Political positions of Pete Buttigieg
[3] In 2018, as mayor, Buttigieg vetoed a South Bend Common Council rezoning decision that would have allowed an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center to open next door to a planned abortion clinic.
[10][11] Buttigieg favors solar panel subsidies and a carbon tax and dividend policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
[25] As a self-proclaimed democratic capitalist, Buttigieg rejects crony capitalism and supports a constitutional amendment to protect democracy from the undue and corrupting influence of money in politics.
[32] In July 2019, Buttigieg released a plan to strengthen union bargaining power, to raise the minimum wage to $15, and to offer national paid family leave.
[33] Buttigieg's education plan includes a $700 billion investment in universal full-day child care and pre-K for all children from infancy to age five.
[34] His plan for debt-free college partially involves expanding Pell Grants for low and middle-income students, as well as other investments and ending Trump tax cuts on the super wealthy.
[42] Buttigieg has said that he believes the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan following the September 11 attacks was justified[27] but now supports withdrawing American troops from the region with a maintained intelligence presence.
[46] Regarding the 2019 Venezuelan presidential crisis, Buttigieg told HuffPost as a supporter of free and fair elections, he is amenable to potential sanctions but not a military intervention.
[51] In 2019, Buttigieg said he was "troubled" by President Obama's 2017 decision to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning, who was convicted of disclosing classified documents to WikiLeaks.
He has called for universal background checks, a ban on assault weapons, and "red flag" laws that allow for the temporary removal of firearms from individuals deemed a risk to themselves or others.
[62][21] Buttigieg supports Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and has drawn attention to the Trump administration's aggressive deportation policies.
He defended a resident of Granger, Indiana, who was deported after living in the U.S. for 17 years despite regularly checking in with ICE and applying for a green card.
Other goals include protecting tap water from lead, fixing roads and bridges, improving public transportation, repairing schools, guaranteeing broadband internet access, and preparing communities for floods and other natural disasters.
He endorsed a reform proposed by Daniel Epps and Ganesh Sitaraman in which the court would be expanded to 15 members, five of whom would be selected only by unanimous consensus of the other ten.
[75][76][77] In July 2019 Buttigieg announced a plan to increase participation in national service organizations like AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps, as well as creating new ones dedicated to "fighting climate change, treating mental health and addiction, and providing caregiving for older people".
[78] The initiative prioritizes volunteering in predominantly minority communities and rural areas by tripling programs to 250,000 people at first, then expanding to one million by 2026.
