INFLATION & THE ECONOMY
Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, everything costs more, and Bob Casey has blindly supported every disastrous Bidenomics policy that has crushed Pennsylvania families and contributed to our debt spiraling out of control. He even voted to raise taxes on hard working Pennsylvanians while voting to give massive tax breaks to millionaires in California and New York. As a former CEO, Dave has experience creating hundreds of Western Pennsylvania jobs and eliminating wasteful spending. He knows what it’s like to be responsible for the bottom line, and in the Senate he’ll work to rein in government spending, oppose tax increases, and exercise fiscal responsibility to lessen the burden on the people of the commonwealth. As a father to six daughters, Dave knows this is essential for creating opportunities for the next generation entering the workforce.
SECURING OUR BORDER
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Bob Casey’s failed border policies have created an enormous economic and national security threat for America and Pennsylvania. Casey has regularly voted against tougher border security measures, has supported sanctuary cities and voted to give illegal immigrants taxpayer-funded federal benefits. He even voted against Kate’s law, which set a mandatory imprisonment minimum for deported felons who illegally enter the U.S. Now, Pennsylvanians are paying for healthcare, schooling, housing, food, you name it, for people who don’t pay taxes as dangerous drugs cross our border and women and children become victims to trafficking. As Senator, Dave will fight to secure the border, put an end to drug and human trafficking, and support our border patrol agents with the resources they need to do their jobs.
AMERICA ON THE WORLD STAGE
Under the Biden-Harris administration, our adversaries see a weakening America. We saw it first in the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. Then through an emboldened Russia waging war on Ukraine. And most recently in Israel, where Hamas launched an assault on the Israeli people with the support of Iran. Bob Casey has consistently been a rubber stamp for weak and harmful foreign policy decisions — including casting the deciding vote to pass the Iran deal, which gave them billions to fund terrorism. As a combat veteran and a former deputy national security adviser, Dave knows we need a robust defense budget focused on equipping us for next generation warfare. As Senator, he’ll work to restore America’s military might, strengthen our defense industrial base, reestablish deterrence of our adversaries, and make sure the world knows we’re not planning to relinquish our superpower status anytime soon. We must show peace through strength.
STOPPING VIOLENT CRIME
Every American deserves to feel safe where they live and work, but dangerous rhetoric and lax law enforcement policies have led to an increase in crime. Urban decay and skyrocketing murder rates are making sections of our great cities a terrifying place to raise children. Fentanyl is killing Americans in every community. As a father, Dave knows firsthand the heightened concern parents have for their children’s safety. Defunding the police, which Bob Casey supported, and declining respect for our law enforcement is diminishing the ability to keep communities safe. And Soros-funded prosecutors in cities like Philadelphia are undermining rule of law, allowing violent criminals to return to the streets. Bob Casey, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ approach isn’t working. That’s why 47 sheriffs from across the commonwealth have endorsed Dave. They know they can trust him to advocate for the needs of law enforcement in Washington.
GROWING PENNSYLVANIA’S ENERGY SECTOR
If Pennsylvania were a country, we would have the fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world. But under Biden and Harris’ anti-American energy policies rubberstamped by Bob Casey, we haven’t been able to access clean natural gas, including from the Marcellus Shale. Casey supports policies that are costing us jobs and driving up energy prices even more. He championed a radical cap-and-trade policy, which would have cost Pennsylvania tens of billions of dollars and half a million jobs. The commonwealth used to be an energy exporter, and now we’re an importer. Dave is a conservationist who believes we don’t have to choose between clean energy and economic development – that’s a false tradeoff. Our leaders must mitigate the risk of climate change through adaptation and energy policies that do not impose significant damage on our society, our economy, and our security, and policymakers must reckon with the reality that China and India combined are responsible for a third of global emissions and growing rapidly. America must be energy independent — it’s good for our economy and our national security — and we can do that while simultaneously supporting Pennsylvania’s position as a leader in reducing emissions. We need market-driven solutions and an “all of the above” energy agenda, not government spending that drives inflation.
