Michael More's Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)
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Michael More has refused to provide voters with positions on key issues covered by the 2014 Political Courage Test, despite repeated requests.
This candidate has responded to a Political Courage Test in a previous election. As a continued effort to provide the American public with factual information on candidates running for public office, these archived responses are made available here.
Montana State Legislative Election 2010 Political Courage Test
| Pro-life | a) Do you consider yourself pro-choice or pro-life? | ||
| No | b) Should abortion be legal only within the first trimester of pregnancy? | ||
| No | c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape? | ||
| d) Should abortion be legal when the life of the woman is endangered? | |||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring parental notification before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor? | ||
| No | g) Do you support sexual education programs that include information on abstinence, contraceptives, and HIV/STD prevention methods? | ||
| Yes | h) Do you support abstinence-only sexual education programs? | ||
| Physicians are required at all times to endeavor to protect the life of both the mother and infant, so question (d) is illogical and useful only if one wishes to villify pro-life candidates. | |||
1) State SpendingIndicate what state funding levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.2) State TaxesIndicate what state tax levels (#1-6) you support for the following general categories. Select one level per category; you may use a number more than once.3) Budget StabilizationIndicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Montana's budget.
| Greatly Decrease | a) Education (higher) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | b) Education (K-12) | ||
| Greatly Decrease | c) Environment | ||
| Eliminate | d) Health care | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Law enforcement | ||
| Slightly Decrease | f) Transportation and highway infrastructure | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Welfare | ||
| Maintain Status | a) Alcohol taxes | ||
| Eliminate | b) Business equipment taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | c) Cigarette taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | d) Corporate taxes | ||
| Slightly Decrease | e) Gasoline taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | f) Oil and natural gas production taxes | ||
| Greatly Decrease | g) Property taxes | ||
| Eliminate | h) Income taxes (low-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | i) Income taxes (middle-income families) | ||
| Eliminate | j) Income taxes (high-income families) | ||
| No | a) Establishing a "rainy day" fund | ||
| Yes | b) Issuing the early release of certain non-violent offenders | ||
| Yes | c) Increasing tuition rates at public universities | ||
| Yes | d) Instituting mandatory furloughs and layoffs for state employees | ||
| No | e) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients | ||
| Yes | f) Privatizing certain government services | ||
| g) Other or expanded principles | |||
| We need to gradually wean ourselves off of dependence on federal tax dollars such that greater responsibility can be maintained at the lowest levels of governance possible -- cities, towns, and counties should create policy and programs for their own benefit, not rely upon ever-burgeoning state and federal assistance. | |||
| TEA Parties: Taxed Enough Already! Tax reform is long overdue in Montana and should reflect a more just system of taxation that is commensurate to the use of goods and services, as opposed to blanket policies that affect all citizens regardless of their participation in a particular public arena. Also, tax reform that captures tax revenue from Montana's significant tourism industry and affluent part-time residents could help considerably in providing tax relief to an over-burdened electorate. | |||
c) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions to candidates for state government?
