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Douglas Sears' Issue Positions (Political Courage Test)

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Official Position: Candidate addressed this issue directly by taking the Political Courage Test.
Inferred Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, but Vote Smart inferred this issue based on the candidate's public record, including statements, voting record, and special interest group endorsements.
Unknown Position: Candidate refused to address this issue, or we could not infer an answer for this candidate despite exhaustive research of their public record.
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Other or Expanded Principles & Legislative Priorities are entered exactly as candidates submit them. Vote Smart does not edit for misspelled words, punctuation or grammar.

Due to a later filing deadline, a lack of contact information, or other circumstances delaying entry into our database, Douglas Sears was not directly invited to take the 2014 Political Courage Test. Douglas Sears is still welcome to submit the test at any time.

What is the Political Courage Test?
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.

Massachusetts State Legislative Election 2012 Political Courage Test

Pro-choice a) Do you generally support pro-choice or pro-life legislation?
No b) Should abortions be illegal after the first trimester of pregnancy?
Yes c) Should abortion be legal when the pregnancy resulted from incest or rape?
Yes 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?
No f) Do you support requiring parental consent before an abortion is performed on a minor?
No g) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for abortion procedures?
No h) Do you support the prohibition of public funds for organizations that perform abortions?
i) Other or expanded principles:

1) State Spending:Using the key, indicate 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 Taxes:Using the key,indicate 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 Stabilization:Indicate which proposals you support (if any) for balancing Massachusetts's budget.

Slightly Increase a) Education (higher)
Slightly Increase b) Education (K-12)
Slightly Increase c) Environment
Slightly Increase d) Health care
Slightly Increase e) Law enforcement/corrections
Slightly Increase f) Transportation/infrastructure
Greatly Decrease g) Welfare
Greatly Decrease h) Other or expanded categories:
Slightly Decrease a) Alcohol taxes
Slightly Decrease b) Cigarette taxes
Maintain Status c) Corporate taxes
Slightly Decrease d) Gas/Oil taxes
Greatly Decrease e) Property taxes
Slightly Decrease f) Sales taxes
Maintain Status g) Income taxes (low-income families)
Slightly Decrease h) Income taxes (mid-income families)
Slightly Increase i) Income taxes (high-income families)
Maintain Status j) Other or expanded categories:
No a) Tapping into Massachusetts's "rainy day" fund
No b) Increasing tuition rates at public universities
Yes c) Reducing or eliminating public worker collective bargaining
Yes d) Reducing state employee salaries AND/OR pensions
Yes e) Instituting mandatory furloughs AND/OR layoffs for state employees
No f) Reducing benefits for Medicaid recipients
Rep. Jim Lyons identified $100,000,000 + in stealthily budgeted funds which provide services for individuals who do not live legally in Massachusetts. The aggregate of these funds could support all appropriate increases in education, public safety, infrastructure, and local aid. The individuals who are here illegally should go back to where they are legal, apply for legal status here, and return with that legal status in hand should they so wish. Mass. taxpayers can't fund everyone else's problems and neglect addressing our own.
The reconfigured tax rates would have a net-effect of being tax receipt neutral, but with a bias toward relief for the middle earners.
President Kennedy made public workers eligible to join unions. Since then, private union wages have driven manufacturing out of state and in Massachusetts approximately 85% of those in unions are in the public sector. Public sector unions bargain against the taxpayer. When they picket as Boston fire-fighters did when the DNC came to Boston, they show us how close we are to becoming a France, a Greece, an Italy. Orwell warned us in 1946 about the consequences of when "some animals are more equal than others."

a) Do you support limits on the following types of contributions for state candidates?

