Ted Rights

Ted Rights
Candidate for
U.S. House, Missouri, District 6
Party	Democratic
Education
M.D.	Wayne State University Medical School
Personal
Birthday	1939
Place of birth	Newark, NJ
Profession	Physician
Websites
Campaign website

Ted Rights was a 2012 Democratic candidate seeking election to the U.S. House representing the 6th Congressional District of Missouri. Rights was defeated by Kyle Yarber in the Democratic primary on August 7, 2012.

Biography

Rights was born in 1939 in Newark, New Jersey. Upon graduation from high school in Abington, Pennsylvania in 1957, Rights earned his undergraduate degree from Moravian College in 1961 and spent the following year at Bethel Theological School in Bielefeld, Germany. Following graduation from Wayne State University School of Medicine in Michigan in 1966, Rights completed a one-year rotating internship at Cooper Hospital in Camden, New Jersey in 1967. He was director of public health programs in Honduras and Nicaragua through 1973, at which point he returned to the States to earn his Masters in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. He then worked in clinics in Reading, Pennsylvania and Hamilton, Missouri.

Issues

Campaign themes

2012

On his campaign website, Rights lists nine issues. They are:

• Taxes

• On his website, Rights says, "We will not bleed the average taxpayer dry and let the rich and powerful off the hook! Even if the top 20% pay the most in income taxes,they are not suffering like the rest of us 80%. Their net worth averages greater then $800,000 per family as opposed to a net worth of $8,000 for a family in the lowest 20%. It makes sense to phase out the old Bush tax cuts for the rich. Taxes are needed to afford the greatest defense against foreign aggression, proficient local police, skilled firefighters,and rule of law. Lack of tax revenue would cripple public works projects including roads, water, electric, energy and research and development. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said ” Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.”"

• Jobs

• On his website, Rights says, "We need to employ the unemployed to do public works and infrastructure projects to encourage moving into the private sector while earning an income. Reduce and simplify the regulatory burden on small farms and small businesses. Protect earned income tax credits. [EITC]."

• Immigration

• On his website, Rights says, "We need to offer free non-forgeable ID for every legal citizen. Forget the fence! It is a waste of money. Penalize employers who hire illegals. The problem is just too big to ignore, but not too big to fix."

• Foreign Trade

• On his website, Rights says, "We need to erase the trade deficit. Promote more Agriculture exports."

• Foreign Wars

• On his website, Rights says, "Matthew Hoh, a former Marine Corps captain working for the Department of State makes a good case for getting out of Afghanistan as soon as possible. We do not have to assume the role of “world police” when we need attention in our own back yard."

• Finance Reform

• On his website, Rights says, "We need restraint of the megabanks and policies that favor the smaller regional banks. Prosecute fraud and collusion wherever it leads."

• Agriculture

• On his website, Rights says, "I favor support for the independent producers with better protection against monopoly. Both corporate and niche farms deserve support. We cannot allow Big Ag to drive the family farmer off the land! Who will care for the land when they are gone?"

• Schools

• On his website, Rights says, "We need local control but standard achievement tests."

• Same Gender Unions

• On his website, Rights says, "Full rights for civil unions. Reserve the word marriage for the union of one man and one woman. It should have religious and not juridical meaning."

Elections

2012

See also: Missouri's 6th congressional district elections, 2012

Rights ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House, representing Missouri's 6th District. He faced Kyle Yarber, Ronald William Harris, and Bill Hedge in the Democratic primary. Rights was defeated by Kyle Yarber.

Democratic Primary

The primary took place on August 7.

Missouri's 6th Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kyle Yarber	32.6%	10,242
Bill Hedge	27.4%	8,620
Ronald William Harris	23.8%	7,483
Ted Rights	16.3%	5,118
Total Votes		31,463

External links

Suggest a link

• Official Campaign Site

Personal

Rights has been married to his wife, Elizabeth, since 1964. They have two children and two grandchildren.