EDUCATING PENNSYLVANIA’S CHILDREN
Dave is the proud son of two Pennsylvania teachers, so he’s spent much of his life hearing about how we as a country can deliver the best possible education for America’s children. Jim and Maryan McCormick saw the education and development of the next generation as the most important thing we must do as a country. Unfortunately, our education system is currently failing America’s children, and the numbers are staggering. Only 25 percent of graduating seniors could keep up with a college‐level math class, and 37 percent were ready for college‐level reading. The average high school graduate today is no better educated than she would have been twenty‐five years ago, and neither poor nor rich students are doing better. As a result, American students are falling behind the rest of the world.
Dave has a plan to revamp our education system with a talent strategy that revives and unlocks the courageous, entrepreneurial American spirit. This starts by improving the quality of our schools by expanding school choice, committing to free expression, and valuing civics and the formation of good citizens. We must also create new workforce training programs and accord job training and community colleges the same respect—and financial support—our country directs toward a four‐year college education. Equipping America’s next generation with the skills they need to succeed in the workforce is essential to the prosperity of our country and our people.
PREVENTING FENTANYL FROM RAVAGING COMMUNITIES
Fentanyl is pouring across our southern border and ravaging communities, killing over 4,000 Pennsylvanians a year — and Bob Casey has been a rubber stamp for the horrendous border policies that enabled this crisis. As a father, Dave is extremely concerned about fentanyl falling into the hands of our children, and at the end of the day, he knows this crisis will not get better until we have operational control of the southern border and stop the unabated flow of Chinese fentanyl ingredients and drug money into the Western Hemisphere. He believes the federal government needs to go after the suppliers and traffickers that produce and bring fentanyl into the United States and sanction the financial flows that facilitate it. We must use sanctions, intelligence resources, military interdictions at sea, and all other tools at our disposal to make it as difficult as possible for drug cartels to produce fentanyl with ingredients originating in China.
HARNESSING AMERICAN INNOVATION
From its beginning, America has been a cauldron of invention and innovation. The steel Pennsylvanians produced built cities and the coal and oil they extracted powered cars, factories, and people’s homes. Innovation likewise turned America into a military juggernaut and eventually a superpower after World War II. While CEO of FreeMarkets, a technology software company in Pittsburgh, Dave had a front row seat to the information revolution and saw how the flurry of technological adoption overhauled entire industries. It had a tremendously positive effect on American businesses and, more importantly, American workers. Today, we need to re-energize innovation, including through improving education in math, science, and engineering as well as technical skills training, and driving technological and data leadership which would in turn boost productivity and economic dynamism. Together, they would reverse the cycle of stagnation that holds our country back and form the foundation of the great American renewal.
ENDING CHINA’S FREE REIN
China poses the gravest threat to our security and well-being since the end of World War II, and career politicians like Bob Casey have gotten China wrong for more than two decades. Dave believes our prosperity, our security, and our values are at risk. Senator Casey has been in Washington since 2007 and has failed to exercise leadership on behalf of Pennsylvanians to address this significant and growing threat. Instead, he has been a rubber stamp for policies that have weakened America and made us more dependent on China, including growing reliance on lithium batteries and solar panels. That’s why Dave introduced a plan to fortify American military and economic strength, thwart China’s aggressive ambitions and protect the homeland through six bans to end China’s free ride. You can read his plan here.
