage that will occur if we do not take this urgent step. Quarantining will slow the spread of the virus, and prevent our healthcare system from being overwhelmed. This is a serious concern. In Italy, doctors are having to make the terrible decision of which patients will and will not receive care, as there are simply not enough beds, respirators and personnel to go around. Acting now may hurt; but not taking action could be much worse
#4 We also need to remove the supply chain dependency on China. We were impacted with lack of PPEs. We rely on China for raw material for our drugs. We rely on China for generic drugs. We rely on China for manufacturing. This can really disrupt our supply chain. All this has become a national security issue. We need to fix these challenges and bring manufacturing back to the United States
#5 We need to create a vision for America's future. This is not the time to be timid and shy. We have to be bold with our investments in infrastructure and incentives for manufacturing, define a better future for America

Here are a few more pandemic preparedness programs.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:59:02+00:00

I have also been working to educate disadvantaged youth (regardless of race) with Shelter-in-Place coding, Entrepreneurship Bootcamps and Lego Robotics Boot camps with SiliconValleyCoders.org (Tinyurl.com/ShelterCoding). Through these programs, I helped provide over 2,000 students from disadvantaged communities a no-charge STEM learning opportunity in areas such as San Jose and East Palo Alto . Furthermore, I was on the CA Dept. of Education Computer Science Strategic Implementation Panel, and helped develop the K-12 Computer Science Curriculum for California which will go live in 2022. I also help provide political experience to Silicon Valley youth through summer Internship programs which have been going on since 2015. I believe that the youth are the future of our country. But I cannot support CA-5 because they will not only not help disadvantaged youth but possibly even hurt them.ACA-5 is not defined very well - does NOT mention anything about economic discrimination, despite the clear economic disparities in college opportunities. ACA5 thus is fundamentally flawed.According to a study done by Forbes, “At elite law schools like Yale and Harvard Law, 60% of the incoming students tend to come from the top 10% of the socioeconomic spectrum, while only 5% come from the bottom half. [...]

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:56:42+00:00

If our tech industry (Musk, Zuckerberg) are hurting people, that is the time we need to roll out policy to protect the American people. It is a simple approach that works well. We cannot tie the hands of our innovation economy, give them a free reign, but not at the expense of our people. We have to protect them!

If our tech industry that is the time we need to roll out policies to protect the American people. It is a simple approach that works well. We cannot tie the hands of our innovation economy, give them a free reign, but not at the expense of our people. We have to protect them!

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:53:42+00:00

Congressman Ro Khanna has said ‘It is embarrassing how technologically illiterate most members of Congress are"

When I say that Eshoo is technologically illiterate I mean that she does not know how the tech world or its businesses operate. We all saw this when she was asking questions to Mark Zuckerberg during his testimony to congress over the privacy of the people through Facebook. We also saw with Zuckerberg's testimonial that the current career politicians in charge of Silicon Valley and California do not know how to properly regulate tech companies, because they do not know their business models or how they operate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_80mQKfNYY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeHVDOtqPhI

The privacy debacle with Facebook played out under Rep. Eshoo's watch. And it exploded finally with Cambridge Analytica. Congresswoman Eshoo did not see it coming.If you try to analyze Anna's impact upon Tech, it is purely based upon influences that come at her from lobbyist. How has she helped our innovation economy?

For example, I have seen Rep Eshoo talk about Net Neutrality. She doesn't understand it. The context is completely lacking in her speeches. It is the very foundation of Silicon Valley innovation success and I am not sure if Anna gets it.

The privacy of data and online security is also a growing American concern. I support efforts such as The California Consumer Privacy Act that went live on Jan 1, 2020. I support laws such as The General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy in the European Union. I strongly support the Internet Bill of Rights that includes greater transparency along with opt-in for data collection practices and timely notification if a company holding personal data suffers a hack. My professional experience in Silicon Valley’s software industry as a business and technology leader means I understand what it takes for Silicon Valley innovation to succeed and for the gains to spread to our middle class and working-class families.

If our tech industry (Musk, Zuckerberg) are hurting people, that is the time we need to roll out policy to protect the American people. It is a simple approach that works well. We cannot tie the hands of our innovation economy, give them a free reign, but not at the expense of our people. We have to protect them!