Yes 1) Individual
Yes 2) Political Action Committee
No 3) Corporate
Yes 4) Political Party
Yes b) Should candidates for state office be encouraged to meet voluntary spending limits?
Yes c) Do you support requiring full and timely disclosure of campaign finance information?
Yes d) Do you support the use of an independent AND/OR bipartisan commission for redistricting?
Yes e) Do you support requiring a government-issued photo identification in order to vote at the polls?
With Presidential candidates receiving $100,000,000 per month, there is not a scarcity of money to contribute to campaigns. Where it comes from and where it goes is important to track. Corporations should not be involved in contributing. As for Voter ID, we are asked daily for identification cards, so an ID for voting, provided at no cost to the voter, is not a burden.
No 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?
Yes c) Do you support decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana?
Yes 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 allowing for more judicial discretion in Massachusetts's "three strikes" law?
Yes g) Do you support the enforcement of federal immigration laws by state and local police?
I couldn't impassively take the life of another human being and I don't believe it is appropriate to delegate a job to a state worker that I would not perform myself. Minors shouldn't do violent crimes unless they are prepared to make license plates for the rest of their natural lives.
Yes a) Do you support reducing government regulations on the private sector?
Yes 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?
Yes g) Do you support allowing bars and restaurants to offer daily or hourly discounts on alcoholic beverages?
Yes h) Do you support extending the state's 5-cent deposit law to plastic water bottles and other non-carbonated beverages?
We don't have the funds (nor does the federal government) for "make work" projects in any industry, but we should encourage (TIF) tax relief and other incentives to locate businesses, particularly in economically depressed areas.
No a) Do you support the national Common Core State Standards initiative?
Yes b) Do you support a merit pay system for teachers?
No c) Is the tenure process for public school teachers producing effective teachers?
Yes d) Should parents be allowed to use vouchers to send their children to any school?
Yes e) Do you support state funding for charter schools?
Yes f) Do you support the state government providing college students with financial aid?
No g) Should illegal immigrants who graduate from Massachusetts high schools be eligible for in-state tuition at public universities?
Schools must be more than employment opportunities for teachers, administration and staff. i am highly in favor of charter schools and parochial schools that do more with less. As a young teacher I was disciplined by a Principal for having a student come after school to erase something rude he wrote on a desk. "That is the custodian's job." "But the custodian isn't doing it!" I offered. "It is the custodian's job not to do," said the Principal. Lesson learned.
No a) Do you support state funding for the development of alternative energy?
No 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 state funding for improvements to Massachusetts's energy infrastructure?
Yes d) Do you support state funding for open space preservation?
No e) Do you support enacting environmental regulations aimed at reducing the effects of climate change?
No more Solyndras. These state/industry ventures sound promising but seem always to end up in bankruptcy with the people's funds in the pockets of the friends of those who authorized the projects. More safeguards needed.
Yes a) Do you support restrictions on the purchase and possession of guns?
Yes b) Should background checks be required on gun sales between private citizens at gun shows?
Yes c) Should citizens be allowed to carry concealed guns?
Yes d) Should a license be required for gun possession?
The morons who insist that it is an American right to possess an automatic weapon have made it harder and harder for law abiding citizens to have a concealed handgun for their protection. It is an infintessimally small percentage of gun-owners who screw the second amendment up for the rest, but those who insist on their right to keep an arsenal in their rooming house sufficient to "defend" the whole city are the first to cry "victim" and mess things up for everyone else.
Yes 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?
Yes c) Do you support interstate health insurance compacts?
Yes d) Do you support requiring individuals to purchase health care insurance?
Yes e) Do you support monetary limits on damages that can be collected in malpractice lawsuits?
Yes f) Do you support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes?
Yes g) Do you support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide for those with a terminal diagnosis and less than six months to live?
I approve of the Romney Care model in Massachusetts. If you don't buy a ticket or have incident to your employment that gets you into the health care system, don't get sick. Medicare and Medicaid fraud should be seriously punished.
No a) Should marriage only be between one man and one woman?
Yes b) Should Massachusetts continue to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples?
No c) Do you support the inclusion of sexual orientation in Massachusetts's anti-discrimination laws?
No d) Do you support the inclusion of gender identity in Massachusetts's anti-discrimination laws?
Sexual orientation or gender identify in Mass. antidiscrimination laws could result in a male and female heterosexual couple -- sure in the sexual identify and preference -- being denied housing because the landlord would perceive they are likely to have children and mess up the apartment more than would the dual income gay couple whom she prejudges would be prompt with the rent and would not have children gnawing on the lead paint on the window sills.
1. Retire One Party Rule 2. Rein in outrageous state spending 3. Reduce income and sales taxes 4. Restore local aid to support education and public safety 5. Remove over-regulation of job-creating small businesses 6. Return Massachusetts to work! These would be funded by savings from the $100,000,000 + in services we currently budget for those who are in Massachusetts illegally. Before our Titanic ship of state tries to navigate these increasingly narrow fiscal shores I want to work with Republicans on Beacon Hill who want to work with Democrats remove this dangerous unseen menace.

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