Michael Puskar

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Michael Puskar
Image of Michael Puskar
Elections and appointments
Last convention

August 24, 2020

Contact

Michael Puskar filed to run for president in 2020 as a Republican candidate.[1]

He was a 2018 write-in candidate for the U.S. Senate from Maryland.

Elections

2018

See also: United States Senate election in Maryland, 2018

Puskar ran as a write-in candidate.

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Maryland

Incumbent Ben Cardin defeated Tony Campbell, Neal Simon, and Arvin Vohra in the general election for U.S. Senate Maryland on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ben Cardin
Ben Cardin (D)
 
64.9
 
1,491,614
Image of Tony Campbell
Tony Campbell (R)
 
30.3
 
697,017
Image of Neal Simon
Neal Simon (Independent)
 
3.7
 
85,964
Image of Arvin Vohra
Arvin Vohra (L)
 
1.0
 
22,943
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
2,351

Total votes: 2,299,889
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland on June 26, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ben Cardin
Ben Cardin
 
80.3
 
477,441
Image of Chelsea Manning
Chelsea Manning
 
5.8
 
34,611
Image of Jerry Segal
Jerry Segal
 
3.4
 
20,027
Image of Debbie Wilson
Debbie Wilson
 
3.2
 
18,953
Marcia Morgan
 
2.7
 
16,047
Image of Lih Young
Lih Young
 
1.7
 
9,874
Image of Richard Vaughn
Richard Vaughn
 
1.6
 
9,480
Image of Erik Jetmir
Erik Jetmir
 
1.4
 
8,259

Total votes: 594,692
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maryland

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maryland on June 26, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tony Campbell
Tony Campbell
 
29.2
 
51,426
Image of Chris Chaffee
Chris Chaffee
 
24.1
 
42,328
Image of Christina Grigorian
Christina Grigorian
 
17.5
 
30,756
John Graziani
 
8.8
 
15,435
Image of Blaine Taylor
Blaine Taylor Candidate Connection
 
5.0
 
8,848
Image of Gerald Smith
Gerald Smith
 
4.3
 
7,564
Image of Brian Vaeth
Brian Vaeth
 
3.1
 
5,411
Evan Cronhardt
 
2.5
 
4,445
Image of Bill Krehnbrink
Bill Krehnbrink Candidate Connection
 
2.0
 
3,606
Image of Nnabu Eze
Nnabu Eze
 
2.0
 
3,442
Albert Howard
 
1.5
 
2,720

Total votes: 175,981
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2016

Puskar was a 2016 Unaffiliated candidate for President of the United States.

Campaign themes

2018

https://ballotpedia.org/Faauuga_Moliga Puskar’s campaign website stated the following:

Taxes

As the old adage goes, there are only 2 things guaranteed in life: death and taxes.

We will always be taxed in one way or another, but we cannot go by simple arithmetic: the person who makes $30,000/yr does not have the same advantages as the one who makes $3 million/yr. $3,000 hurts the former far more than $300k hurts the latter. So, the rich should have to pay more.

As for mega-corporate tax breaks... Breaks only go to those who need them. That is why they are called breaks!
Big companies who gave out bonuses this year could easily afford them before the passing of the recent tax laws. Let's take Disney... Black Panther cost $200 million to make and yet in mere months it made over a billion beyond that! The $125 million it gave in bonuses could have been done 10x over from that one movie alone!

Finally, there is the issue of the things on which taxes are spent. It doesn't matter with which political 'side' you associate and the preferences thereof, there are plenty of tax dollars wasted on expenses neither 'side' needs. One big one is federal salaries: no elected or appointed official (who is supposed to be a 'public servant') needs to be paid the extravagant salaries they are in addition to full benefits, all for working far, far less time.

#JOBS

Jobs are a number-one priority. We cannot look at the numbers spewed out by the government as they are superficial. Low unemployment doesn't necessarily mean everyone is gainfully employed.