| Yes | a) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Montana governors? | ||
| No | b) Do you support limits on the number of terms for Montana state legislators? | ||
| Yes | 1) Individual | ||
| Yes | 2) Political Action Committee | ||
| Yes | 3) Corporate | ||
| Yes | 4) Political Party | ||
| Yes | d) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information? | ||
| Campaign contribution limits in Montana are miniscule at present. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support capital punishment for certain crimes? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support alternatives to incarceration for certain non-violent offenders, such as mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment? | ||
| No | c) Should the possession of small amounts of marijuana be decriminalized? | ||
| No | d) Should a minor accused of a violent crime be prosecuted as an adult? | ||
| No | e) Should a minor who sends sexually-explicit or nude photos by cell phone face criminal charges? | ||
| Yes | f) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police? | ||
| Mandatory counseling or substance abuse treatment programs should be re-imbursed by those participating in them upon successful completion. This a basic form of restitutional justice. Prosection of children as adults must be nuanced according to the gravity and circumstances surrounding the crime. | |||
| Yes | a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector? | ||
| No | b) Do you support increased state funding for job-training programs that re-train displaced workers? | ||
| No | c) Do you support expanding access to unemployment benefits? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support providing financial incentives to the private sector for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | e) Do you support increased spending on infrastructure projects for the purpose of job creation? | ||
| No | f) Do you support providing direct financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure? | ||
| Assisting the populace in one facet of economic affairs always entails coercing that assistance from other members of the populace contrary to their free will. Charity should lie in the hands of the citizenry as individuals or fraternal social organizations (including churches), for it otherwise inevitably entails an inequitable redistribution of wealth -- economic leveling by government interference is a grave injustice. | |||
| No | a) Do you support national education standards? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support requiring public schools to administer high school exit exams? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support using a merit pay system for teachers? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for charter schools? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid? | ||
| No | f) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Montana high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities? | ||
| When did Montanan's decide it that forcing elements of the tax-paying populace to fund other people's education (who frequently pay no taxes themselves) was equitable? Parents should be able to choose to spend their tax dollars on their children's education at either private or public grade schools. | |||
| No | a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support state funding for the development of traditional domestic energy sources (e.g. coal, natural gas, oil)? | ||
| No | c) Do you support providing financial incentives to farms that produce biofuel crops? | ||
| Yes | d) Do you support state funding for improvements to Montana's energy infrastructure? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support the state management of wolf hunting in Montana? | ||
| No | f) Do you support state funding for open space preservation? | ||
| No | g) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change? | ||
| As dams and power plants may be located upon state land and provide benefit for the entire citizenry, funding for their maintenance and improvements are justifiable. Traditional energy sources are far more efficient, cost-effective, and reliable than alternative energy experiments and the climate change debacle is simple a means to coerce public opinion into accepting energy sources that are far more costly and inefficient than those we've utilizied for decades. Montana's energy policy is a disgrace and gravely detrimental to our own general welfare. | |||
| No | a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns? | ||
| No | b) Do you support requiring background checks on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows? | ||
| Yes | c) Do you support allowing individuals to carry concealed guns? | ||
| No | d) Do you support requiring a license for gun possession? | ||
| e) Other or expanded principles | |||
| No | a) Do you support a universally-accessible, publicly-administered health insurance option? | ||
| Yes | b) Do you support expanding access to health care through commercial health insurance reform? | ||
| c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts? | |||
| No | d) Should individuals be required to purchase health care insurance? | ||
| Yes | e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits? | ||
| No | f) Do you support continuing to allow physician-assisted suicide in Montana? | ||
| Yes | g) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes? | ||
| "...Continuing to allow physician assisted suicide..." Continuing since when? Since January 1, 2010? I strongly object to the phrasing of this question! The Supreme Court offered a ruling based upon Constitutional positivism that gravely endangers the well-being of Montana's most vulnerable population - the sick, and the dying. This is a slippery slope that only harms the common good of those who are in most need of our guardianship. | |||
| Yes | a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman? | ||
| No | b) Should Montana allow same-sex couples to form civil unions? | ||
| No | c) Do you support state funding for stem cell research? | ||
| No | d) Do you support state funding for embryonic stem cell research? | ||
| No | e) Do you support the state's use of affirmative action? | ||
| No | f) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Montana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| No | g) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Montana's anti-discrimination laws? | ||
| We would do well to grasp the difference between freedom and license, for our current culturance demand for unbridled licentiousness will inevitably result in the state's determination of moral issues that cannot be established by majority vote, but only through the still small voice of conscience that consensus-building seeks always to obliterate. Democracy and mob-rule politics seek ever to eliminate the validity of minority opinion - opinions that are generally formed outside of the state-sponsored means of public education. | |||
| Return the state budget to a level commensurate with the levels that six years ago availed us of an extraordinary budget surplus. Protect business enterprise at every level by working to remove the encumbrances of excessive state and county regulation. Work to protect the integrity of Montana families by supporting educational reform and school choice in both curriculum and content. |
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