Richard Dansie

[{"question": "Ballotpedia survey responses", "answer_html": "<p>See also: <a href=\"/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\">Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection</a></p>\n<div class=\"row\"><div class=\"col-xs-10 col-md-6 col-xs-offset-1 col-md-offset-3\"><p><a href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\"><img align=\"middle\" alt=\"Candidate Connection\" src=\"https://cdn.ballotpedia.org/images/8/88/Candidate_Connection_Logo.png\" width=\"90%\"/></a></p></div></div>\n<p>Richard Dansie completed <a href=\"/Ballotpedia%27s_Candidate_Connection\">Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection</a> survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dansie's responses.</p>\n<p><span class=\"expand-all\">Expand all</span> | <span class=\"collapse-all\">Collapse all</span></p>\n<div aria-multiselectable=\"true\" class=\"panel-group\" id=\"accordion\" role=\"tablist\"><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-key-message-389568-2025-12-30\" id=\"heading-key-message-389568-2025-12-30\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse-key-message-389568-2025-12-30\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse-key-message-389568-2025-12-30\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tPlease list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading-key-message-389568-2025-12-30\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse-key-message-389568-2025-12-30\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\"><ul><li>I am running for the United States Senate to restore fiscal discipline, accountability, and constitutional limits on federal power. I believe government should be evaluated based on measurable results, not the size of budgets or the number of programs created. Incentives matter, and Congress should be rewarded for stewardship and restraint, not perpetual growth in spending and debt.</li><li>I believe the federal government has grown disconnected from the people it represents. Career politicians, centralized leadership, and special interests have accumulated disproportionate influence, while rank-and-file members and voters have less impact on outcomes. I support reforms that decentralize power, reduce undue influence, and return responsibility to elected representatives who are accountable to their constituents.</li><li>I approach public policy from a practical perspective that emphasizes evidence, outcomes, and long-term sustainability. Policies should be reviewed honestly, ineffective programs should be ended, and successful policies should be strengthened. I believe lasting reform requires changing incentive structures so good behavior is rewarded and failure carries real consequences.</li></ul></span></div></div></div></div><div class=\"panel panel-default\"><div class=\"panel-heading\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse1-389568-2025-12-30\" id=\"heading1-389568-2025-12-30\" role=\"tab\"><p class=\"panel-title\" style=\"font-size: 14px;font-weight: 600;\"><a aria-controls=\"collapse1-389568-2025-12-30\" aria-expanded=\"false\" class=\"collapsed\" data-parent=\"#accordion\" data-toggle=\"collapse\" href=\"#collapse1-389568-2025-12-30\" role=\"button\"><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-right pull-right\"></i><i class=\"fa fa-chevron-down pull-right\"></i>\t\t\t\tWhat areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?\t\t\t</a></p></div><div aria-labelledby=\"heading1-389568-2025-12-30\" class=\"panel-collapse collapse\" id=\"collapse1-389568-2025-12-30\" role=\"tabpanel\"><div class=\"panel-body\" style=\"max-height: 500px; overflow-y: scroll;\"><div class=\"answers-container\"><span style=\"font-size: 14px;\">\t\t\t\tFiscal responsibility and federal spending reform; constitutional limits on government power; incentive-based reforms to improve accountability in Congress; restoring the role of the House in controlling spending; reducing the influence of special interests and lobbyists; strengthening families and civil society; and ensuring that federal policies are evaluated based on outcomes rather than intentions.\t\t\t</span></div></div></div></div></div>\n<div class=\"small\" data-nosnippet=\"\"><p><i><b>Note:</b> Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.</i></p></div>\n<div><div style=\"margin-bottom:1.5rem\"><h4>Campaign website</h4><p>Dansie's campaign website stated the following:</p><div style=\"max-height:400px;overflow-y:auto;border:1px solid #ccc;padding:10px;margin:20px\"><blockquote style=\"margin:0px\"><h1><strong>Principles</strong></h1><h2><strong>Freedom Works When Government Is Limited</strong></h2><h2><strong>The Proper Role of Government</strong></h2><p>America’s problems are not a mystery. They are the predictable result of a government that has expanded far beyond its proper role—crowding out families, markets, and communities.</p><p>A free society requires a limited government that does a few things well, and resists the temptation to control everything else.