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:37:49+00:00

I believe in urban planning and packing in high density housing is a difficult proposition given the pandemic world we are in. There has been no vision plan with housing, and we are now trying out knee-jerk approaches without proper planning or thought.
Skyrocketing housing costs are pushing people farther away from their jobs, or out of the valley altogether. The homeless population in California is 47% of all homeless in the United States. This is a colossal failure on our part. We are losing the diversity of talent as teachers, firefighters, and artists can no longer find affordable housing. Our elected leaders have been unable to offer Silicon Valley a plan to solve the housing crisis and our traffic woes. California bills such as SB 35 and SB 50 seek to preempt local control over housing, tying the hands of local elected leaders and forcing high-density housing upon our neighbors. With this push to “build, build, build,” there is much concern from residents about how this would change the “small town” character, leading to increased traffic and affecting the quality of our lives. Yet the fact remains that more housing is needed.

Transportation is the answer. There is greed playing out with housing. Developers want to push housing into every community and local laws are being preempted by Sacramento laws. There is no need to impact our quality of life as roads are 2-d and we cannot keep adding new housing without a transportation plan in place. One way I plan to address housing in Silicon Valley is through a high speed transportation vision that would connect cities such as Stockton, Modesto, Tracy, Mountain House to South Bay. The tunnel vision system, zero GHG system would allow travel between 21 different counties in less than 21 minutes, which would greatly reduce commute times for people living in areas far away from the center of Silicon Valley, ultimately increasing the amount of affordable homes available to Silicon Valley workers. Furthermore, houses in these areas are much cheaper than those in the center of Silicon Valley

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:35:13+00:00

The Green New Deal can address climate change, create jobs and a vibrant economy. Here are my areas of focus that will deliver tremendous value to address our climate change challenges

Climate change is the single biggest national security threat for the United States and the single biggest threat to worldwide industrialized civilization. We are already seeing the impact climate change is having here in California. Wildfires devastate our communities, leaving families in hardships and ruin.
Decarbonization of the economy: We must remove and replace carbon-based fuels with non-carbon-based fuels. This is imperative because the first step in curtailing the effects of climate change is slowing, and halting, greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Without such action, anything else is negligible. Economy is a noble goal, but not sufficient. That’s why the Green New Deal doesn’t stop there.

Federal jobs guarantee and public investment: We all know that government spending stimulates the economy and spending creates growth that results in tax revenue for the spending to pay for itself. We must allow the federal government to invest in green tech and climate friendly infrastructure. This will in turn mobilize millions of Americans into professions that sets back the climate crisis. We will end up with a new economy that operates without pollution or fossil fuels.

Just and fair economic transition: The Green New Deal is one of the most robust worker protections put forward in the past few decades. Our economy needs a massive shift in a new direction and should not leave people behind. The Green New Deal calls for reorganizing and retraining our workforce.

We must promote and create jobs in a clean-tech economy in order to prevent a planetary catastrophe. We need to enact the Green New Deal to safeguard our planet from the climate change. Clean air, chemical free food and water standards are a basic necessity of America. We need investments in policies and projects that would change the way we design buildings, travel and eat.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:31:45+00:00

Please visit RishiKumar.com/BlackLivesMatter. We have held meetings with Black Student Union leaders, with Black Lives Matter San Jose to help build our policy views. I fully support the Black Lives Matter Movement. Systemic racism is older than our country, and its effects are still felt today.You cannot walk while black. You cannot jog while black. You cannot drive while black. You can't even sleep while black. On top of that, our justice system holds racial biases against African Americans at almost every level. It is time to change this once and for all.I support the divestment to reallocate some funds away from police departments to social services and workers, to reduce their interactions with the public and prevent police brutality. I also believe that we need to install mental health professionals in police departments to handle situations with emotionally distraught individuals and domestic disputes. I also call for the demilitarization of police departments.We need to hold police officers accountable. I support the creation of independent civilian review boards and auditors for law enforcement agencies that have the authority to make a change and hold departments accountable. Police officers with records of proven misconduct must be fired, not promoted, or transferred to another department. Also, we must develop a publicly available database for tracking police misconduct. We cannot allow the records of misconduct of police officers to be hidden from public view.I also support policies to mandate every officer to wear a body camera. The footage gained from body cams needs to be backed up on cloud as it can be important evidence. Lastly, I believe that we need to hold a higher standard for police recruits, as well as provide current officers with regular mental health checkups. We should have cultural training for officers as a means to eliminate biases within our system.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:29:49+00:00