As for government jobs in particular, vets need to be given first refusal rights.

Infrastructure

Billions are being sent to other nations while our roads and bridges and plumbing crumble. And guess what? Fixing those would create jobs! Infrastructure is a major priority.

Abortion

While it may sound contradictory, I am pro-choice & life.

Personally, I would not want my partner to get an abortion; however, socially I respect women's rights.

One position that is B&W for me is when a pregnancy threatens the life of the mother: if the odds state that the mother could be saved versus both mother and child dying, then there is no question that the mother should be saved.

As for Planned Parenthood, one must recognize that the organization provides all sorts of healthcare options for women. There is nothing wrong with governmental funding in that regard, but it should be specified for/against various uses.

Environment

We live on Earth. Continuing the way we are going, gutting her and poisoning her, we only hurt ourselves. But change takes time.

We need to do what we can to protect the environment. Regulations are not a bad thing: only the Bigs want you to think they are because it causes them to lose money.

Eventually going to environmentally more friendly sources of energy is a good thing, and it will not hurt the job market. Miners can work into retirement and/or transition into other industries as well. On the same token, though, we cannot just jump to being green.

As for climate change, it is real. Whether or not you believe it to be mankind's fault isn't necessarily the issue if you look at it this way...

We have 2 choices:

  • help the environment
  • don't help the environment

What is worse of the following 2 possible scenarios?

  • we help the environment to thrive, though the cause is not human.
  • we don't help the environment, and it is indeed humanity at the source.

Healthcare

Cars are a privilege: Pay for insurance. Health is a natural right: No one should profiteer in the healthcare industry while many suffer.

I believe universal healthcare is the way to go, though the current measures being proposed might not be the best fit.

Costs would be kept down: nowadays, people cannot always afford to to to the doctor and put things off, sometimes causing things to get worse and more expensive on both the individual and society. If healthcare were completely covered, people could stay more healthy more easily and costs would not be as much (plus more healthy people means more can be accomplished).

The pharmaceutical industry also needs to be put in check. Capitalism was intended for the average person to be able to make something of him/herself, not for the Bigs to be able to step on the average person out of greed.

Civil Rights

Everyone is equal (equitable). Period.

Race, religion, orientation, etc. do not make anyone more or less important.

As such, a consenting adult should be able to do what he/she/they want as long as it does not directly and adversely affect another.

Freedom of Religion

An individual should be able to worship (or abstain therefrom) as one wants.

But that cuts both ways. A person of one faith cannot claim freedom of religion and then want those tenets to be forced on others.

Education

#ChildrenFirst.

While states have sovereignty, the US Dept of Ed should ensure equal education for all ages. This includes matters of government in order to shatter the fallacies that are disinformation.

Eliminating college debt would help make people better able to enter the workforce and grow through careers, but it would also have to be a stable program to ensure it is not taken advantage of.

Government Reform

Number 1: Public Servants should not make more than their constituents, especially for working far less time. I would aim to remedy this by starting with US Senators for MD salary.

Also, term limits must exist for all levels of government. Too many elected officials become complacent and/or smug in their positions when they find they will be able to make a career of that one position. It would also help ensure checks and balances are actually just that. No lifelong benefits for these officials either (i.e., no sucking the taxpayers dry).

Military

We need to disengage the war machine (i.e., stop overspending on items that more or less aim to enrich big contractors) and focus more on supporting our current troops and veterans alike.

Guns

I am pro-2A and advocate for some level of gun control. They are not opposite goals.

Immigration

Legal immigration but it must be asylum-based first - not preferential treatment. We also cannot turn away children in need.

Oh, and while infrastructure is needed at borders... #NoWall.[2]

—Michael Puskar’s campaign website (2018)[3]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. FEC, "Puskar, Michael Brandon," accessed September 27, 2019
  2. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. Puskar for US Senate 2018, "Issues & Positions," accessed October 19, 2018


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