</p><h2><strong>The Four Legitimate Functions of Government</strong></h2><p>As articulated by Milton Friedman, government exists to serve the people—not manage them. At its core, its role is limited to four essential functions:</p><p>Government exists to serve the people—not manage them. At its core, its role is limited to:</p><ul><li><strong>Defend the country against foreign enemies:</strong> National defense is the first responsibility of government.</li><li><strong>Protect citizens from abuse and coercion by other citizens:</strong> Government must protect individual liberty and public safety from force and fraud.</li><li><strong>Define the rules of the game:</strong> Establish the legal framework—what private property is, how contracts work, and the boundaries that make freedom possible.</li><li><strong>Adjudicate disputes about the meaning of those rules:</strong> Provide courts and due process to resolve disagreements fairly and peacefully.</li></ul><p>When government moves beyond these roles, it becomes inefficient, ideological, and ultimately destructive to freedom.</p><p><br/></p><h2><strong>There Are No “Solutions” — Only Tradeoffs</strong></h2><p>Every policy choice has costs.</p><p>Pretending otherwise is how we ended up with runaway spending.</p><p>Bureaucratic bloat and trillions in debt followed.</p><p>Policies must be judged by results—not intentions.</p><h2><strong>A Simpler, Fairer Tax System</strong></h2><p>Complex tax systems punish success.</p><p>They reward avoidance, loopholes, and offshore capital.</p><p>A broad-based flat tax with a low rate would eliminate special interests, increase compliance, and keep capital productive and onshore.</p><p>Lower rates on a broader base produce more revenue than high rates on a shrinking one.</p><h2><strong>Freedom and Prosperity Are Inseparable</strong></h2><p>Economic freedom is not separate from political freedom. A government powerful enough to control markets, speech, and behavior is powerful enough to control people.</p><p>My platform applies these principles to today’s problems—family collapse, runaway spending, cultural decay, and bureaucratic overreach—because freedom still works when we let it.</p><p><br/></p><h1><strong>Healthcare</strong></h1><h2><strong>Reduce Actual Cost, Not Hide It In Bureaucracy</strong></h2><h2><strong>The Goal</strong></h2><p>Lower costs.</p><p>Faster access.</p><p>Fair outcomes for patients and physicians.</p><p>Healthcare is expensive because the system rewards paperwork, legal games, and defensive medicine.</p><p>My plan improves access and lowers costs by fixing incentives—without turning healthcare into a bigger government program.</p><h2><strong>1) A National Physician Registry</strong></h2><p>This is not a federal takeover of healthcare.</p><p>It is a national verification and portability framework.</p><p>It makes it easier for patients to find qualified doctors and easier for doctors to treat patients across state lines.</p><h3><strong>What the Registry Provides</strong></h3><ul><li><strong>Verified physician identity:</strong> license status, board certifications, scope of practice, and disciplinary history where applicable.</li><li><strong>DEA-linked verification (where appropriate):</strong> controlled-substance authorization integrity to support cross-border treatment and prescribing compliance.</li><li><strong>Cross-border access:</strong> reduce duplicative barriers so interstate care and telehealth are practical, especially for specialty care.</li><li><strong>Patient clarity:</strong> specialties, accepting new patients, telehealth availability, and location details in a standardized profile.</li></ul><p>More qualified access means more competition.</p><p>More competition means lower prices.</p><h2><strong>2) Medical Claims Reform</strong></h2><p>Today’s malpractice system is a perverse incentive.</p><p>It drives defensive medicine, inflates costs, and pushes physicians out of high-risk specialties.</p><p>Patients deserve fair resolution.</p><p>Physicians deserve protection from jackpot litigation and emotional jury trials.</p><h3><strong>Expert Review, Not Courtroom Theater</strong></h3><p>Medical claims for physicians participating in the Registry would follow a professional resolution path.</p><p>Claims are reviewed by <strong>physicians in the same specialty</strong>—people qualified to evaluate standards of care.</p><ul><li><strong>Peer review panels:</strong> specialists review evidence, standard of care, and causality in writing.</li><li><strong>Physician duty:</strong> Registry members commit to <strong>1 hour of review per month</strong> to keep standards high and outcomes fair.</li><li><strong>Clear timelines:</strong> predictable, written findings instead of years of legal delay.</li><li><strong>Restorative remedies first:</strong> medical costs, rehabilitation, and provable losses are the default.