SUPPORTING PENNSYLVANIA’S VETERANS
As a combat veteran, Dave knows that serving your country involves personal sacrifice. Too many of our nation’s veterans don’t get the care they deserve after coming home, and as a result, many struggle with their mental health, with a devastating twenty-two veterans a day taking their own lives. Dave knows that we need to equip our veterans with not just quality health care, but mental health care. That’s why he’s met with both veterans and officials to discuss ways to help those who are struggling after their service. We have an obligation to protect those who protected us. Dave also believes that most veterans excel in civilian society, which is why he always made a point to hire them while leading teams at both FreeMarkets and Bridgewater. Veterans are well‐trained young men and women with unlimited potential, and they often have incredible leadership experience and technical skills from their service. As Pennsylvania’s Senator, Dave will work to connect veterans with job opportunities in the private and public sector to help them succeed following their service to our country.
ELECTION INTEGRITY
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Bob Casey’s failed agenda is wreaking havoc on our country, both at home and abroad. Democrats are trying to enact a sweeping, federal takeover of elections that erases common sense requirements like presenting a photo ID to vote, requiring that ballots be in by Election Day, and ensuring adequate observers and oversight before and during the election. We need to beat our Democratic opponents in November by mobilizing every Pennsylvanian who wants better leadership in Washington and ensuring they vote, whether that be by mail or on Election Day. Every Pennsylvanian needs to be able to have faith and confidence in our elections.
ABORTION
Dave recognizes that this is an incredibly polarizing issue and we need to seek policies that unify the country. Dave is pro-life, is opposed to a national abortion ban, and supports exceptions in the cases of rape, incest, and saving the life of the mother. In Pennsylvania, the current law, supported by both Republicans and Democrats, means abortion is legal through 24 weeks. Meanwhile, Bob Casey Jr. has the extreme position of supporting abortion up until the moment of birth. Bob Casey’s position is out of step with Pennsylvania, with America, and with his own late father.
SECOND AMENDMENT
Dave is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment and believes law-abiding citizens have an individual right to own firearms for self-defense, hunting, collecting, and sport-shooting, for any lawful reason, and neither Congress nor the states can take that away. As a responsible gun owner and a concerned father, Dave believes that we must increase school security across the board, and provide the money to do so, with school security officers. Second, we need to expand our mental health programs and reduce the stigma associated with seeking treatment. Third, prosecutors like Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner have to enforce the laws we have on the books. It’s unacceptable that some of the cities with the most stringent gun laws have the highest violent crime rates because of a lack of enforcement by liberal prosecutors. Finally, we need to make sure our law enforcement have the resources they need to protect our communities, and that we have rigorous background check systems, as we have in Pennsylvania. We need to preserve our rights while keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.
CRYPTO
American leadership on blockchain and crypto is critical to our economic and national security. They offer America the chance to lead another generation of innovation, but policymakers must do their part, or this opportunity will slip away. Across my career at the intersection of national security and our economy, I have witnessed first hand several game-changing technological revolutions — and this one is key. Allentown and Philadelphia are already home to growing blockchain and crypto ecosystems, and by 2030, the industry is expected to support as many as 4 million jobs. Pennsylvania could reap the benefits of this boom, but only with leaders who recognize that blockchain and crypto are an economic engine. Read my op-ed on my approach to crypto policy here.
STANDING UP FOR AMERICAN VALUES
As a combat veteran and former government official who has lived the American Dream, Dave is a fierce defender of our values, and believes the progressive left is embracing an ideology that is undermining the basic tenets of our democracy. We need new leaders to cultivate the American spirit and restore institutional integrity: in the Pentagon, to put war fighting and deterrence first; in schools, to teach civics and America’s exceptional story; in business, to reaffirm the principles of merit and capitalism; and across society, to create a new national commitment to citizenship. Dave will always stand up for the truth with moral clarity.
THE WAYS OF WASHINGTON
Dave wants to go to Washington to deliver results for Pennsylvanians — not to become a career politician like Bob Casey. Dave supports term limits and will not serve more than two terms in the Senate if elected.
Dave also believes in protecting the integrity of the Senate through preserving the filibuster, which is one of the last stopgaps against political extremism in the country. There needs to be a check on simple majority rule, which is what our founders intended when they created the Senate.