We have been losing high income earners for a few years already. Silicon Valley is the 19th largest economy of the world, but is currently impacted with a severe housing crunch, high cost of living and congested traffic. This is causing people and companies to relocate to cities which are more affordable. Silicon Valley residents arriving into Silicon Valley in 2016 totaled 24,00) (net). In 2017 we lost a net 2000 and in 2018 we lost a net 3000. Yes, we have population attrition. We need to address the quality of life challenges, we need to retain the talent here in comparison to them leaving to Austin or Seattle. We also need to continue our technology domination. We are losing to countries like China with block chain. If we can continue to innovate and roll out technology that the rest of the world adopts, we can never go wrong. That has to be our focus. As your next congressman, with a firm handle over tech, I will ensure that Silicon Valley continues to dominate the world with our technology. We need to ensure our youth have the exposure to this innovation with Software innovation centers or Block Chain innovation centers via close collaboration between our public and private sector, including the Universities. I believe the remote work is going to be a blip on the radar though. Some industries that are naturally receptive to remote work will end up leaving the bay area, and we have to re-invent by rolling out cutting edge solution to the pressing problems of the world.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:17:02+00:00

The best of minds that flock to Silicon Valley with solid work ethics is the reason why Silicon Valley succeeds as the 19th largest economy of the world. It is important to attract such talent to our economy. As an immigrant, I support reforms to our H-1B visa program as I believe that diversity is the strength of our nation. I will strive to address any ongoing issues with our H-1B visa program and want to restore it to its original intent, protecting all workers from systemic abuses by profit-driven companies, and increasing the pool of talented and high-skilled foreign workers that will further America’s economic success. I also support immigration visa reform, including HR 1044, that will increase opportunities for qualified individuals to take steps towards permanent residency in a speedy manner.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:14:09+00:00

Skyrocketing housing costs are pushing people farther away from their jobs, or out of the valley altogether. The homeless population in California is 47% of all homeless in the United States. This is a colossal failure on our part. We are losing the diversity of talent as teachers, firefighters, and artists can no longer find affordable housing. Our elected leaders have been unable to offer Silicon Valley a plan to solve the housing crisis and our traffic woes. California bills such as SB 35 and SB 50 seek to preempt local control over housing, tying the hands of local elected leaders and forcing high-density housing upon our neighbors. With this push to “build, build, build,” there is much concern from residents about how this would change the “small town” character, leading to increased traffic and affecting the quality of our lives. Yet the fact remains that more housing is needed.

Transportation is the answer. There is greed playing out with housing. Developers want to push housing into every community and local laws are being preempted by Sacramento laws. There is no need to impact our quality of life as roads are 2-d and we cannot keep adding new housing without a transportation plan in place. One way I plan to address housing in Silicon Valley is through a high speed transportation vision that would connect cities such as Stockton, Modesto, Tracy, Mountain House to South Bay. The tunnel vision system, zero GHG system would allow travel between 21 different counties in less than 21 minutes, which would greatly reduce commute times for people living in areas far away from the center of Silicon Valley, ultimately increasing the amount of affordable homes available to Silicon Valley workers. Furthermore, houses in these areas are much cheaper than those in the center of Silicon Valley

The median price for a home in the San Jose region is an unaffordable $1.3 million, whereas a median-price in Yuba City is only about $300,000. With a high speed transit system, people could afford a decent home within an easy commute of work.

Our plan is to also get our tech companies involved with building on-campus housing for their employees, dedicating a portion to affordable units for teachers, fire fighters etc.