</li><li><strong>Extreme-case exception:</strong> larger awards considered only in rare, clearly defined cases of egregious misconduct.</li></ul><h3><strong>Patient Choice and Consent</strong></h3><p>This does not remove anyone’s rights.</p><p>It offers a voluntary alternative designed to deliver faster, fairer outcomes.</p><p>Patients receiving care under the Registry track agree in advance to resolve medical claims through this expert-review and restorative compensation process instead of a jury trial.</p><p>Patients remain free to seek care outside the Registry if they prefer the traditional court system.</p><h2><strong>Why This Lowers Costs</strong></h2><p>Defensive medicine is a major driver of healthcare inflation.</p><p>When physicians must practice for lawsuits, patients pay the bill.</p><ul><li><strong>Less defensive medicine:</strong> fewer unnecessary tests ordered “for the record.”</li><li><strong>Lower premiums:</strong> predictable expert review reduces malpractice insurance distortion.</li><li><strong>More doctors practicing:</strong> especially in higher-risk specialties.</li><li><strong>Interstate access:</strong> patients can seek the best specialist care without state-border traps.</li><li><strong>Faster resolution:</strong> patients receive restorative compensation without multi-year legal warfare.</li></ul><h2><strong>The Principle</strong></h2><p>Patients should be treated like customers, not claimants.</p><p>Physicians should be judged by experts, not courtroom theatrics.</p><p>And healthcare should be priced and delivered like a service—not like a cartel.</p><p><br/></p></blockquote><div style=\"text-align: right; font-size: 0.9em; color: #555; margin-top: 0.5em;\"><p style=\"font-size:0.9em;color:#555\">— Richard Dansie's <a href=\"https://dansieforsenate.us/index.html\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">campaign website</a> (February 12, 2026)</p></div></div></div><div style=\"text-align: center; font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0.5em;\"><i>Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.</i></div></div>", "answer_text": "See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection\n\nRichard Dansie completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Dansie's responses.\nExpand all | Collapse all\nPlease list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office? I am running for the United States Senate to restore fiscal discipline, accountability, and constitutional limits on federal power. I believe government should be evaluated based on measurable results, not the size of budgets or the number of programs created. Incentives matter, and Congress should be rewarded for stewardship and restraint, not perpetual growth in spending and debt. I believe the federal government has grown disconnected from the people it represents. Career politicians, centralized leadership, and special interests have accumulated disproportionate influence, while rank-and-file members and voters have less impact on outcomes. I support reforms that decentralize power, reduce undue influence, and return responsibility to elected representatives who are accountable to their constituents. I approach public policy from a practical perspective that emphasizes evidence, outcomes, and long-term sustainability. Policies should be reviewed honestly, ineffective programs should be ended, and successful policies should be strengthened. I believe lasting reform requires changing incentive structures so good behavior is rewarded and failure carries real consequences. What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Fiscal responsibility and federal spending reform; constitutional limits on government power; incentive-based reforms to improve accountability in Congress; restoring the role of the House in controlling spending; reducing the influence of special interests and lobbyists; strengthening families and civil society; and ensuring that federal policies are evaluated based on outcomes rather than intentions.\nNote: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.\nCampaign website Dansie's campaign website stated the following: Principles Freedom Works When Government Is Limited The Proper Role of Government America’s problems are not a mystery. They are the predictable result of a government that has expanded far beyond its proper role—crowding out families, markets, and communities. A free society requires a limited government that does a few things well, and resists the temptation to control everything else. The Four Legitimate Functions of Government As articulated by Milton Friedman, government exists to serve the people—not manage them. At its core, its role is limited to four essential functions: Government exists to serve the people—not manage them. At its core, its role is limited to: Defend the country against foreign enemies: National defense is the first responsibility of government. Protect citizens from abuse and coercion by other citizens: Government must protect individual liberty and public safety from force and fraud. Define the rules of the game: Establish the legal framework—what private property is, how contracts work, and the boundaries that make freedom possible. Adjudicate disputes about the meaning of those rules: Provide courts and due process to resolve disagreements fairly and peacefully. When government moves beyond these roles, it becomes inefficient, ideological, and ultimately destructive to freedom. There Are No “Solutions” — Only Tradeoffs Every policy choice has costs. Pretending otherwise is how we ended up with runaway spending. Bureaucratic bloat and trillions in debt followed. Policies must be judged by results—not intentions. A Simpler, Fairer Tax System Complex tax systems punish success. They reward avoidance, loopholes, and offshore capital. A broad-based flat tax with a low rate would eliminate special interests, increase compliance, and keep capital productive and onshore. Lower rates on a broader base produce more revenue than high rates on a shrinking one. Freedom and Prosperity Are Inseparable Economic freedom is not separate from political freedom. A government powerful enough to control markets, speech, and behavior is powerful enough to control people. My platform applies these principles to today’s problems—family collapse, runaway spending, cultural decay, and bureaucratic overreach—because freedom still works when we let it. Healthcare Reduce Actual Cost, Not Hide It In Bureaucracy The Goal Lower costs. Faster access. Fair outcomes for patients and physicians. Healthcare is expensive because the system rewards paperwork, legal games, and defensive medicine. My plan improves access and lowers costs by fixing incentives—without turning healthcare into a bigger government program. 1) A National Physician Registry This is not a federal takeover of healthcare. It is a national verification and portability framework. It makes it easier for patients to find qualified doctors and easier for doctors to treat patients across state lines. What the Registry Provides Verified physician identity: license status, board certifications, scope of practice, and disciplinary history where applicable. DEA-linked verification (where appropriate): controlled-substance authorization integrity to support cross-border treatment and prescribing compliance. Cross-border access: reduce duplicative barriers so interstate care and telehealth are practical, especially for specialty care. Patient clarity: specialties, accepting new patients, telehealth availability, and location details in a standardized profile. More qualified access means more competition. More competition means lower prices. 2) Medical Claims Reform Today’s malpractice system is a perverse incentive. It drives defensive medicine, inflates costs, and pushes physicians out of high-risk specialties. Patients deserve fair resolution. Physicians deserve protection from jackpot litigation and emotional jury trials. Expert Review, Not Courtroom Theater Medical claims for physicians participating in the Registry would follow a professional resolution path. Claims are reviewed by physicians in the same specialty —people qualified to evaluate standards of care. Peer review panels: specialists review evidence, standard of care, and causality in writing. Physician duty: Registry members commit to 1 hour of review per month to keep standards high and outcomes fair. Clear timelines: predictable, written findings instead of years of legal delay. Restorative remedies first: medical costs, rehabilitation, and provable losses are the default. Extreme-case exception: larger awards considered only in rare, clearly defined cases of egregious misconduct. Patient Choice and Consent This does not remove anyone’s rights. It offers a voluntary alternative designed to deliver faster, fairer outcomes. Patients receiving care under the Registry track agree in advance to resolve medical claims through this expert-review and restorative compensation process instead of a jury trial. Patients remain free to seek care outside the Registry if they prefer the traditional court system. Why This Lowers Costs Defensive medicine is a major driver of healthcare inflation. When physicians must practice for lawsuits, patients pay the bill. Less defensive medicine: fewer unnecessary tests ordered “for the record.” Lower premiums: predictable expert review reduces malpractice insurance distortion. More doctors practicing: especially in higher-risk specialties. Interstate access: patients can seek the best specialist care without state-border traps. Faster resolution: patients receive restorative compensation without multi-year legal warfare. The Principle Patients should be treated like customers, not claimants. Physicians should be judged by experts, not courtroom theatrics. And healthcare should be priced and delivered like a service—not like a cartel. — Richard Dansie's campaign website (February 12, 2026) Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source."}]