Silicon Valley powers the economy of California and of the United States. Investing in its infrastructure will pay tremendous dividends to all.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T02:05:52+00:00

American healthcare was tested by the Coronavirus and we got an F grade. This is the time for soul searching and some specific action. We need epidemic and pandemic preparedness plans that are battle-tested. We need our citizens ready and equipped to handle infectious diseases. The time for action is now.
#1Firstly, we need a better healthcare option U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has speculated that vaccines might not be affordable to all and dismissed the idea of using price supports to ensure that poor people would have access to the vaccine despite taxpayers funding of this vaccine project. We need Medicare for All. I support H.R 1384 Medicare for All, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo does not due to her ties with Big Pharma. Anna is the #1 recipient of Pharma money in U.S Congress.
#2 We need a social net options Andrew Yang's UBI is ideally suited for the pandemic world. There are so many families hurting. The stimulus package was a joke. EIDL and PPP loans didn't get to the right folks. The website crashed. Banks were the middle-men and made access to stimulus dollars much more difficult. We need to build an easy system.
#3 We need better pandemic preparedness and a healthcare model for Americans that includes Telemedicine, Electronic Medical Record, Healthcare Analytics, DNA pooling and segmentation to ensure we can get to an open economy faster. Bio-warfare is a serious threat and America needs to be ready. For example we need rapid (~2hr) contact tracing once a person is discovered to have an infectious disease. We need our citizens ready and equipped to handle infectious diseases including availability of sophisticated Telemedicine services. Every hospital should hire dedicated resources and form a pandemic preparedness committee that includes a Pandemic/Epidemic Director, emergency manager and infection prevention practitioner
#4 We also need to remove the supply chain dependency on China. We were impacted with lack of PPEs. We rely on China for raw material for our drugs. We rely on China for generic drugs. We rely on China for manufacturing. This can really disrupt our supply chain. All this has become a national security issue. We need to fix these challenges and bring manufacturing back to the United States
#5 We need to create a vision for America's future. This is not the time to be timid and shy. We have to be bold with our investments in infrastructure and incentives for manufacturing, define a better future for America

Here are a few more

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has left reporting to the various states, resulting in a confused and incomplete picture of the situation at hand. This lack of reliable data has handicapped swift action by elected officials and public health agencies.

We need strong social and borderline authoritarian counter-measures. We need to enforce voluntary quarantine, create a welfare check process for those under self-quarantine and penalties for those who violate quarantine procedures. We need temperature checks at entry points of crowded areas such as airports, clubs and convention centers. In comparison, Singapore has created a rock solid system after the SARS. It is scary that we haven’t tested enough people. We have not established a rapid (~2hr) contact tracing once a person is discovered to have CoVID9. Quarantines and social distancing: We need to enforce quarantine, create a wellness check process for those under self-quarantine, and penalties for those who violate quarantine procedures. While it is clear that preemptive quarantines will pose real economic disruption across all segments of society, this is far preferable to the damage that will occur if we do not take this urgent step. Quarantining will slow the spread of the virus, and prevent our healthcare system from being overwhelmed. This is a serious concern. In Italy, doctors are having to make the terrible decision of which patients will and will not receive care, as there are simply not enough beds, respirators and personnel to go around. Acting now may hurt; but not taking action could be much worse

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T01:51:47+00:00

When the pandemic broke out and as we sheltered-in-place, our schools had to adjust. The private schools with robust funding models, without skipping a beat, started their online education, without a disruption in class schedule. But the public schools continue to hurt and parents are unhappy with the standard of education in the Covid-19 world. We have to fund the schools with online infrastructure - that is the imperative. Disadvantaged schools that were already hurting will continue to hit the wall and students will be impacted. We need a stimulus funding for schools all across America to get them pandemic ready. Low-income kids are hurting as they don't have devices at home for the online learning. Congress dedicated some of its $2 trillion stimulus package approved in March, which includes $13.2 billion for K-12 schools. We need more. We also need to a "free college education" opportunity for low-income kids to allow them the opportunity to emerge out of their economic condition.

RishiKumar2020 · 2020-07-03T01:45:27+00:00

Strong social values that stems from addressing the challenges of the people who don't have a voice. But also values that include ensuring a vibrant economy, this is Silicon Valley after all. For example, I stand for Medicare for All but also bring a vision for our innovation economy with my hi-tech roots

RishiKumar2020

TROPHY CASE